In recent years, many marketers have believed that the best way to reach Millennials was to advertise in a brief, Twitter-esque fashion. Chris Giliberti, Chief of Staff at Gimlet Media, disagrees. In an article for Forbes, Giliberti discusses the developing trend among Millennials to desire longer, more complete information over “snackable” content that is short and catchy.

Some primary examples of this new movement are the podcast Serial and popular Netflix docu-series (who else binge-watched Making A Murderer like I did?). Millennials found both of these true-crime stories captivating, despite their lengthy, story-telling approach. Giliberti offers his insights into why Millennials are abandoning the 140-character content. One of his assertions is that Millennials crave companionship. Particularly with Serial, listeners felt that they had a relationship – even a friendship – with the narrator. Giliberti goes on to say that this type of narrative offers authenticity and trustworthiness, both of which matter greatly to Millennials. In both Serial and Making A Murderer, the audience was given incriminating evidence, as well as facts that showed reasonable doubt. As Giliberti notes, Millennials form their opinions based on information, and would not appreciate being told half-truths or only some of the story, even if it meant that the narrative would be more their speed.

Another surprising development from Millennials is their recent interest Walmart over trendier stores like Target or Whole Foods. According to statistics reported by Phil Wahba at Fortune, two-thirds of American Millennials report shopping at Walmart in the last month, and they are more likely to shop at Walmart than any other generation. So what’s drawing them in? Wahba suspects it’s Walmart’s low prices attracting this value-driven generation. Preference for long-stories and bargain shopping over quick content and chic boutiques? Maybe Millennials are growing up after all!

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When we heard the theme of this year’s Ad Club Women’s Leadership Forum was #NoFilter, we knew the Anderson Robbins Research team would fit right in. Not simply because we have no filter all day in the office, but also because our data allows us to unmask the hidden truths to any pressing business or lifestyle question. You want insights, we’ve got them.

Deciding to sponsor the Ad Club’s event was a no brainer. They are always able to bring together the smartest group of women and most interesting speakers impacting our lives. The fun part was being able to use our expertise and come up with an interesting story to share with all of the participants.

On everyone’s chair at the conference at the Seaport World Trade Center on March 1, was the infographic you see in this blog post. It tells the very real story of how women feel about their households in 2016. While all of their family members might be very happy, women aren’t as satisfied and they are doing more.

From our survey, of over a thousand Americans in January 2016, we uncovered what the happiest women and households have in common: they spend time together. Some ways they accomplish this: They eat meals together everyday, they talk instead of text and they even have hobbies they share.

This is just a small piece of what we uncovered from this survey. In the coming months we will be revealing more about the state of the modern American household. So stay tuned.

As many of you know from reading my previous blogs, Millennials are the largest generation in the U.S., which has led many industry giants to rebrand their offerings to cater to the Millennial market. In her latest article for Travel Market Report, Jessica Montevago explores how the hospitality field is jumping on this bandwagon by designing hotels that appeal to this young generation. She explains that while Millennials are not currently the highest spending customer segment, hotels recognize that the best strategy is to gain their loyalty now so they can reap the rewards when Millennials enter their peak earning and traveling years. She goes on to discuss how three industry leaders, Hilton, Hyatt, and Marriott have created new and unique hotels with Millennials in mind. The amenities include things such as social spaces, robotic butlers, emoji-only room-service menus, smart mirrors that sync to your phone, and much more! I don’t know about you, but I can’t wait to try out these Millennial inspired innovations.

While many industries are working hard to attract Millennial consumers, employers are finding it difficult to hold on to Millennial employees. As Todd Stone explains in his recent article for General Assembly, the days of spending nearly your entire career with one company are long gone. With this younger generation “job hopping” more than any other in history, median job tenure has dropped to just two years among Millennial employees. Stone cites Ashley Stahl, a career coach, who says that one of the main reasons for “job hopping” is the increased number of people earning college degrees. This not only leads to amplified confidence in one’s industry, but also massive loan debt. Workers might be switching jobs in order to climb the corporate ladder, or simply to ensure they are getting the highest salary possible for their position. According to another career coach, Maggie Mistal, employers could be playing a part in “job hopping” also. Rather than seeing a long-standing employee as loyal, some employers might view this as an indication that the employee is not skilled or innovative enough to get hired somewhere else, and therefore will not promote them within the company.

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Since starting this blog series, I have read many articles detailing the many differences between Millennials and previous generations. Many of these stories focus on Millennials’ aversion to settling down.

As a Millennial with little experience investing, I learned a lot from Matt Turner’s Business Insider piece on a recent study uncovering Millennials’ investment practices. The story pointed out several problems with this generations strategies. One of the main issues: They tend to “go with their gut” when deciding what to invest in and then blame bad timing for their poor choices. Another issue, despite saying they are willing to take risks, less than half of Millennials actually invest their money and only about one-in-three think “buy and hold” is a good approach.

In addition to investing, Millennials also show reluctance in becoming homeowners. Paul Ausick at 24/7 Wall Street cites Bankrate’s recent report in which Millennials express disinterest in buying real estate. Almost half say their financial situation is preventing from becoming a homeowner, with 29% saying they can’t afford a down payment and 16% saying their credit is too low to qualify for a mortgage. Additionally, more than a third (35%) say they don’t even want to own a home yet. Although these statistics seem grim for the real estate industry, it might not be buying a home that turns Millennials off. It might simply be that they don’t want to grow-up.

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Rather than focusing on news articles, this week’s blog examines a recently published book about how Millennials are re-shaping American culture. The Next America: Boomers, Millennials, and the Looming Generational Showdown by Paul Taylor relies on the Pew Research Center’s vast collection of data, to examine where the United States currently is as a nation and predicts where it will be in the near future.

Taylor, former Executive Vice President of Pew Research Center and political reporter for the Washington Post, begins the book by describing how the quintessential “American Dream” is vastly changing thanks to Millennials. For the first time in American history, this younger generation may have a lower standard of living than their parents. Additionally, Baby Boomers are inching closer to retirement every day and many are relying on depleted government programs to help them live out their golden years. This begs the question: How can Baby Boomers reap the rewards of retirement without bankrupting the already struggling Millennial generation?

The book goes on to discuss issues such as politics, the economy, technology, immigration, and much more. Including charts and statistical facts in every chapter, Taylor maintains his role as a tour guide throughout the history of previous generations, while also offering his unique insights and predictions about this dynamic Millennial generation.

The book is definitely worth a read and serves as a fascinating reference guide to some of the most compelling data on Millennials. To make sure you don’t miss an installment of Millennials in the Media follow us on Twitter @ARResearch.