Talking the Millennial Talk
November 24, 2009Check out how East Carolina University is engaged in stealth marketing to attract Millennial students.
As I watched this video, I was struck by how hip it was, but I wondered if such an approach is a college’s best friend. On the one hand, it certainly engages in a form of speech accommodation in which the speaker adopts the idioms, tropes, and vernacular of the target audience to create a sense of connection. On the other hand, no freshman course I took or teach remotely resembles the high energy rave that is depicted here.
Reaching out is important, but at what point do you grab the hand you’ve reached for and pull them into your world rather than joining theirs? Organizations must treat Millennial socialization as a two-way street. Feel free to let your Gen Y freak flag fly to get them in the door, but be careful not to bait and switch. From the get go, they need to know that part of joining your organization involves them learning your vernacular too. Now, that’s love I can feel.
