American adults are bombarded with advertisements. The statistics are staggering on how many ads each American sees on average each day. A noticeable trend in advertising is companies marketing to Milennials. One prominent example is the University of Phoneix’s “Career GPS” commercial.
This style of marketing gives us lots of insight into the way Millennials entering the workforce think, and how advertisers are appealing to them. Milennials expect that their new bosses will have their path to success mapped out for them already, much like their Xer parents, high school guidance counselors, college academic advisers did. They expect to work on challenging, diverse tasks right out of the gate and climb the ladder of success quickly. To climb said ladder, they are prepared to change jobs frequently. This is where the phrase “Career GPS” comes in.
A GPS is something that directs you where to go. It hands out automatic solutions to all of the twists, turns and speed bumps, without any input from the operator.
“You can’t afford wrong turns on the road to your future”: The younger generations don’t wait for anything. They are eager and impatient when it comes to their impending career success. This statement implies that a “wrong turn” would be an external factor (certainly nothing the subject did), and is preventable with the right types of guidance.
The Career GPS “walks you through” and “lets you explore”: This again plays on the fact that Xers raised their bundles of joy in somewhat of a helicopter fashion, and these kids have had lots of help along the way. The phrase “lets you explore” touches on how Milennials value and transmit information. To a Milennial sharing information quickly is power. For the Baby Boomers, carefully guarding information was power. This is a big shift. If a young person can “explore” and be the first to discover and share something, there is a great deal of value in that for them.
It maps out the “path to the job you want.”: Millenials (and most Xers) are always thinking about their next move.
While Baby Boomers signed on for one company for life and did not ask many questions, the modern workplace is much more volatile and transparent. Information is no longer held close to the vest of top tier managers.
How is your organization providing a GPS for your Millennials to navigate their career path with you?
