While it may sting to hear it, Suzy’s founder and CEO Matt Britton is right: millennials, you’re not that young anymore.

But that absence of youth is important to note. Because while brands and marketers seem to use the term “millennials” interchangeably with “twentysomethings” or “youth,” the reality is that the oldest millennials are nearing forty. And marketing strategy has to evolve to understand that reality. As buying power in households prepares to shift hands from Gen X to this generation, how will marketers adapt?

In this conversation with DMN editor-in-chief Kim Davis, Matt describes how consumer needs are now driven from the sidewalk, and the importance of brands keeping their ears to the ground to understand consumer desires, which messages resonate, and whether brand safety issues are on the horizon.

In this episode of The Executive Innovation Show Podcast, Carrie Chitsey speaks with Matt Britton. Matt Britton is the author of Youth Nation, a best-selling book on building remarkable brands in a youth-driven culture. He is the CEO of Suzy.com and former CEO of agencies Crowdtap and MRY which sold to Publicis. 

When I started my agency Mr. Youth fresh out of college I used to pick up my office phone when it rang(which was at the foot of my bed), change my voice, and act like I was the office admin.

I would tell the caller to hold on while I went to get “Matt,” and then 30 seconds later of me just staring at my phone, I would pick up the phone as myself and start the call. I grew that agency until it was acquired although at one point during the 2008 financial crisis, I was a few days from shutting down the entire company and had to put the entire payroll on my credit card.

I’m often asked, “How do you start?”… so I thought I’d share this…

The #1 trait I look for when hiring and promoting?

INITIATIVE

The reality is, if you need to wait to be told what to do when you walk into the office your job will soon be outsourced anyway.

Did this person take the initiative to propose new ideas and follow through with them?

Did they build a new side project? Do they create art of any form?

Did they ask for permission or did they do it anyway, and build something they believed in?

I believe in putting people in deep deep water and observing how they swim. Some tread water and some found a way back to the shore.

If I looked at just their experience, I don’t think I would have had built successful companies in the past.