One of the largest and most prestigious trade shows in America, The National Restaurant Association welcomed almost 70,000 attendees this year. To keynote the conference, Millennial expert and researcher Jason Dorsey headlines the Signature event series. His provocative keynote focused on debunking Millennial myths so restaurant and foodservice leaders could understand and win this all-important generation of consumers.
In this customized presentation, Jason explained how Millennials are breaking into two different generations, why Millennials are not broke but actually outspending every other generation, and that Millennials are NOT tech savvy but tech dependent. Each of these findings is based on Jason and his research team’s cutting edge work at The Center for Generational Kinetics, the leading Millennial and Gen Z research, speaking, and consulting firm with over 200 clients in 2017.
Jason’s Talk Got Personal
Jason shared not only that the restaurant industry relies on tracking data which can be wildly misleading, but also that his own journey started as a busboy in a restaurant. The response to Jason’s message was overwhelming and garnered significant media coverage throughout the industry.
The importance of understanding Millennial, as employees and consumers, is only going to grow as their spending continues to grow significantly, they are finally starting families, and their dining habits evolve. At the same time, Jason previewed in his follow-up session how Gen Z is poised to steal the attention and trendsetting capabilities from Millennials, something The Center recently revealed in their latest publicly available Gen Z vs. Millennials national study.
The bottom line from Jason’s message: Much of what you’ve heard about Millennials is flat wrong. By replacing that misinformation with real data grounded in original research focused on the thinking underlying the actions the restaurant industry can respond and win Millennials now and in the future. Literally, whoever adapts to Millennials wins and wins big.
The restaurant industry is not the only industry suffering from a glut of data that can be misleading. Virtually every other industry suffers from the same challenge, too, which is why Jason flew from the restaurant conference to keynote events the same week focused for entrepreneurs, franchisees, bankers, and talent development.
For a preview of the Jason Dorsey provocative message, watch this video.
Do you think restaurants are doing a good job winning #Millennials? Let us know at @WhatTheGen or @JasonDorsey
