Millennials: a portrait of generation “next” and mobility

A Strong Desire For Service And Individuality

Let’s start by taking a closer look at this group’s way of life. Millennials are looking for a personal, individual and fast service, so they are able to keep on moving and climbing their ladder. Gen-Y is spoiled: most of its members have the opportunity to graduate, they’ve always had telephones and the Internet has always been on. Internet services and orders are just 8 to 12 hours away. Millennials have big expectations, and it’s up to merchants and service providers to match these stride by stride.

There were times when marketing segmentation was as simple as race, location, age and relationship status, but these days, it has never been so hard to identify the interest of an audience. Millennials have diverse interests, which are often temporary or contradictory. Difficult to capture!

The Green Generation, Pur Sang

How is this group looking at environmental subjects? A global survey of corporate social responsibility and sustainability by Nielsen (2015), shows that 66% of global respondents are willing to pay more for products and services which come from companies that are committed to positive social and environmental impact. A comparison to 55% in 2014, and 50% in 2013, shows a significant increase in these numbers. This evolution has an impact on mobility as well: millennials are looking for ‘green’ transportation solutions, and will often prefer the least pollutive option when planning their trips.

Work To Live, Live To Work

In 2015, millennials made up for half of the global workforce. Millennials don’t like the phrase work/life “balance”, but are talking about work/life “integration” instead. Working 9 to 5 doesn’t show up in their vocabulary, because... how can you finish work at 5? Millennials will be happy to help their boss with an issue at 8 p.m., or a client with an emergency out of office hours. For most millennials, work life, social life and creative ambitions are intertwined.

Did you know that the average time of millennials in one work environment is two years? They aren’t looking for restrictions, rigid hours, rules, strict policies or long-term contracts. They crave freedom: freedom to learn, to grow, to move and to define their identity.

Millennials and mobility

So where do these millennials stand in terms of mobility? Because millennials are multimodal, they will always opt for the best transportation option (driving, transit, bike, or walk), based on the trip they are planning to take. Cities with a wide range of transportation modes are thus very popular among this group.

MaaS Global is a Finnish initiative, embracing this mobility trend entirely. The company’s goals? Guaranteeing people’s mobility, reducing their time and struggle answering the ‘how do I get there’ question, and reducing their individual pollution. MaaS is the provision of an efficient, personalised transport service, integrating a range of modes and presenting the consumer with the best options for getting from A to B. Mobility as a Service!

How is this done? By offering monthly packages, referred to as ‘the Netflix of mobility’. Travellers of all types can subscribe for different formulas: from just €5 per trip (for tourists visiting town), to the €60 package (for frequent travellers who don’t want to own their own car), and finally a €1500 formula (for career oriented middle-classers and upper-middle-classers).

MaaS offers solutions by arranging public transportation, car sharing, bike sharing, train rides, parking, etc. at your size. Not only does it facilitate your payments for every transportation mode, it also finds out the quickest routes to match your schedule! You order a package, and you can be sure that your transportation - different options, planning and environmental decisions included - is being taken care of.

Conclusion

MaaS is a solution millennials are clearly looking for: an easy and quick way to solve their transportation questions, while using these days’ best technology and being little pollutive. Triple score! Although there are some things about MaaS remaining a little vague and still in progress, this is definitely a project with lots of future.