Next Generation Of Minorities Focus Of Community Involvement Study

Atlanta, GA -- Multicultural millennials are a kinder, gentler generation with a rosy outlook and commitment to clean up the mess they inherited. According to a new study, African American and Hispanic millennials surpass their White peers when it comes to altruism, community involvement, and optimism about their ability to effect positive change in the world.

The study of men and women born between 1979 and 2003 was recently released by Atlanta-based multicultural marketing firm IMAGES USA and The Futures Company, a new company formed by the coming together of Yankelovich, Inc. and Henley Centre HeadlightVision.

While the study finds 81 percent of all millennials feel the severity of world events are causing them to get more involved in effecting change in the world, African-American and Hispanic millennials are more motivated to make those changes than Whites of the same age. Under a closer lens, the study shows African American Millennial males (84%) are more interested than White Millennial males (58%) in getting involved with their communities.

"Multicultural Millennials: The New Generation Coming of Age," based on data from The Futures Company's 2009 millennial poll of 2,500 consumers, explores the degrees to which multicultural millennials, also known as "Generation Y," differ from their White counterparts regarding community, the environment, economic issues, retention of cultural heritage, and consumer trends.

"Branding now involves more tangible involvement at a community level and commitment to making a difference," said Juan Pablo Quevedo, IMAGES USA Director of Marketing Research and Strategic Insight. "Ideas that help to solve real problems are the "new cool."

To that point, as consumers, multicultural millennials are clear on their affinity for brands that support African American and Hispanic communities and understand culturally relevant nuances and triggers. The majority of African American (88%) and Hispanic millennials (87%) agree that companies making a sincere effort to be a part of their communities deserve their loyalty.

However, their enthusiasm is tempered by their belief that "very few brands and companies genuinely care about the state of my community." Additionally, a company's environmentally sound practices influence multicultural millennial's buying decisions, regardless of cost. African American and Hispanic millennials (61%) are more likely than White millennials (52%) to pay more for products and services that are better for the environment over those who are not.

"Consumer product group marketers have fallen into a comfort zone, targeting millennials across the board as one monolithic entity. The multicultural millennial has a surprising and unique value system, and a different set of decision-making criteria around brand choices," said Ricki Fairley-Brown, IMAGES USA CMO. She continued, "As the Millennial Generation will soon eclipse the size of the Baby Boomers, this dynamic group of consumers will drive the future growth of brands. Marketers would be remiss to not embrace them."

Other key findings include:

* Multicultural millennials are more sensitive to personal, community, and environmental involvement than White Millennials

* African American (84%) and Hispanic millennials (88%) are galvanized around their cultural identity, which gives them a strong sense of purpose

* Entrepreneurship symbolizes success for African American and Hispanic millennials. African American and Hispanic millennials are significantly more inclined to agree that owning your own business is a sign of success and accomplishment, versus White Millennials.

For more information or to purchase the entire "Multicultural Millennials: The New Generation Coming of Age," story, please contact IMAGES USA at 2010MillennialStudy@imagesusa.net.

About IMAGES USA
IMAGES USA is a leading full-service multicultural marketing communications agency headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia. Founded in 1989 by Robert (Bob) McNeil, IMAGES offers marketing expertise to clients wanting to reach, motivate and influence African-American, Hispanic and Asian consumers. The agency's client roster includes Amtrak, Choice Hotels, Sara Lee, AARP, Glory Foods, International Speedway Corporation, Brown-Forman, Life Lock, Teach for America, and Scientific Games. The agency currently ranks No. 5 on Advertising Age's list of Top African American advertising agencies, No. 20 on Top Hispanic advertising agencies, and No. 300 on Top U.S. advertising agencies and has won over 100 creative honors. For more information on IMAGES USA, including award-winning work and recognitions, visit www.imagesusa.net or www.multiculturalmarketing.com.

About The Futures Company
The Futures Company is the coming together of Yankelovich and Henley Centre HeadlightVision. The Futures Company is a leading global trends and futures research and consultancy business, focused on its mission of "Unlocking Futures" for its clients. The Futures Company provides on-going tracking of consumer trends through its 20-country Global MONITOR study as well as the U.S. Yankelovich MONITOR and the U.K. Planning for Consumer Change studies. Additionally, The Futures Company maintains a global ethnographic database of trends manifestations and examples called Global Streetscapes. The Futures Company offers future-facing qualitative and quantitative research along with its trends and futures consultancy to help clients uncover new ways of understanding and segmenting markets, identifying future sources of value, and building powerful brand connections. The Futures Company is part of the Kantar Group of WPP, with offices in London, New York, Chapel Hill, NC, Mumbai and Delhi.

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