Preparing for a digital future - Advertising to Finnish Millennials

Abstract

This thesis explores the topic of online advertising. The main focus of the thesis is to find out how advertisers can reach Millennials through online advertising. The researcher explores which online channels Millennials prefer among other things. Therefore, the purpose of the thesis is to find out which advertising channels and formats advertisers should use in order to reach this generation and prepare for future trends. In other words, finding out which advertising methods advertisers should utilize in order to reach Millennials. The first part of the research consists of the theoretical part, where data gathered from literature and web sources are being presented. The last part of the research consists of a quantitative study where a survey was conducted in order to collect data from Millennials themselves to back up the data presented in the literature study part. The result of the survey points out that Millennials spend their time mostly in social media channels, prefer mobile over desktop and want relevant, fun and interesting content, preferably in the form of videos and pictures. The study also shows that half of the respondents use an ad blocking software and find online advertisement slightly annoying, which creates a big challenge for advertisers. The conclusion of this research is that advertisers need to consider investing more in social media channels as well as in content and video formats while using mobile as the communication channel.