Can you hear us now?

Among the well-chronicled attributes of the millennial generation, their experience and use of technology rarely fails to be mentioned at the top of the list. Many millennials feel the generations' relationship with technology is the key factor that sets them apart from earlier generations (Taylor et al., 2010, pg. 25).

Millennials have an especially tight bond with their cell phones. The Pew Research Center reports that 83% of millennials have slept with their cell phones in or right next to their beds (Taylor et al., 2010, pg. 6) - a marked difference compared to other generations.

Many cell phone advertisements focus on the attributes of the phones themselves, although a few companies have targeted millennials directly. 

The biggest success in this arena was the T-Mobile Sidekick, which debuted in 2002. When I was in college it seemed just about every other person had a Sidekick, and the phones were blatantly targeted at the teenage/college age market. CNN suggests that the Sidekick created the millennial generation's obsession with text messaging (Wilson, 2011, slide 7).

The phone quickly caught on with celebrities and young adults alike. In later years, the brand paired with multiple celebrities and designers like Juicy Couture, Dwayne Wade, Diane Von Furstenburg and Tony Hawk to release exclusive versions of the phone. 

Since the height of the Sidekick's reign, few phones have used celebrity endorsers to reach their target audience. Earlier this week LG announced they will be pairing with celebrity stylist and designer Rachel Zoe to market the LG Marquee phone to young female consumers (Bruell, 2011, para. 1). 

The strategy is part of LG's overarching goal to be seen as a lifestyle brand rather than a hardware manufacturer, according to Chief Marketing Officer Kwan Sup (Bruell, 2011, para. 5). The Marquee campaign will run via a web series entitled "Style Rules" where style bloggers will base different 'looks' on the Marquee's slogan, "Thin, Light and Bright" (Bruell, 2011, para. 2). 

Since the iPhone became a category killer, no one phone has been able to capture the millennial demographic so soundly. It will be interesting to see how young females respond to the LG Marquee campaign. Oddly enough, LG has paired the upscale Zoe with a tongue-in-cheek infomercial style video that mocks some of their target's obsessions: Jersey Shore and Twilight.

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Bruell, A. (2011, October 3). LG mobile enlists Rachel Zoe to target young females for 

   Marquee phone. Advertising Age. Retrieved October 4, 2011 from http://adage.com

   /article/digital/lg-mobile-phone-enlists-rachel-zoe-target-young-females/230165/

Taylor, et al. (2010, February). Millennials: a portrait of generation next. Pew Research 

    Center. Retrieved October 1, 2011 from http://pewresearch.org/millennials/

Wilson, J. (2011, October 7). The evolution of mobile phones. CNN.com. Retrieved on   

    October 7, 2011 from http://www.cnn.com/2011/10/07/tech/mobile/gallery-

    evolution-mobile-phones/index.html