Understanding and Reaching the Yuccie

Yuccie is the 20-something former accountant who left the corporate world to open a cupcake food truck. It’s the guy with the MBA who got out of pharmaceutical marketing to create an organic breakfast bar company out of his apartment in a gentrified Brooklyn neighborhood. We have all heard these stories, but WHO are they and what makes them tick? Who really is a Yuccie?

Photo Credit: LinkedIn – David Infante

A Yuccie is an archetype, or another one of the hundreds of ways to classify millennials, the largest emerging generation. The term was created by a Yuccie himself, David Infante, in a 2015 Mashable post titled, “The hipster is dead, and you might not like who comes next.” Infante refers to Yuccies as “Young Urban Creatives,” who find the term millennial too broad and the term hipster offensive. Yuccies can be thought of as the hybrid child of yuppies and hipsters:  Ambitious and creative.

If you are marketing towards the Yuccies of this world, it is important to understand their characteristics, but more importantly, their values and beliefs.

• Yuccies believe, “We deserve to pursue our dreams; we should profit from them.” They have seen the rise of the Internet and all things tech. Yuccies have grown up in a world where the most abstract ideas and dreams have actually happened and come true. They  see their big idea as being next.
• Yuccies value money, but equally value creativity. Infante says Yuccies are, “determined to define themselves not by wealth (or the rejection of it), but by the relationship between wealth and their own creativity. Yuccies don’t want to execute other people’s ideas. They want to be paid for their own.”
• They will give up a traditional career path in favor of a path that is more fulfilling and potentially riskier. Yuccies value companies with a sense of purpose (i.e. TOMS, KIND Snacks, Rareform, Warby Parker). According to a survey by Deloitte, 6 of 10 millennials feel “a ‘sense of purpose,’ is part of the reason they chose to work for their current employers.” They are looking for validation.
• Yuccies have an interesting relationship with the Internet. They saw it mature into this wildly successful technology with new and exciting opportunities. In a way, Yuccies see themselves as the Internet. They see this as their time to turn their abstract ideas into something big.
• Most of all, Yuccies seek validation and status.

For an all-encompassing list of things Yuccies love, see this Buzzfeed article.

Now that you know the Yuccie, you might be wondering, “How do I market to them? Should I market to them?” The following are some ways to successfully reach Yuccies.

• You need to tell a Yuccie why they should purchase from your company over another. A Yuccie needs to understand who your company is and your mission. If Yuccies are willing to choose employment options based on companies with a sense of purpose, they are likely to do the same with their purchasing decisions.
• Validate their intellect. Infante explains, “We identify by priceand taste level: $80 sweatpants, $16 six-packs of craft beer, trips to Charleston, Austin and Portland. How much it costs (high or low) is immaterial if the material bought validates our intellect.” Basically, your brand needs to communicate characteristics that these Yuccies want to embody. This could be status, creativity, quality, intellect, purpose, and more.
• Reach them where they already are, and that is Instagram. Consider creating an Instagram influencer program or using digital advertising. Also, consider creating partnerships with the businesses Yuccies love most like the small coffee shops with handcrafted brews or the spas featuring all-organic products.

The millennial audience is filled with a variety of archetypes of people and the better you understand them, the better you can market to them. The Yuccie is just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to understanding the millennial audience as a whole. Which millennial audiences are you targeting?

– Maggie Weldin │ New Media Strategist

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