Don’t tell Men At Work Communications that you can’t catch a Millennial. The agency knows that’s not true. It’s all about understanding them and knowing what they want and how they want to get it.

In order to do that, MAW has created a Youth Strategy division and promoted account manager, Nick Donovan, to the role of youth strategy director.

Donovan has been with the agency for two years, and has been instrumental in the agency’s shift from a PR business into a full service digital agency that specialises in social media, creative strategy and content marketing.

He’s also a millennial. He knows first-hand what Millennials re all about.

“It is so obvious when brands are trying to communicate with younger audiences and failing,” he commented.

“You can tell that some old white guy in an ivory tower somewhere has said something like: ‘Let’s reach the kids of today with some hip messaging. Let’s put a rapper in a TV ad. Is Vanilla Ice still popular?’ Messaging so often comes across as condescending and hackneyed. “Millennials are the most informed youths in history. They are critical, they are discerning and they have a highly attuned bullshit-meter. Not only do you need to know where to find them, you need to know how to communicate with them and when to do so.”

“There is a major gap in the market when it comes to millennials, because no one really understands how to reach them,” stated Men At Work Communications managing director, Adam Mumford.

“They simply don’t consume media in ways that traditional marketers understand. They’re not watching linear TV. They’re not consuming traditional advertising.

“They are the major consumers of social media, but if brands try to engage with them in the social space in an inauthentic way, they switch off immediately. The key is authentic communication, and all too often these communications are coming from older marketers who don’t truly understand the audience, and so the message doesn’t resonate.

“We don’t think there are many businesses out there that are really connecting with this market. The best example of a business doing it right is probably Vice – they get how to connect in an authentic way. MAW has seen a gap. And it knows that a gap means an opportunity for someone. It intends to take that opportunity.

Its new Youth Strategy division will develop research, build client relationships with youth-facing brands or brands that want to enter the youth market, and focus heavily on creating authentic communications strategies.

The move isn’t an impulsive decision. MAW has been building its capabilities in youth strategy for some time, and is already working with a number of brands that are looking to target the youth market.