Updated: June 30, 2019
Smartphone use in the modern era is often discussed under a very negative light. “He never stops playing PUBG”, or “She’s always on Facebook, even when she’s spending time with her family”, or “These kids just look at memes, they never learn anything”. Although a lot of the criticism of millennials’ constant connectivity is valid, the constant shade thrown at young people often disguises the ways in which they have been empowered by the same connectivity.
Millennials are constantly communicating. The average millennial checks her phone 150 times per day. While the usually negative perception of smartphones may lead us to believe that they’re simply browsing social media or spreading gossip, many millennials are doing incredible work on their phones. They could be talking to an app developer, a social media expert, and a financier to bring you the next Facebook. They could be reading about astronomy and learning new things. They could be spreading petitions about stopping misdeeds, at a local level or an international level. The global rise of young entrepreneurs can at least partially be attributed to this catalyst of communication that’s always in their pockets.
So what happens when millennials are disconnected from this information highway? Our universal reliance on our smartphones practically makes us helpless when it runs out of battery. Missing important calls, falling behind on trending news, being unable to find information immediately; These are just some of the nightmares that we have begun to associate with dead batteries. Even if it is only for a few hours, a dead battery often means a total cut off from many crucial resources for many people. WestCharge understands this problem, and we want you to be able to charge your phone wherever you go because for many of us, those magical devices hold the door to a better world that we can create.
The 2 primary and basic needs universally needed to engage millennials effectively are Power and Communication*. By providing power conveniently, safely and in a powerful fashion a modern business is able to engage this large demographic much more as well as create a competitive edge for themselves. According to a recent study, 17% of millennials walk into an establishment seeking power and 15% actually would walk out if they couldn’t charge their devices conveniently. Providing convenient access to power for everyone sitting on a table in your establishment can open new engagement methods which are till now unexplored. Sending an alert to your regular customer for example on how many charging points you have available near her at 6pm when she’s normally running out of charge will keep footfalls increasing across your estate. Making her journey to your establishment easy and rewarding with a hyper personalised offer on her usual order can build new emotional connects with the customer and show her that you care.
The world is moving ahead with building cross compatibility amongst phone charging by using Qi wireless charging, venues around the world have installed 100k+ public wireless charging points and brands are jumping on this new category to engage with a tougher to target generation. Its time for us in India to be a part of, if not lead, this global movement.
* According to a Google study in 2018 modern day connected individuals worldwide need #1 Power, and #2 Wi-Fi before #3 Physiological needs (Food, Clothing, Shelter) to survive
Author
Aaditya Goswami
Marketer, Learner, Musician
