Some 73 million people in the US can be considered Millennials, adults aged 18-34, and they spend some $170 billion annually, according to comScore. Their heads are usually down in their smartphones while they’re up to their necks in digital media, whether that’s Tweeting, commenting on Facebook or posting selfies on Instagram or Snapchat.

In 2012, Horizon’s WHY Group teamed with social-media research firm Fizziology to better understand Millennials, their brand preferences and how best to reach them, producing a report released in June.

In general, brands’ best bet to reach Millennials of any stripe is to make sure they are being “transparent and respectful,” said Kirk Olson, director of TrendSights, The WHY Group at Horizon Media, Horizon’s trend-spotting practice. “It’s a question of them having a really native understanding of how all of this works and the fact that they are being targeted as consumers.”

Millennials provide brands with a lot of information about their likes and dislikes; brands just have to know where to look. Twitter, Facebook and other social media sites are good places to start, according to Horizon and Fizziology. “It starts with understanding that in this always-on environment where Millennials are constantly updating their networks about what’s happening in their lives, they are also providing really valuable context that brands can use to understand them better,” said Olson.

Through focus groups, analysis and a deep dive into social media, Horizon and Fizziology discovered that Millennials can be divided into four distinctly approachable segments.

The most desirable of these are the Confident Connecteds – career-minded Millennials who work hard, are motivated and social, and who talk actively and positively about brands over social media. The other desirable group of Millennials is the Indie Dreamers. This group is all about being creative and autonomous. Accounting for some 25% of Millennials, Indie Dreamers tend to “share both positive and negative experiences with brands, and ridicule things that they think are out of style,” Horizon reports.

Less-motivated Millennials landed in the Youthful Pursuits and Creatures of Comfort groups. This group is composed of the image and brand-conscious, trend seekers and -setters, and those who continue to embrace their youth. When it comes to brands, Youthful Pursuits “consider them status symbols and mock those considered ‘cheap,’” according to the report. Brands that appeal to this group include the newest and coolest, with brands tending to be aspirational for them.

Finally, Creatures of Comfort are generally unmotivated, easy-going, sedentary, and likely still live at home with their parents or crash on a friend’s couch. While they tend to be very involved with screens and video, they tend to “complain about over saturation of ads,” said Horizon.

Overall, Millennials are more interested in co-creating brands and products than just being entertained or informed by them. According to an Edelman Berland poll cited by eMarketer, 40% of Millennials surveyed said they would like to have some influence over brands.

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