There is an endless fascination with Millennials–today's “it”generation raised on Bagel Bites and gigabytes; a sax-playing,vote-rocking Bill Clinton; and the anxiety-inducing realities of apost-9/11 world.

Despite the seemingly endless supply of articles and discussions aboutMillennials, the truth is that, like any generation, they are morethan the sum of their stereotypes: creative, hyper connected, lazy,narcissistic.

For brands and advertisers, moving past the simplisticgeneralizations, embracing the misconceptions, and identifying withMillennials as unique individuals is essential for making strongconnections that resonate with a generation whose purchasing poweris growing and whose attention span is shrinking.

To better understand how brands can connect with this group, wedecided to dig deeper into the lives of Millennials and put somepopular notions about them to the test to identify how they may ormay not differ from preceding generations. Working with GoogleConsumer Surveys, we studied just over 1,000 consumers in the U.S.and the U.K., split evenly between Millennials and non-Millennials.What we found surprised us:

MYTH 1: MILLENNIALS HAVE A WHOLE NEW VALUESYSTEM.

Marketers often talk about Millennials as if they arefundamentally different from their elders. We askednon-Millennials: What is important to you now versus what wasimportant to you 20 years ago? We also asked the Millennials: Whatis important to you now versus what will be important to you in 20years? When it comes to what really matters in life, both groupsexpressed similar values: Millennials and non-Millennialsoverwhelming valued relationships with friends and family aboveanything else. Underneath the cultural perceptions, mediahype, and pervasive stereotypes, we observed remarkably similaraspirations and values across age groups. Fast Company busts four more myths about the Millenialconsumer.