How Important Are Generation Demographics in Marketing?
I once worked at a place where the interns gave a group presentation to the staff every summer. The only one I remember of these was one titled “How to Work with Millennials.” It made some interesting points, but those points were not resonating with its audience. The further they got into it, the more they were showing clear hesitation about every continuing segment. I suspect this was due to the non-verbal communication they were receiving. It was like a bad pick-up line in a bar. You don’t necessarily realize it, until it’s left your mouth. It did, however, seem to make a point about generational differences.
As a kid, I thought I was Gen X. Why wouldn’t I? If you weren’t a Baby Boomer or their parents, you assumed you were Gen X. Generational labels were not the identity driver they are today. This continued until I read an article to discover I was actually Gen Y. I thought little of it, until I had a conversation with a fellow marketer and learned that Y was no longer a thing. Millennial was the new term. I checked out. It all seemed too superficial for me.
That change in labels was bigger than I realized. Articles about who Millennials are and how they are different were prevalent. Very quickly, generational names became a powerful form of self-identity. People would open statements identifying their generation, followed by an explanation of what they need in an employer, entertainment, etc. It was reminiscent of astrology. For some, you couldn’t be sure if a person’s bad mood was because of the work culture not fitting their generation or if Mars was in retrograde.
It’s important to note the concept of self-identity. Simply, it‘s how the way you see yourself drives your decisions from politics to the brands you purchase. An example I like to give comes from my experience coaching soccer in college. Soccer parents, especially moms, wore Tommy Hilfiger. If they didn’t attending the first practice, you would notice they would by the second game. There was an affluent identity in being a soccer parent.? What was also interesting was that the size of the Tommy logo was inversely proportionate to their income. The nicer the SUV, the smaller the logo was on their shirt. Those with older, less-expensive automobiles wore apparel with noticeably larger logos. It was as though they were trying harder to belong.
So, how important is a generational identity with marketing? On one hand, if a large percentage of a demographic is, at least, partially toeing the line with a homogeneous sense of self-identity, wouldn’t it be prudent for a marketer to cater to that? I imagine that Baby Boomers are more likely to get a reverse mortgage than someone belonging to Generation X. I would see those commercials while watching daytime reruns of Matlock during visits with my grandmother. The only catch is that my grandmother belonged to the famous term coined by Tom Brokaw for her demographic, the Greatest Generation.
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Baby Boomers are also noted for brand loyalty, but that really speaks louder in regards to age demographics. In the 1980s, a TV show called Murder, She Wrote was number one in ratings for its time slot. It starred Angela Lansbury, who was in her 60s for much of the show’s run. Towards the end, a study was released on brand loyalty. It showed that the older a person was, the less likely they would switch brands. Advertisers knew the demographics who were watching the shows where their ads were placed, and Murder, She Wrote was widely watched by older adults. Even though it was the top show, advertisers pulled out, and the show was cancelled.
Considering that the spread of a generation ranges from 15-20 years, you could argue that age demographics make more sense than generational. The needs tend to be consistent over the years. Advances in technology has evolved the way we reach certain groups, but younger demographics will likely always be more ready to adopt new platforms than older. Hasn’t this always been the case, though? You can still find Abercrombie & Fitch and Hollister stores in malls, but like it was 20 years ago, Hollister is meant for high school kids and the Abercrombie age demographic peaks at 28.
What we can take from generational labels is the knowledge on how people’s tastes and behaviors are changing. I am not like my parents in many ways, and this is important if you want to make a point with me. We can glean high-level information from demographic descriptions about many generalities within them, but age, income, geography, and many other behavioral-driving factors should be included before spending money on reaching them.