A comprehensive guide to marketing communications and messages for each generation.
Builders - the ‘telling it' generation
Arguably one of the most the most potent shared values of the Builder generation is loyalty. It is commonly believed that Builders are ‘rusted onto' a narrow collection of brands that make up their consideration set.
The DDB/Accenture Lifestyle Study demonstrated that in 1975, 93 per cent of Americans in their seventies, and 86 per cent in their sixties, said they ‘tried to stick to well-known brand names'. In comparison, 66 per cent of those in their twenties stuck to well-known brands.
Boomers - the ‘selling it' generation
The Boomer generation was raised on a diet of passive media (television) advertising, with messages that largely presented factual, rational arguments. Appealing to their preference for formal, monologue-style learning, advertisements often used product comparison and demonstration, with brand names used as markers of trust.
While their loyalist parents were largely trusting of brand names, a key sociological marker of Boomers was their collective promotional messages that still work today, questioning of authority and tradition. Naturally this extends to their relationship with brands.
Remember also that the Boomers grew up being ‘sold' to - but what are their preferences today? How should marketers approach the over-fifties?
Consider the following appeals we believe resonate with Boomers today.
- Ensure you have credibility
- Offer quality - with age comes wisdom, and Boomers know the benefits of quality and are willing to trade-up to products with a higher quality or price if they can afford to
- Offer personalised service
- Remember that Boomers place a high value on personal recommendations (word of mouth)
- Boomers hate being ripped off - they love a ‘good deal'
- Emphasise choice
- Be sensitive to their declining physical capacities - particularly sight and hearing - when designing creative
- Use spokespeople and opinion leaders 7-10 years younger than the specific age segment you are targeting
- Use clear and concise messages
- Emphasise the health care dimensions of the offering
- Don't be ageist - use sensitive words like ‘seniors' or ‘mature'
- Remember that Boomers might have grown up with the ‘hard sell', but they are over it
Generation X - the ‘questioning it' generation
Like the Boomers, Generation X were raised on a diet of passive mass media (television) and advertising, and came to interactive media in their adulthood. While for the most part they have absorbed new media into their lives, they are not true Digital Natives.
Generation Y and Z - the ‘protesting it' generation
Generations Y and Z are the first media consumers in history to emerge with interactive media as the predominant means by which they ‘consume' messages. The necessity for television broadcasters to become ‘interactive' can be most acutely observed in the reality TV genre.
Broadcasters have attempted to engage the younger generations through SMS voting. This has allowed them to (at least temporarily) combat the rising popularity of new media (e.g. internet) among Generations X and Y.
Figure 1 - Marketing communications and the generations
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Telling it
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Selling it
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Questioning it
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Protesting it
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| How they learn |
Passive |
Formal monologue |
Programmed dialogue |
Interactive multi-modal |
| What appeals to them |
Authoritarian
Sense of duty & loyalty
Argumentative - Apologistic |
Rational - Factual
Technical data
Evidence
|
Rebellious posturing |
Spontaneous
Multi-sensory
Participatory |
| How messages were/are executed |
Naive images and copy blending emotive and rational appeals |
Product comparison
Demonstration |
Anti-ads
Visual examples
Pop culture references |
Experiential marketing: viral, ambient, stunt
Web communities with user-generated content. (ie. YouTube, MySpace, etc) |
| Media used to reach them |
Retail promotion
Print
Radio
|
Television
Print
Direct sales
|
Television
Print |
Internet
SMS |
| How they relate to technology |
Digital aliens |
Digital immigrants |
Digital adaptives |
Digital natives |
| How they view brands |
Then & Now:
A product identifier and a marker of trust |
Then - a marker of trust
Now - diminishing loyalty |
A philosophy |
A community |
| Slogans of their times |
Ford:
"Freedom for the woman who owns a Ford" |
Volkswagon:
"A Volkswagon is never changed to make it look different, only to make it work better" |
Nike:
"Don't insult our intelligence. Tell us what it is, tell us what it does, and don't play the national anthem while you do it" |
YouTube:
"Broadcast yourself" |
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Builders
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Boomers
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Generation X
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Generation Y
Generation Z
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Try not to generalise about the generations
Marketers should resist the temptation to base promotional campaigns solely on the assumption that a generational segment is a homogenous group. Even though each generational segment exhibits some homogenous traits, significant variety exists within each one.
Marketers should treat the generations as the demographic foundation of their segmentation strategy. More detailed market profiles based on the demographic, psychographic, geographic and behavioural strata, which are ever-present within each generational segment, can then be developed.