It’s the 21st Century. Do you know who your customers are?
Do you know how to reach them? Whoever they are, I still stick by that age-old saying: “The customer is always right.” The core idea of connecting with and serving your consumers as real, living, breathing, complex people will always win out over the short term marketing hype, and it will always be the key to creating the kind of brands that have a long term emotional presence in the lives of the people.
Before you can meet anyone’s needs or make this personal emotional connection, you really have to know who your customer is. In today’s fluid society, this is an extremely difficult task. In this article, I’m going to explore and give you closer look at the changing consumer landscape of the 21st century, focusing primarily on the dynamic explosion of the three, currently most influential generations that most of us in the Business Community are a part of or identify with: Baby Boomers, Generation X and Generation Y.
These are the three major consuming populations that inhabit our landscape today, and I believe that they are also very active and present in the fitness world: Baby Boomers (45–63 years old), GenXers (33–44 years old) and GenYers (14–32 years old). These three groups are very different and they just don’t speak the same language. So when it comes to trying to reach them through marketing and advertising, you will have to use different approaches for each group.
Baby Boomers were born between the years 1946 and 1964. They are used to challenging assumptions and used to fighting for what they want. The sheer size of this generation has empowered them like no other generation. In the sixties and seventies, it was their music, clothes and politics that were the forces that restructured the world. As they arched into the eighties, they were suddenly fighting for success and affluence, and now they are battling with a new obstacle: Life After Forty. Boomers comprise a challenging and dynamic demographic, and if you are a brand with an identity as versatile as the Boomers, you will stand to reap great success.
Many brands in the past have spent time wooing the younger consumers based on the assumption that the consumers captured early in life would remain loyal for years to come. This could be a very costly mistake if you apply this tactic to GenX and GenY. Those two generations don’t have love affairs with the brands like how the companies wish they would. They want attention and affection. As I’ve said in a previous article, take consumers for granted and they will walk out the door. Hence, aiming or the young consumer doesn’t guarantee a long term, bountiful bottom line. What should really happen is that you as a brand should court a lifelong love affair, characterized by a perpetual dialogue surrounding the issues affecting consumers. Baby Boomers will not bend to the strains of age. Instead, they have revitalized and reshaped what it means to be ‘mature’. They are not getting older; they are reaching a youthful maturity. Whatever age a Boomer is at, it is their best age. They can buy their way out of most of the drawbacks of “maturity” thanks to products like Viagra and Renova, or at least, that’s their plan. They are exceptionally convinced of their youth, and as a group, they are healthier and more active than any previous generation of fifty-year-olds. Their youthful state enables their highest achievements, and by denying their age, they are more apt to venture into new and ambitious projects. Brand must keep all these things in mind, and with the goal of further empowering this generation, devote themselves to providing personalized products and care which supplement their youthful maturity.
There are many misconceptions about Generation X. (This sounds so comic book to me, but I digress.) Actually, that is the first thing: the misnomer GenX and all that it conjures up. Okay, fine, this generation got off to a fairly rough start. These guys were reared under the shadow of skyrocketing divorce rates, downsized parents, a sputtering economy, the AIDS epidemic, crack cocaine and the like. They knew life wasn’t perfect way before the Challenger plummeted to its doom in a ball of flames. However, their sobering youth is what provided the sobering atmosphere that fostered their take-control, independent-minded, pragmatic mentality which shed al resemblance to the 1990’s dispirited and dejected “slacker”. Brands that continue to target the mythical slacker are on the wrong track. However, if you are a brand who sees the wisdom in tapping into the energy and spirit of the GenXers, you’ll be able to forge a long lasting partnership with this generation which is ready for some respect.
Brands should stop trying to deceive these guys, because they just can’t. Instead, businesses need to provide accurate depictions in their media-appeal to the eXcels’ individuality and their aspirations. Humour, particularly sarcasm, is a favourite of theirs. Anything irrelevant has a good chance at stirring their sympathies and maybe, just maybe, their loyalties. A good example of a GenX appeal is the Virgin Atlantic campaign featuring Austin Powers. GenX appreciates the sleazy, yet endearing sexual innuendo.
Campaigns that target this generation should seriously consider nontraditional approaches. Consider what each medium means to these consumers and how that medium and the content of its campaign adds to or detracts from the brand. A study conducted by BBDO New York of 104 adults reveals the media perceptions of this generation. They describe the Internet as a means of escape and mental stimulation, as well as a way of gathering specialized information. They added that the medium gave them feelings of intelligence, accomplishment and innovation. Users of the Internet were described as young and career oriented. TV was said to impart feelings of happiness and fun, newspapers were seen as a means of gathering in depth information first thing in the morning, and readers were perceived as being middle-aged and, more often that not, male. Based on these finding, once would assume that newspapers would be an excellent medium for advertising “serious” products, like financial related services, whereas TV would be seen as an excellent place for products associated with fun; however, these results only provide hints and background information on how your advertising can and will function in these mediums. Although seducing this particular generation is difficult, even for experienced creative professionals, it can be done through a thorough knowledge of their lives and lifestyles.
Generation Y comes flying right at you at warp speed! The millions of members of this generation compose a tidal wave that is poised to redefine the world of branding and marketing. Although still evolving, this generation’s emotional palette and passions are entirely unique and comprise a fascinating challenge for emotional branding. This generation is moving faster and doing more than any previous generation. Their time is pre-programmed, and the average 14 year old as less than three hours of free time a week. What little free time they do have is spent heavily multitasking between the Internet, the telephone and listening to music. The activities which absorb them fully do it through demanding and concisely packed content. This generation has been reared in the era of the sound byte. When trying to reach them, advertising needs to be brief and sans fluff. One popular ad campaign by Arizona Jeans, which was directed at this generation, featured teenagers mocking flashy advertising campaigns and demanding “Just show me the jeans.”
Targeting this group is very complicated because they have a tendency to reject the ‘mainstream’ and as soon as a brand becomes big it is in danger of falling into their disfavour. Just the other day a friend of mine said to me that he’s going to do away with his Blackberry. It’s a great product, and all the functions suit him perfectly, but ‘everybody has one now’, so he’s very turned off it. Success = sellout = bad. Hence, as a brand, you must walk a fine line between prominent exposure and overexposure. In other words, make your brand present, make it accessible and available and don’t shove it down their throat. Know when to temper your ubiquity. A little bit of exclusivity is always good.
Another thing that brands do wrong with this generation is to talk down to them as ‘kids’. Hello? The teens in this generation are the most adult teenagers since the birth of the ‘teenager’ concept. By the time this generation reached 12 years old, they achieved a notable sophistication and awareness of the world. This generation has grown up with an unparalleled access to information coupled with the absence of omnipresent supervision. The high expectations put on this group from friends, family and school have developed precocious maturity in a large body of this generation. Most branding strategies underestimate their sophistication and therefore fail. As a brand, you need to respect the mature identity and supplement it. They demonstrate an unprecedented sensitivity to global issues as well as race, gender or sexual orientation discrimination issues. The sense of empowerment and knowledge that marks this generation’s outlook on life has also reshaped social activism, revealing not only their intelligence, but their altruism.
The biggest challenge with GenY will be keeping abreast of their fast-moving lifestyle and quickly evolving tastes. By approaching them directly and putting it in their face, on their back, in their hands or the hands of someone they admire, brands can intimately connect to his generation. Guerrilla marketing is enormously successful with GenY. He advantage is the ability to communicate directly with them in their own language without confusing anyone else. This is the reason why promotional events are gaining popularity in marketing. Events are a great way to showcase your brand in an emotionally charged atmosphere and gain the interest of the GenYers. The best advice I can give with this generation is to stand back and let them lead the way. They will tell you what they want.
References: Emotional Branding by Marc Gobe; Allworth Press; 1st edition (January 1, 2001) Lev Grossman, "Generation Gap," Time Out Magazine, 20 January 2000. Jane Levere, "BBDO New York Breaks Down Why, When, Where and How Young Adults Get information," New York Times, 9 December 1999.
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