For the last several decades, media could lead us to think the big opportunity. Article after article indicates an unending fascination with their way of life and media usage habits.
New agencies have arisen proclaiming expertise. Many seem to succeed — at least in terms of making money. And this, after decades of not having the ability to crack ‘advertising’.
Is our fascination with this brand new universe of communication capabilities causing us to miss the principles
This fascination is warranted, not least because of advancements in technology and what it empowers have been staggering. The arrival of smart phones, social media, Wi-Fi, etc. have created a whole new world, a virtual reality in which many spend much of their waking lives.
Given that Millennials are a sizeable generation with some income, it makes some sense. And not just because it has the capability to unleash new regions of creativity from the endeavor to communicate effectively through these new channels.
When you consider that many young creatives are of the same generation, it feels like a match made in heaven and us people can watch.
However, is our fascination with this new universe of communication abilities currently causing us to overlook the fundamentals of company and marketing? The entire point of marketing communication is to create consciousness of goods to entice folks to buy in order to construct the business’ financial success.
Millennials vs. the rest of the population
Let’s look at some definitions and figures. In the US the subsequent demographic philosophical definitions are used by that the Pew Research Center:
– the ‘greatest generation’: born which makes them at least 90 years old in 2017
– the ‘silent generation’: born between 1945 and 1928, making them aged between 72 and 89
– the baby boomers: born between 1946 and 1964 aged 53 to 71
– creation X born between 1965 and 1980 aged 37 to 52
– millennials: born between 1981 and 1997, now aged 20 to 36
– creation Y: born under age 20, still since 1997
Surveys affirm that networking use has taken up in the last ten years and that adults as a proportion of the age group are the most likely to use networking.
Gen Xers and baby boomers are a larger portion of likely adult Social Networking users than millennials
But when you take a look at the amounts the picture starts to shift. In fact, more 30-49 year olds will probably use social media.
Gen Xers and the millennials are almost equally likely to use media when you look at percentage of groups. But as a proportion of overall US population, baby boomers and Gen Xers are a portion of social networking users than millennials.
And when you look at population projections by generational group, it will become evident that this Gen Xer/baby boomer combination (37-71 year olds) will continue to be the biggest population group — at least until they’re overtaken by generation Y (although it’s going to be some time before they reach any substantial purchasing power).
Millennials might be the single largest group at 31 percent (roughly 75.4 million people at 2015) of the US adult population, however Gen Xers and baby boomers united are 58% (about 140.9 million individuals).
While the millennials are only starting out, add to that, this group is at the prime of their earning spending power.
Generation X and baby boomer insight
Who are these folks — those Gen Xers and baby boomers? How can media and technology fit in their lives?
Anecdotally, the creation of the television, indicated my husband’s childhood, as a part of the Silent Generation. My childhood, as a baby boomer, watched the evolution of the modem, ASCII, video games and the WAN.
The earliest types of email, cellular phones, personal computers and gaming consoles came about from the early youth of our children, nieces and nephews Gen Xers. The actual explosion has come in terms of hardware and applications, both in the lives of Gen Y and millennials.
Adoption rates and use patterns of new technology change by generation
It is not surprising that adoption rates and use patterns of brand new technologies change by production. Baby boomers and early Gen Xers grew up with ‘technology’ that included things such as the phone typewriter disc and cassette tape.
Nevertheless, though some might consider them to be Luddites and old fogies, about how they may extract documents that were old from 3 1/2 inch floppy discs, scratching their heads, they’ve come some way in adopting modern forms of technology usage.
Even for this group, Facebook is the social network of choice as a means for keeping up with friends and kids. But, it is not evident that Facebook is their principal source of information and info.
Purchasing power
But you look at it, you will find more Gen Xers/ baby boomers spending some time (and cash) online than there are millennials.
You will find more Gen Xers/ baby boomers spending some time (and cash) online
While the data is somewhat dated (2010), the numbers of gen X/ baby boomers engaging in these activities are most likely to be higher as adoption of these ‘new’ technology applications continues to spread. As of 2010, online game playing was the only activity where they were outnumbered by millennials.
They appear to be going online for running searches emailing, getting information and wellness information, obtaining government sites and making other purchases and travel reservations.
Is your net wide enough?
What does all this mean for marketing?
You could be communicating on the right channels, but are you currently communicating the right message? Are you targeting the right customers?
Do you know them sufficiently to speak with them efficiently? We’ve all heard and read about millennials are ‘distinct’. But do we understand who the almost 60% of the population are?
