July 10, 2006

I ran across an interesting paper written in 2004 by Roy Williams on marketing to the "Emerging" generations here (free download).  It basically outlined why Baby Boomers (born between 1946 and 1964) are no longer relevant - because Emerging generations see the world differently - and the line that hooked me was this:

"Businesses that don't get in step... are going to find it increasingly difficult to succeed."

Prophetic.  We've been saying that for the past 18 months, too.  More from Mr. Williams' paper:

"Based solely on the core values of the emerging generation, here's what I believe we can expect to see beginning to happen during the next 3 to 4 years:

1. A decline among prestige brands such as Rolex, Harley-Davidson and Gucci.  (JJ: How about Sony, Morgan Stanley and Volkswagen?  The new Businessweek/Interbrand study should be out in a month - here are the biggest losers in 2005, according to them.  Stay tuned for the biggest losers this year.  Meanwhile, here's a list of the top 25 "stickiest brands" online from ClickZ.  No luxury brands there.) 

2. The end of "upwardly mobile" as a slang expression.  (JJ: Can't remember the last time I heard that one!)

3. A decline in the effectiveness of traditional advertising.  (JJ:  Pick a marketing 'zine, any one, and read that in the headlines.)

4. Comparison-shopping to be done increasingly online, though purchasing will remain in
brick-and-mortar stores in many product categories.  (JJ:  Yeah, it's hard to buy a barbecue online...)

5. An increase in volunteerism and donor support to socially responsible organizations. 

6. A slow increase in the popularity of labor unions.  (JJ: Check out the news of unions and China from this weekend here.)

7. A slight decrease in the divorce rate as couples become increasingly committed to family
unity and fall less under the spell of idealistic "true love.""

In passing the paper internally, it was funny to get a note back from Tara (who's definitely NOT a Boomer).  Her response was this:

"I don't know that I buy the piece about the current generation being more into social obligation and less into opulent spending. Most people my age (i.e. late 20's/30's) are in debt up to their eyeballs buying fancy stuff they can't afford and probably spend less than 8 hours a year doing volunteer work.

Or maybe he is referring to the next generation down (i.e. people in their teens right now?). I still find that hard to believe."

"Of course, maybe I'm just living proof of his perspective -- I basically just called everyone in my own generation a poser!"

 

Posted by at July 10, 2006

Comments

Tara email - www.marqui.com/blog

Okay, taken out of context my little commentary on that piece may seem odd. Just so we are clear, these are the sections I was refering to:

"Idealistic Boomers had an abundance mentality, believed in a better world, and were opulent in their spending. Emergents see scarcity, believe in doing what it takes to survive, and are more fiscally conservative."

...and...

"Today's generation would retch if that [Coke] ad were aired, saying, "What has Coke actually done to promote world peace? Nothing. They're a bunch of phony posers."

Candy email - www.wildpistachio.com

Janet, you've made bad posting Tara's reply without her accepting. You see - unusual reaction

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