If there’s one time of year when people are especially influenced by their thoughts, beliefs and emotions it’s the holiday season when many families reunite and renew bonds.
Christmas revitalizes relationships and quickly rewinds our memory tapes of the cherished people, places and things of the past. Remember when your kids seem to help more at Christmas, perhaps knowing the consequences of how whining as an art form nets fewer presents under the tree?
As direct marketers, it is a terrific time to remind our clients of the value not only of tailoring compelling seasonal messages, but also of being mindful of the different generations receiving that message. Christmas is not the only selling season for targeted products and services nor is there only one best way to expose information about a company or bargain.
Modes of marketing have simply multiplied. In fact, the most important marketing story of 2009 for customers has been identifying and accepting social media as a vital piece of marketing campaigns. Twitter, Facebook and blogging are no longer viewed simply as an addictive waste of time. Nearly 20 percent of all tweets contain a referral to a service or product.
In the book Generations: The History of America’s Future 1584-2069, authors William Strauss and Neil Howe describe a generation as a “cohort” or cluster people born approximately during the same twenty-year time period. Strauss and Howe contend that since people form values from common historical events, experiences and influences, we can understand and often anticipate how a specific generation will think and respond.
The idea is to leverage the capabilities of segmentation to identify consumer wants and needs by stage of life. As newer consumers and primary wage earners flow through the life stages, marketers can examine their changing tastes and interests against a backdrop of their needs. We also need to examine how they best receive information.
For example, when’s the last time one of your children actually left you a phone message when it was not your birthday? Generation X and the next bunch, Gen Y, would prefer to text message you because that’s become their generations’ favorite mode of response. Perhaps a Baby Boomer or a member of the Greatest Generation would deem a telephone conversation more appropriate. The primary and “blended” modes of interaction are dictated by the generational cohort.
In a provocative article in the recent edition of Response Magazine, marketers are reminded of the vast numbers of potential customers included in the Greatest Generation and the Baby Boomer cohort and how differently these groups adapt and change to various types of media.
As the article mentions, the Greatest Generation is now “aging in place” and many have embraced the Internet as a place to receive information even though the vast majority prefers television. Many of them took on as little debt as possible and are in no hurry to dive into their financial assets. They “would rather leave it for the kids” even though the kids are in a far better financial place than the folks.
Baby boomers – the healthiest and wealthiest group ever appearing on the U. S. growth landscape – never met a loan they didn’t like. It was the largest, but Gen Y now has the biggest numbers. After leveraging appreciation in their homes to pay for cars, college tuitions and trips, they are now forced to rethink where and how they will age. While some analysts say the boomers will gain wisdom with age and curb their spending ways down the road, others won’t be persuaded. How they will behave continues to confound researchers – but what else is new?
But if you think the baby boomer group was immense and steered every element of the retail industry, get comfortable with the throng that contains many of their consumer-crazy children – the proud members of Generation Y. This gang, born in 1979 or later, has 74 million members (an estimated three million more than the boomers) and will make up 34 percent of the population by 2015. They seek utility, not prestige, and their preferred ways to communicate are quickly spreading to other age groups.
Social media is absolutely here and helpful. Now, if you are one of the few people who have not already done so, ask your child or grandchild to set up your Twitter and/or Facebook account. Tell them it’s their Christmas present to you.
All the best for a wonderful holiday season and a prosperous 2010!
Rick
