I'm so down with the kids.... not

This weeks blog is on Generation Marketing. This is when a product is aimed at a certain generation, various methods are used when doing this such as Nostalgia; Values; culture and gender roots.

Every generation has its own identity and something which they as a whole can relate to. For example Generation X which usually involves people born in the 1960's to roughly 1982 love the Beatles and the police (the band that is, no one likes the real police!) Now you may think this is a generalisation and there will definitely be exceptions to the rule however during that time period Sir Paul McCartney was the closest thing to God and so you can bet your life that at every party that had a hint of cool about it would have had The Beatles playing. This is much the same as nowadays going into a party and not hearing Rihanna - That's just not normal is it? 'ooh nah nah whats my name' sorry flashbacks of last night; I'm digressing however the point is that if Mr Marketer wants to make those people that come under generation X feel good about a product and would want them to buy this it may cross their mind to play some 'Hey Jude' in the background. This would link into some Nostalgia and could give a product a helping hand in getting into those tricky consumers brains..... scary isn't it! Even more so if you remember that women do the shopping mostly and therefore you don't just have to get a place in any brain.... its a women's...... Now they are really really scary. Poor bloke he's going to need all the help he can get.

As mentioned above culture has a large impact on generations and therefore marketers have to keep this in mind. Now in the 60's something of a social revolution took place - so I'm told anyway I'm to young to know what that means. I believe they called it the 'swinging sixties'.... not sure if that sounds magical or disturbing to be honest but we shall plough on nonetheless. This time represented a change in attitude among this generation and everything was much more care free and open. The most famous Marilyn Monroe picture was of her in the dress that was flowing effortlessly in the wind This I believe represents so much more than just an attractive women in a nice dress but the whole attitude of a generation. Everything was flowing in whatever way it wanted and for the first time thats the way it was suppose to be. This therefore must be reflected when marketing and advertising towards Generation X. Everything must seem care free and just a little bit rebellious. This generation is also known as the baby boomers and therefore they like sex as well. So why not play the sex card when advertising as well? Sex sells doesnt it?

Another way of looking at marketing to generaation X would be to play the 'children' card. Because they were known as baby boomers the majority of this generation had two or three kids. Therefore now they are older and their kids probably have kids they may feel as though they have lost that part of their belonging (or not as the case may be) they therefore need something to fill all of their time and they may want to get away on a cruise and this cruise company may feel compelled to mention the fact that there will be no children on this cruise? - Just a thought.

Generation Y on the other hand are viewed in a different way and therefore should be advertised to in a different way also. They are generally people born in the 1980's and 90's however this may vary depending on who you ask. This generation for many is more difficult to pin down as the emmergence of digital technology has really taken effect. This means that with such a wide array of things in the digital universe and with the carefree attitude of generation X carried down even more so there really are limited things that will cover the whole generation. This is not just because of the diversity between the attitufdes but also the ethnic diversity. The UK is far more ethnically diverse than it ever has been again meaning that each race and culture will have their own ways and value systems. So is generation marketing over? Is it now an impossibility for Mr Marketer to lump together a whole generation of people? Apparently not but you need to do it in a segmented way, appealing to different bands of people within our generation. 'Appeal to our ego, our parents, AND THEN our senses'. That is the comment made by a 23 year old media professional from the United States who believes that we have to be shocked and our attention grabbed bfore the traditional marketing methods of appealing to our senses can take place. This may explain why techniques such as Flash Mobs are being used more frequently?

There is a sub section to generation Y that are called 'the i pod' generation, this is because they have grown up completely with things such as I pod's and technology in general at their beckoning call. They are the younger members of generation Y. I'm not sure whether i feature in this section or not however I have decided that I am down with kids and that I am going to plant myself in the I pod generation. After all I own an I pod and invartiably listen to it everyday... I also have a laptop and as a student I use that everyday.... oh wait so does my dad.... ok maybe i'm not in the I Pod generation then... its really an unknown entity as the debate as to the age of consumers that grew up completely with technology rages on. Without a doubt the biggest development for generation Y has been technology and how integrated this has become in our day to day lives. I mean technology is so trusted that the London Stock Market is run on a new computer system that would never go wrong....... oops. Marketers have had to become open to all sorts of digital ways to market to generation Y as that is how their lives are lived. Having Coca-Cola or Tesco as a Facebook friend is common place nowadays..... err just me then.

Because marketers do have to break generation's into sub groups now they may consider doing this for gender. This has been going on for years but has become more prominant nowadays as both Men and Women are pretty much equals in terms of the world therefore women are not just aimed at when advertising a new hoover like they may have been bofore but they are aimed at for everything including breakdown cover.



This is the same for men, they are no longer always rugid and just want a ploughmans for lunch - oh no they want style and sophistication and they want delicately put together wraps with organic ingredients- man sized portions of the stuff obviosuly. This is something that marketers have to take into account when aiming at generation Y as for the most part people care about their appearence more.

It is really difficult to market towards a whole generation however it can still be done. Just in a more spiradic way. Just wait until generation Z hits full flow....