Authors
offer timely marketing advice; David B. Wolfe and Robert Snyder's
provocative work provides insight into recent demographic trends.
BY RICHARD PACHTER
rpachter@wordsonwords.com
Ageless
Marketing: Strategies for Reaching the Hearts and Minds of the New
Customer Majority. David B. Wolfe and Robert Snyder. Dearborn Trade
Publishing. 359 pages
Dude, where're my dudes?
Recently, television executives were jolted by the mysterious disappearance
of a large chunk of their target audience -- young males -- based
on ratings research from A.C. Nielsen. It's serious stuff. This
demographic group is cherished by broadcasters, because they are,
in turn, cherished by their clients -- advertisers. Most big media
buyers fixate on this younger demo. Billions are spent, not just
in advertising dollars but on writing, developing, producing and
marketing programs and products for young men -- and women. We generally
accept that this demographic is, indeed, the most important one.
It seemingly dominates and drives popular culture. A panoply of
potions, lotions, devices and vehicles are created for this free-spending
market segment. But marketing consultants Wolfe and Snyder contend
that it's not deserving of the majority of advertisers' attention,
and this imbalance has impaired the efficacy of most of what passes
for marketing these days.
Wolfe and Snyder write: 'Adults under 40 once were the majority,
and they ruled the marketplace. Adults 40 and older are now the
majority, and they now rule the marketplace -- in numbers, in spending
and in determining the rules for successful marketplaceengagement.
The New Customer Majority is the only adult market with realistic
prospects for significant sales growth in dozens of product lines
for thousands of companies. Overall, the population growth among
young adults is barely moving the needle. The traditionally all-important
25- to 44-year-old age group, which in the past contributed more
to the gross domestic product than any other 20-year age group,
is shrinking. It will be smaller by 4.3 million people in 2010 than
it was in 2001. This follows population shrinkage in the 18-34-year-old
age group that took place during the 1990s, when the number of 18-
to 34-year-olds fell by more than eight million. That triggered
the end of sales growth in many youth-oriented industries including
music CDs, youth apparel and athletic footwear. People in the 25-
to 44-year-old age group have been crucial to a healthy consumer
economy because they tend to highly leverage the purchasing power
of their incomes through loans and revolving charge accounts to
buy `stuff' -- lots of 'stuff.' All told, spending in this age group
is projected to decline by $115 billion between 2001 and 2010. In
sharp contrast, the 20-year cohort of 45- to 64-year-olds will grow
by 16 million people during this decade. Sales are projected to
grow by $329 billion. By 2010, spending by people 45 and older will
be a trillion dollars greater than spending by people between the
ages of 18 and 39 -- $2.6 trillion.'' engagement. The New Customer
Majority is the only adult market with realistic prospects for significant
sales growth in dozens of product lines for thousands of companies.
Overall, the population growth among young adults is barely moving
the needle. The traditionally all-important 25- to 44-year-old age
group, which in the past contributed more to the gross domestic
product than any other 20-year age group, is shrinking. It will
be smaller by 4.3 million people in 2010 than it was in 2001. This
follows population shrinkage in the 18-34-year-old age group that
took place during the 1990s, when the number of 18- to 34-year-olds
fell by more than eight million. That triggered the end of sales
growth in many youth-oriented industries including music CDs, youth
apparel and athletic footwear. People in the 25- to 44-year-old
age group have been crucial to a healthy consumer economy because
they tend to highly leverage the purchasing power of their incomes
through loans and revolving charge accounts to buy `stuff' -- lots
of 'stuff.' All told, spending in this age group is projected to
decline by $115 billion between 2001 and 2010. In sharp contrast,
the 20-year cohort of 45- to 64-year-olds will grow by 16 million
people during this decade. Sales are projected to grow by $329 billion.
By 2010, spending by people 45 and older will be a trillion dollars
greater than spending by people between the ages of 18 and 39 --
$2.6 trillion.''
MATURING BOOMERS
Wolfe and Snyder also talk about the motivations of each demographics
group based on their own research, as well as psychologist Abraham
Maslow's hierarchy of basic human needs. Their work is important
and provocative, and underscores what many of us have already observed:
that the boomer generation hasn't necessarily abandoned its core
interests and savvy marketers would do well to deal with them accordingly.
This doesn't mean that they should abandon their quest for youthful
consumers, but, instead, ought to inject their marketing efforts
with a large dose of reality -- and maturity.
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