William Strauss, Co-Founder, Life Course Associates On Marketing To Baby Boomers
Monday, February 19, 2007SUSIE GHARIB: Many businesses must reach out to members of a particular generation. But connecting with those in a certain age group is often easier said than done. Washington bureau chief Darren Gersh talked about that with generational marketing expert William Strauss. He asked Strauss what it takes to appeal to younger people, beginning with generation X, whose members are now in their mid-20s to early-40s.
WILLIAM STRAUSS, CO-FOUNDER, LIFE COURSE ASSOCIATES: Generation X has been marketed to more than any other generation in the history of time because the whole concept of generational marketing arose in the early '90s, around the time that X was discovered. So there has been this focus on the 18 to 34 age bracket for years and years now in television and in other forms of advertising. The problem that marketers face now is that there are these young people up to age 25 who are very, very different from those breaking into their 30s now and you can't reach them the same way.
DARREN GERSH, NIGHTLY BUSINESS REPORT CORRESPONDENT: What are the most promising ideas out there for reaching these millennials?
STRAUSS: These young people are very interested in user-generated content. They're very interested in anything that is interactive. They're media saturated and they do a lot of multi-tasking. They will be doing many pieces of media at the same time, so they don't pay as much attention to individual ads. They have two very prominent performs of influences: one is their own peers. That often has a positive aspect in ways that older generations might not understand. But the second are their parents and other family members. We've never in the history of polling, seen young people get along better with parents and other adults than today's teenagers and collegians do. It is driving a lot of people nuts in the workplace, but from the marketing standpoint, it means you have to co- target the parent and the young person and it also means you can reach the parent through the young person, so it works two ways.
GERSH: You say they're going in a more respectful way. They're more team oriented. How does that change? Well first describe that and then how does it change how you try to reach them.
STRAUSS: The generation of today's young adults under 25 and teenagers most resemble are the dying GI generation, the people who are the foot soldiers in World War II and the Rosie the Riveters. That was the generation that was known for its civic purpose and teamwork and upbeat attitudes and institutional trust. The fact that they are dying means that we have this perceived need in our society for something to replace that. And what is interesting, Darren, is that this is how today's young millennials can rebel, like being like that generation and stepping into that void. And so rather than being echo boomers, they're anti-boomers. They see the problems of the world as being associated with the downside that they perceive in their own older parents, and so they want to fix that. And the things that the boomers have been associated with, like individualism, things that Xers have been associated with, like taking things to the edge, these young kids are pushing back from.
GERSH: It sounds like that's where generational marketing can be a disaster because you get somebody that's a little older, thinks they know what somebody a little younger wants and it doesn't work. Have you seen just disastrous examples out there? Where does it go wrong?
STRAUSS: The biggest challenge is for people in their young 30s to understand when collegians and teenagers are different and why because they don't have them as children or siblings or as social friends. And when a 35-year-old is trying to take his or her own youth experience and make a satire of that and think that it appeals to current collegians and high school kids, that can really, really miss.
GERSH: Paul Strauss, thanks for your time.
STRAUSS: Thank you, Darren.
