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Generational Marketing ERA , TURNINGS & behaviorism

Guest post by: James Eddine

Article Overview: The Trans generational marketing effectiveness is increasingly challenged by marketing managers in the light of some results of studies and even by the non-achievement of sales targets.

Generational Marketing ERA , TURNINGS & behaviorism

Generational Marketing ERA , TURNINGS & behaviorism

In order for us to link Generational issues in today's communication, we must understand the current crisis, let us go back for a moment a 100 years and try to understand what culture shift means and what impacts it has on the current crisis. When we go back in time we discover that we have been going through similar crisis each 20 year time frame. These culture are changes called turnings.

First Turning - A High Upbeat era - strengthening institutions and weakening individualism

The pattern continues...backwards.

The Era of Good Feelings, post Revolutionary War. New areas mapped and settled, canals, and steamboats pushed back the wilderness. Reconstruction and the Gilded Age, post Civil War, building railroads, mines, and drilling for oil. We were rolling, and it was West.

Have we seen this before? Yes.

The American High, Post WWII - Truman, Eisenhower, and Kennedy presidencies. America was just done with the war. We were building everything from dams to infrastructure; we felt great.

Second Turning - An Awakening Passionate era - spiritual upheaval.

The pattern continues...backwards.

The Transcendental Awakening, Charles Finney's evangelism, Jacksonian populism, Nat Turner's Rebellion, abolitionists societies, splinter political parties, feminism, new prophetic religions, and manifest destiny. Third Great Awakening, Haymarket riot, student missionary movement, labor violence, muckrakers, and "new woman" feminists.

Have we seen this before? Yes.

The Consciousness Revolution, Campus riots, tax revolts, Vietnam War protests, rebellious counter culture, violent crime, and the family breakup.

Third Turning - An unraveling Strengthening individualism - weakening of institutions, when the old civic order decays.

Seeing patterns here?

World War I and Prohibition, Rapid technological change (Ford & radios), celebrities with big egos, class divisions, crumbling trusts and unions, and expert - but weak - political leadership. 1920s boom framed by pessimistic debates over drugs, money, cynicism, violence, immigration, and the family.

Have we seen this before? Yes.

The Culture Wars, Morning in America, individualism, then pessimism. Growing violence and incivility, widening inequity, pervasive distrust of institutions and leaders, and a debase popular culture. People fear the national consensus is splitting into competing values camps.

Fourth Turning - A crisis: a decisive era of spectacular upheaval driven by defense of values.

Clearly a Fourth Turning brings crisis.

The Civil War (1860-1865) began with a presidential election that many southerners interpreted as an invitation to secede. Fort Sumter, The Emancipation Proclamation, Gettysburg, Lincoln was assassinated and America's bloody 4th Turning ended.

Have we seen this before? Yes.

The Great Depression & World War II (1929-1946) began suddenly with the Black Tuesday stock-market crash. After a three-year economic free fall (stock market did not return until 1954), the Great Depression triggered the New Deal revolution, expansion of government, and hopes for a renewal of national community. It culminated with Pearl Harbor, the D-Day invasion, and taking Berlin.

Learn from previous Turnings.

Lincoln at Gettysburg - "Four Score and seven years ago..." he was speaking of the Revolutionary War which was four Turnings earlier.

We not only have generational traits reoccurring, we also have cultural changes reoccurring on a consistent basis. Most market research doesn't address these 80-100 year cycles. (235 years since the shot heard round the world)

When do 4th Turnings happen?

At this point in the generational pattern!

Hero/Civic - Today's Millennial's

- Moving from Youth (Age 0-21) to Rising Adulthood (Age 22-43)

- Social role: growth (receiving nurture, acquiring values).

Nomad/Reactive - Today's Gen-X

- Moving from Rising Adulthood: (Age 22-43) to Midlife (44-65)

- Social role: vitality (serving institutions, testing values).

Idealist/Prophet - Today's Baby Boomers

- Moving from Midlife (44-65) to Elderhood (66-83)

- Social role: leadership (leading institutions, transferring values).

Artist/Adaptive - Today's Silent

- Moving into Late Elderhood: (Age 84+)

- Social role: dependence (receiving comfort from institutions, remembering values).

What's likely to be in the public's mind?

In today's communication era, you talk to the "heart" not the "brain." Today's consumer doesn't

hear or see the message, THE FEEL THE MESSAGE; In a crisis period, in most people, the ego runs rampant with fears about the future and regrets about the past.

Some highlights

Niche groups will fade and be replaced by major appeal issues.

Family will become a more important focus along with children who will be viewed as an important public asset.

Peer pressure is back.

The public will want to hear it the way it really is.

They will be more serious about the issues.

They will be very interested in personal stories with high emotion and a texture of "real."

Straight talk will also work.

We can no longer speak to the Millennial, Gen Xers, Boomers or GI,s with the same langue nor the same visual collateral. It is extremely important that campaigns are segmented in 4 campaigns personalized to each generation at a time.

What you say or show the Millennials you can't say or show to Gen Xers and so on. We're talking about people and behaviors and cannot assume that all these generation behave the same rand understand the same language.

"All over the world the human spirit was at a low ebb. The fog of anxiety blanketed the globe. Like an enormous leech that wouldn't be shaken off, the Great Depression still sucked up our hopes. And there was war in Spain! Hitler was arming, Stalin was arming, Mussolini was arming. Free nations shivered, sighed, and tried to wish it all away.

What will stop working?

This is the time to redirect the wheel to its respective goal in the next term.

Let us look briefly at some changes that are occurring as we speak:

- Individualism is out.

- Discovering "self" is out.

- Celebrating differences is out.

- Empowering individuals is out.

- No more "Army of One."

- Personal violence will become out after a series of serious events.

- Bright and giddy are out.

- "How can I change things" is out.

- No more "What's in it for me?"

- Being flippant is out.

- Public talk about private matters is out.

What's going out and coming in?

- Everything is beginning to feel urgent.

- Education is falling as a priority, this is being replaced with survival/security.

- Social justice is no longer a priority, we are beginning to want justice against the individual.

- We are beginning to see value in regulation and public intrusion into our lives.

- Hard stance against immigration will harden more.

- "Lifestyle tolerance" and "process protected fairness" are declining steeply.

Issues that will begin to work

- We are starting to respect the establishment.

- We are beginning to want less complex solutions, heading toward simplicity.

- Celebrating what makes us the same is in.

- Sharing with others is in.

- Big, bland, and friendly is in.

- Empowering groups instead of individuals is in.

- Young - super heroes that serve society - big in?

- Team sprit is in.

A national sense of community is being revitalized. The culture will gravitate toward social goals and human relationships that can be clearly defined.

We no longer think Demographics.

Age 12-18, 18-24, 25-34, 35-44, 45-54, 55-64, 65+

We think "Generations."

Born

86+ G.I. Generation (Hero) 1901 to 1924

68 - 85 Silent Generation (Artist)1925 to 1942

50 - 67 Boomer Generation (Prophet) 1943 to 1960

29 - 49 Gen-X Generation (Nomad) 1961 to 1981

5 - 28 Millennial Generation (Hero) 1982 to 2005

0 - 4 Homeland (?) (Artist) 2005 to 2023(?)

Who are these Generations?

Generations and Cultural Shifts happen together.

It allows us to predict the emotions.

Since just after the execution of Joan of Arc in 1431, four types of generations have consistently repeated themselves. The repetitions are so regular that you can predict the actions/reactions of each of the four types from birth to death. It has been developed into a science. Generational Science has been discovered to be incredibly accurate.

In every country there are moments that define a generation:

You share these moments with your peer group. Each generation has a shared set of values, a shared personality. Demographics no longer work. Generations behave VERY predictably.

Why do generational changes occur?

Generations are divided by some historical event that changes societal behavior, we go through it together, it's universal - a marking point. Generations have common beliefs, behavior and somehow a common membership, a common reaction to events. "We belong to it, too. You came along at the same time. You can't get away from it," Thomas Wolfe wrote (in You Can't Go Home Again) about his own Lost Generation. "You're a part of it whether you want to be or not."

Generational Messaging:

"Generational messaging maintains that the era in which a person was born, shapes their early life and creates in them a worldview, one which affects the way they perceive and interact with the world around them." Their perspective was shaped by the time they were 10-years old.

"In order to connect most effectively with an individual, the style of messaging to be used should be as close to the style of messaging most popular during the first few years of the person's life." G.I.s grew up with mail, Silents with radio, Boomers with TV, Gen-Xers with video game, Millennials with the internet, Texting, Myspace, Facebook,Twitter, They want it when and how they want it.

Bi-Modal Audience

Boomers and Millennials will agree on pretty much everything - creating a new "Bi-modal" market. This symbiotic relationship only happens every 40 years. Show how to market to two generations at the same time.

THE REAL FACTS:

Unlike G.I.'s, Boomers remain young minded and are changeable

Boomers have more money to spend than the younger generations

Millennials do not make a buying decision without consulting their elders (Boomers)

Messaging to Boomers

The emphasis shifts again: from the product and its attributes, to the brand and the consumer benefits.

- "What it can do for consumer?" is answered.

- The focus is on how the product will enhance the lifestyle of the consumer. Image and status become key motivators in the communication.

- Nostalgia is big: a Retro look and feel appeals to them.Show with Millennials. (a two-fer)

- Boomers distrust authority: socommunicate benefits in honest, straightforward ways.

- Use a little larger font, avoid gloss, but have high contrast.

- Avoid blue, gray, violet, end of the color spectrum. They look the same to older eyes.

Messaging to Gen-Xers

Gen-Xers Designing ad?

Just make it black...just kidding. Gen-Xers like black, and use it way too much when messaging to Boomers and Millennials.

- A word of caution to all Gen-Xers, run your mail pieces by a generationally trained Boomer.

- And Boomers, run your Gen-X Ads by a Gen-Xer.

- Remember you are not designing ads that you like, but what your target generation likes.

- Quick and snappy may be too fast for the Boomers and Silents brains...and on this, I am not kidding.

How to communicate with Gen Xers

-"We are not a target market."

- Treat as individuals, but don't show them as loners...had enough of being "latch-key" kids.

- Little or no overt message of "buy this."

- It is a story of consumer life-style.

- Glimpse of the brand.

- Attributes are not the foundation of the message.

- Entertaining but not pure entertainment.

- Visual, musical and dynamic.

Messaging to Millennials

Understand how and why they shape technology to stay in touch with their team members.

- Bi-modal market. Millennials expect to be guided.

- Like Boomer music and respect their opinion.

- Don't treat them like kids, they are smart and don't want to be talked down to.

- Want messages in sound bites. Lyrics really matter.

- Looking for Heroes. Not just celebrities.

- Need up-to-date language, not politically correct, direct, harsh and dark.

- Are brand loyal. Don't lose them, you won't get them back.

Hope you have enjoyed these highlights, if you wishto havea morecomprehensive presentation of generational marketing, I welcome your email It was the pleasure sharing this literature with you.

Cheers

James E

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Article Tags: Genrational marketing



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