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A Generational Approach To 21st Centruy Marketing
by Charles D. ScheweSuppose someone asked you to describe what life was like at 18? It's probably safe to say your answer would be peppered with words like exciting, scary and emotional. But that's where all assumptions end. If you are now 65, then your 18 was a whole different ball of wax from that of someone who's now 40. Likewise, today's 12-year-olds will have an 18th year that's different from both.
Furthermore, you have a lot in common with other Americans who hit that milestone year along with you. That's because you all shared the same "defining moments"--say, Pearl Harbor or Kennedy's assassination or the fall of the Berlin Wall.
Now, take off your "nostalgia" hat and put on your marketing one. There's money to be made by franchise businesses from tapping into the latent feelings and values of the various groups of generational cohorts that make up American society.
"Defining Markets-Defining Moments' incorporates the concept of generational cohorts into a customer analysis model called Multi-Dimensional Marketing. Lest you think this is a rehash of marketing techniques that recognize broad categories like Baby Boomers and Gen X, be aware that this approach takes the "generation" concept to a whole new and much more precise level. Old-fashioned demographics it ain't!
This model provides a way to look at customers not just as flat statistics on a page, but as multi-dimensional beings, motivated and driven by a complex matrix of demographics, physiology, and emotions.
Generational cohort analysis is the key to Multi-Dimensional Marketing. It provides us with information about the defining moments and values during a cohort's coming of age experience, defined as the period between the ages of 17 and 23. These core values typically don't change over time, so they provide us with a reliable way to connect with people again and again on a very personal level.
But cohort analysis is only part of the picture. "Defining Markets-Defining Moments" describes five factors that influence buying behavior and make up Multi-Dimensional Marketing. These five factors are arranged as a matrix and become the primary tool for applying the conceptual framework of Multi-Dimensional Marketing in real-world situations. They are:
Cohort Values--The people who are about our age and with whom we shared important life experiences when we were young adults are members of our cohort. These shared experiences help shape our cohort's long-term values, which we carry through life virtually unchanged.
Lifestage--These are the roles we take on, or act out, over our lifetime, such as spouse, parent, divorcee, retiree and so on. Lifestages define our attitudes, outlooks and daily activities, but different cohorts often react to the same lifestage in completely new ways.
AGE-RELATED CHANGES
Physiographics--These are changes in bodily appearance and function as we age. For example, older people are more likely to suffer from reduced grip strength, while middle-aged people are just beginning to notice gray hair.
Emotional/Affinity Effects--Our age affects our attitudes about a wide range of issues. For example, teens tend to worry about their appearance, while new parents tend to put their child's needs ahead of their own.
Socioeconomics--This includes our financial, educational, career, marital and other social and economic states. While important to keep in mind, a person's socioeconomic status tells us little about the underlying motives for consuming behavior.
What is so new and different about the Multi-Dimensional Marketing approach is that cohort values overlay the other four factors and shape how they impact the marketplace behavior.
There's money to be made tapping into the generational cohorts of American society. |
For example, we find Baby Boomers attacking the markers of aging differently than their parents did. And we expect that boomers who gave us latchkey children will continue this behavior when they become grandparents. So cohort values provide guidance to responding to physiographic changes and new lifestages. Here is a very brief overview of some of cohorts:
Depression Cohort (Born 1912 - 1921; came of age during the Great Depression; aged 85 Ð 94 in 2006): This group's coming of age experience consisted of economic strife, elevated
unemployment rates and having to take menial jobs to survive. Financial security-what they most lacked when coming of age-rules their thinking. Having lived through the Depression, this cohort prefers to pay more for a smaller serving, rather than throw something away. As a result, single-serving products are now becoming popular. Maxwell House Filter Pack Singles, Pillsbury single-serve cakes, and Orville Redenbacher single-serve microwave popcorn are all examples of effectively targeting this cohort.
World War II Cohort (Born 1922-1927; came of age during World War II; aged 79-84 in 2006): Sacrifice for the common good was widely accepted among members of this Cohort, as evidenced by women working in factories for the war effort and men going off to fight. Overall, this cohort was focused on defeating a common enemy, and their members are more team-oriented and patriotic than those of other generational cohorts.
TIME OF GROWTH, TRANQUILITY
Post-War Cohort (Born 1928-1945; came of age after WWII; aged 61-78 in 2006): These individuals experienced a time of remarkable economic growth and social tranquility, a time of family togetherness, the Korean conflict, McCarthyism, school dress codes, and moving to the suburbs. Overall, this cohort participated in the rise of the middle class, sought a sense of security and stability, and expected prosperous times to continue indefinitely. Post-War grandparents are healthy, active, educated and endowed with sizeable nest eggs. Spending by grandparents on their grandchildren is on the rise.
Leading-Edge Baby Boomer Cohort (Born 1946-54; came of age during the turmoil of the '60s; aged 52-60 in 2006): This group remembers the assassinations of John and Robert Kennedy and Martin Luther King, Jr. It was the loss of JFK that largely shaped this cohort's values. They became adults during the Vietnam War and watched as the first man walked on the moon. Leading-Edge Boomers were dichotomous: they championed causes (Greenpeace, civil rights, women's rights), yet were simultaneously hedonistic and self-indulgent (pot, "free love," sensuality). You can reap major rewards by tying your product to health and wellness values. Retailers can joint-venture with hospitals to offer on-site health seminars that have a direct nutritional link to providing health and wellness.
Depression cohorts prefer smaller servings rather than throwing something away. |
Trailing-Edge Baby Boomer Cohort, or "Generation Jones" (Born 1955-1965; came of age during the first sustained economic downturn since the Depression; aged 41-51 in 2006): This group witnessed the fall of Vietnam, Watergate and Nixon's resignation. The oil embargo, and the raging inflation rate and the more than 30 percent decline in the S&P Index led these individuals to be less optimistic about their financial future than the Leading-Edge Boomers. Technology is making it easier to telecommute, and more and more Trailing-Edge Boomers are finding ways to work from home. Marketers looking to serve this labor force should offer telecommuters ways to get out of the house. Fitness clubs could offer special packages to attract home-based workers, many of whom have the flexibility to work out during the day and make up the time later in the evening. Restaurants could host telecommuter roundtables-monthly or bimonthly luncheons that would give home-based workers the opportunity to meet and network with new people.
Charles D. Schewe is Professor of Marketing at the university of Massachusetts at Amherst Isenberg School of management and a principal in Lifestage Matrix Marketing. He is co-author, with Geoffrey E. Meredith, founder of Lifestage Matrix Marketing, of Defining markets-Defining Moments.
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