At the risk of sounding like an old fart (I have no problem sounding like an idiot, because, as we all know, I am one of those, but I'm not such an old fart), I wish agencies would recognize that not everybody they need to be targeting is 20-something.
Seems like no matter what the product is, the concept, people in the commercial and humor, if there is any, is targeted pretty specifically at people Who Are Not Me. Which, in a way, tells me they don't want my business.
I believe in targeted marketing. I do. I believe that campaigns for Red Bull or Lite beer ought to be targeted to the demographic that drinks Red Bull and Lite beer.
But not everybody is in that generation. It just seems that the creative teams who do the work either are in that demographic or can't see past it. Or - and this is probably a big factor too - it's the old "let's do something really cool so we can win an award" factor at work. "Let's have a camel wandering through an office . . . "
Baby Boomers - make fun of them (us) mock our reluctance to act our ages, do what you want. But don't ignore the fact that more half the nation's wealth and more than $2.3 trillion in buying power is wrapped up in people born between 1946 and 1964. That's a lot.
Baby boomers dominate 1,023 out of 1,083 consumer packaged goods categories, watch 9-10 hours of video a day, comprise 1/3 of all TV viewers, online users, social media users, and Twitter users and are most likely to have broadband Internet access at home.
So think about who's going to buy that beer, use that credit card, test-drive that car or buy that insurance. Think about whether or not we're really going to respond to the same appeal as a 26 year-old will. Maybe one size doesn't actually fit all. Think about it.
And while you're thinking about it, get off my lawn.
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