 |
|
|
 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
January 2008
Beyond Boomers
Three distinct generational groups attend your show. Do your content, brand and strategy speak to each one?
By Patricia D. Sherman
Generational marketing is the hottest trend in consumer marketing circles today. Brands, campaigns and entire strategies are created whole, but “separated” to speak to distinct generational groups. Same message — different spin. The trend has yet to really reach b-to-b marketers or the exhibition industry, however. But as more Xs and Ys move into corporate decision-making roles and become potential attendees, the topic will change from being primarily intellectual, to practical.
For four decades, Baby Boomers, the generation born between 1946 and 1965, have dominated the economy, the workplace and the exposition industry. Established shows are likely to be planned around their tastes, preferences and life milestones. Marketing is designed to speak to them and advertising is placed to reach them. Because of this long domination, and because show organizers are likely to be Boomers themselves, they have become the norm.
Boomers are still expected to be a dominant force for the next two decades, but more and more they’re sharing the marketplace. “Generations X and Y are different from Boomers, but they’re also different from each other,” says Skip Cox, CEO and President, Exhibit Surveys, Inc., Red Bank, NJ (www.exhibitsurveys.com).
“Generation X and Y are going to be the heart and soul of attendees. Decision makers are more likely to go to shows and the age of decision makers is moving down. Younger people are being pushed into roles of authority, so we have to build a younger attendance.”
If organizers want their shows to remain relevant, they’re going to have to get to know Xs and especially Ys as well as they know Boomers.
Frontier Days
“We’re in the frontier days of new advertising and message models,” says Chuck Underwood, President, Generational Imperative, Inc., based in Cincinnati, OH (www.genimperative.com), and author of The Generational Imperative: Understanding the Generations in the Workplace, Marketplace, and Living Room.
Show promoters have long based their attendance marketing campaigns on demographics (separating people by geography, age, gender and income and identifying group preferences) and psychographics (determining individual preferences based on demographic groups). Since the early ’90s, however, generational theory has exerted a growing influence on marketing strategy. In 1991, Bill Strauss and Neil Howe argued in Foundation Generations: The History of America’s Future, 1584- 2069 that generations have biographies shaped by historical, economic and social events during their growing-up years and that generations behave consistently throughout their lives.
“After nearly two decades of research, we know that generational values and attitudes exert remarkable influence on Americans’ consumer decisions,” says Underwood. “Because they come from different circumstances, no generation can follow another’s mindset.” Marketers have to find the generation before they can find the message. A single message is unlikely to appeal to multiple generations. Shows, like any other business, must present multiple creative messages, he says.
Out of this creative mix, generations will find their own messages, says Phil Goodman, President and CEO of Generation Transitional Marketing, based in San Diego, CA (www.genergraphics.com). Conversely, each generation will tune out messages to other generations. For a given show, potential attendees can be Boomers, Xs and Ys, all with different motivations. “If marketers focus on one generation, they reach only a third of the market. They have to focus on each market separately to get 100 percent,” he says. Marketers don’t need to worry about offending one generation with an appeal to another because each generation is only paying attention to its own message and filtering out the others.
Not every individual fits neatly into each category, especially on the margins. Late Baby Boomers, for instance, have a lot in common with early Xs. But research and practice have established that the vast majority in a generation shares a common mindset, is influenced by other generations in predictable ways, and responds to messages on favored platforms.
Patricia D. Sherman is a Dallas-based freelance writer specializing in the hospitality industry. She was Senior Editor of The Meeting Professional magazine, taught business and professional writing at several Midwestern universities and managed a b-to-b communications and advertising firm.
Researchers may define slightly different age categories for the generations with corresponding differences in populations. Some researchers pull the “Silents” out of the “Matures” and treat them as a separate category. These figures are based on U.S. Census Bureau statistics from 2000, as well as interim estimates and projection reports.
Matures. 58 million born between 1921 and 1945, more than 20 percent of population. They are divided into Children of Depression (1921- 1927) and the Silents (1928-1945). This is the wealthiest generation with an estimated economic impact of $20 trillion. The younger half of the Silents, now about 62 to 72 years old, many of whom are still active in business and careers, are sometimes called the “forgotten” generation by marketing researchers because of the focus on the huge wave of Baby Boomers that succeeded them.
Boomers. 83 million born between 1946 and 1965, almost 30 percent of the population. They spend about $900 billion annually.
Generation X. 57 million born between 1966 and 1979, almost 21 percent of the population. They’re the children of Silents and Boomers. They spend about $125 billion annually.
Generation Y. 80.5 million born between 1980 and 1999, 29 percent of the population. They’re the children of Boomers and Xs and are also called Echo Boomers and Millenials. Their purchasing power is already $105 billion annually and growing rapidly.
1946-1965
The most studied, most written about and best understood generation, Baby Boomers are going to be attending shows for a long time. However, if shows aren’t refreshed and modernized, they lose interest; they’ve seen it all before.
WHO THEY ARE: Confident, sociable, curious and optimistic, Boomers are happy to wander show aisles looking at exhibits, meeting new people, chatting and reading handouts. Networking, after all, is a beloved Boomer rite. Unlike Xs and Ys, they live to work. The leading edge of the generation is approaching what has been thought of as retirement age, but they are changing the definition of that term. One way or another, workaholic Boomers are staying in the workplace far longer than their parents. As they move into their fifties and sixties, they’re starting new careers and establishing businesses. They expect to be lifelong learners and earners.
HOW THEY FIT IN: Boomers are the parents of Generation X. With their high divorce rate, many still have teens and even younger children from second and third marriages, so they’re the parents of many Ys, too. As grandparents, they’re more active in the primary care of their grandchildren than any previous generation, says Underwood. Empty nester Boomers aren’t behaving as previous generations either. “If they move from the suburbs to city townhouses, they’re not necessarily downsizing,” he says. They want their space and their amenities. Or, they’re keeping their suburban homes and setting up offices. They don’t engage in the same kind of leisure travel as their parents either. For instance, says Underwood, “They don’t want to sit on a beach. If they take a cruise, they want to get off the ship and explore on shore. They want experiential, physically active vacations.”
HOW TO REACH THEM: Boomers have eclectic tastes and span multiple life events, so they can be reached at many different points. But even Boomers are moving away from traditional media. Like Xs, they rely on electronic media, particularly e-mail. They’re likely to read longer, more complex messages than Xs, and especially Ys. Like Ys, traditional media, such as radio, can be used to reinforce other contacts.
1966-1979
Thirty- and fortysomethings have been an attendance trough. Although there aren’t as many of them as Boomers and Ys, they’re important attendees because they’re becoming the decision makers. They’re very different from their Boomer parents, but they’re not just an early form of Ys either.
WHO THEY ARE: They are the first true “latchkey kids.” They’re introverted, self-reliant, and individualistic. They’re comfortable with diversity. They tend to be disdainful of rules and distrust institutions. The first generation to experience the full effects of globalization, they’ve been downsized and outsourced and have little loyalty to companies. Many postponed childrearing to their thirties and even forties.
HOW THEY FIT IN: Unlike Boomers, they work to live, rather than live to work. They expect to change jobs more frequently than Boomers. They’re not as likely as Boomers or even Ys to join civic clubs and professional and trade groups — a challenge for the industry. Less trusting than either Boomers or Ys, if they trust anyone, it’s another X. They don’t want anyone, especially Boomers, looking over their shoulders. Like Ys, they need more justification for attending shows than Boomers.
HOW TO REACH THEM: The fact that they are less likely to attend shows doesn’t mean that organizers are doing anything wrong, says Underwood. They just have to work harder to understand Xs. “They take their laptops everywhere,” says Goodman. They’re addicted to e-mail and they like and respond to online communications. Organizers should invest in high-quality learning experiences not available on the Internet with experts from their own generation. Xs want to see and interact with other Xs on the show floor, too. “They’re not comfortable if they walk into a show dominated by Boomers,” says Underwood. They prefer highly focused, more vertical conferences.
1980-1999
Today’s twentysomethings, Ys, don’t dominate the market yet, but they soon will, and they’ll be in the workforce for 50 years. Show organizers need to start reaching them now, but they’re the hardest generation to understand. “It’s not just in the U.S.” says Goodman. “Marketers in all countries have trouble reaching them. Marketing techniques that worked with other generations will not work for them.”
WHO THEY ARE: They’re the first global generation and the first daycare generation. They’re interested in their peers worldwide and expect diversity. They were nurtured as children. “They got a medal for just showing up,” says Goodman and they expect plenty of positive feedback for everything they do. The were also highly scheduled, so they’re used to multitasking and balancing activities. They have short attention spans. They’re self-inventive and addicted to change. They place a big emphasis on authenticity, real or imagined, says Goodman. Experience is an essential means to prove authenticity to them.
HOW THEY FIT IN: They are more group-oriented and more brand loyal than Xs. Unlike Xs, they love to network: think FaceBook, MySpace, blogs, chat rooms, and, above all, text messaging. They like to work in teams. They’re not as quick to set up their own households as were the questing Boomers and independent Xs. Up to a fourth of them, according to Census estimates, still live at home with their dual career parents. This means they have more disposable income than earlier generations had at their age, prompting creeping luxury demand — premium cars, electronics, vacations, liquors and cigars. Unlike Boomers, they’re more likely to consider business travel a hassle than a reward, so they have to have compelling reasons to go to shows. They’re likely to have their own agenda before they arrive and are less likely than Boomers to browse. Because there aren’t as many Xs, Ys will become managers and decision-makers at an earlier age.
HOW TO REACH THEM: They respond to humor in ads and promotions. They want short, direct messages and they want to see diversity in promotional images. Show managers should direct most of their ad budgets to nontraditional media, says Goodman. “If you just tell them to come to the event through traditional media, they’ll tune you out. Print promotion is a waste of money for this group.” At the show, they want lots of interaction and quick payoff for their involvement. “Ys want to get their hands on things, pull levers, press buttons,” says Underwood. Free admission and big giveaways work with them. |
|
|
Stay informed with Expo's weekly e-newsletter:
Get daily industry news via RSS  What is RSS?
|
|
|
|
|
 |
| |
A Red 7 Media publication - 7015 College Blvd., Suite 600, Overland Park, KS 66211, USA
Tel 913.344.1376 — Fax 913.469.0806
|
|
|
|
