Greetings!
The digital generation (those less than 35) have received
the lion's share of marketing attention of late, which is perplexing. Baby Boomers
retain most of the purchasing power in our economy and are more gainfully
employed (about 95% vs. 85% or less for the kids)
McKinsey Consulting research finds that:
- 50% of all consumer spending in America will be
by people over the age of 50 by 2010.
- People 50+ earn $2.4 trillion annually compared
to $1 trillion for the 18-34 group
- They buy 60% of all packaged goods, over half of
all new cars and spend 75% more per vacation than consumers under 50.
And yet, less than 10% of all U.S. marketing dollars are spent
against the 50+ consumer.
So why don't we get
any love?
Part of the answer is the nature of marketing: It is a young
person's game, and all the sexy new marketing tools appeal more to them
(relatively) than to older demographics.
As marketers, we still need to go where the money is, sexy
or not. Time to stress-test your work against this "metric". And remind that
aggressive "edgy" young agency you hired who is in charge! |
|
Sampling your way to better customer research
Here is a white paper that offers a nice summary about how
to structure customer research. The key insight is important: Focus as narrowly
as possible on those customer groups that offer the greatest profit potential.
Casting too broad a net may provide actionable data that looks good but still
wastes money.
(You may need to sign up to gain access to the free report. A
small price to pay for decent thinking!)
If you really do not want Satmetrix to know who you
are, I have posted a longer summary of the report on my blog.
|
