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Generational Marketing


Much research and marketing efforts are happening now around how to market to different age groups and this area is called Generational Marketing. Anybody that has a product or service should be looking into this new field of study. The wants, needs, desires, and requirements for the four different generations that currently co-exist are different from one another. Maybe your current product/service is only attracting one of the generations, but with a little change and a different marketing slant, you could open that same product up to another one of the generations and increase sales! Let's take a look at this concept of Generational Marketing and then I will tell you how I am applying this concept to one of my products.

The current guru in this field is Kenneth Gronbach and his book is called The Age Curve, How to Profit from the Coming Demographic Storm. Gronbach has the four generations detailed and their habits. Here is a snapshot. Please get his book to further explain these philosophies in detail.

* The Silent Generation. The group is born between 1925 and 1944 and is one of the smallest because of their older age. As this group continues to age, your best marketing efforts are to grab their attention by promoting independence through everything from cell phones to motorized scooters (wheelchairs) and chairlifts. Keep in mind too, that this group is the lowest in their level of technology comprehension - complex electronics are not for them.

* The Baby Boomers. This group is born between 1945 and 1964. This group has money and likes to spend it on things that make their lives easier. They are looking for things like sporty cars, home theatre systems, prepared foods; and they use technology to help improve the quality of life.

* Generation X. This group is born between 1965 and 1984 and is known as the Gen Xers. This group is smaller than the Baby Boomers, but this group is continually trying to define themselves. This group made computers and PDA's popular, so technology related items always sells to this group.

* Generation Y. This group is everyone born since 1985 and is known as Gen Y. This group is larger than the Baby Boomers and has many parallel spending habits with them; both groups want the very best. Items like high quality food and fashion are the focal point for Gen Y marketing.

Does this give you an interesting overview on what you need to do for your business? Here is one thing that I am doing and I hope you can see the parallel on how to apply it to your business. Recently I have re-done all my CD's, new packaging, new graphics, and all four currently have a 'branded' look - Weight Release, Study Skills, Empowerment, and Sweet Dreams. Sweet Dreams is my newest product and is a hypnosis CD to aid in falling asleep faster, deeper, and wake more rested. There is a large population that has restless sleeping habits and this CD will resolve that issue. I have found that older people (the Silent Generation) in particular have these problems; therefore, I am specifically marketing this one CD product via outlets associated with AARP to hit that older generation. Also keeping in mind that this group is not Internet savvy, therefore I need to market a CD to them via the mail, and not offer it as an MP3 download because the majority within this group don't have/comprehend computers and downloads.

Additional FYI - There is another parallel to this Generational Marketing concept which we all need to consider. I attended a workshop a few months ago and it was mentioned that by 2015, 51% of the USA population will be Spanish speaking. Therefore, if you market a CD, book, or DVD seminar, you should start planning to have those products translated in Spanish and market both an English and Spanish version of the same item.

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