Re: Mistaken impressions on demos and advertising.
> The fact that nobody in the marketing department is reading
> this type of article doesn’t make their arguments correct..
> Your answer is, I assume, conventional wisdom in the
> advertising industry. I am not a business person, just a
> regular human, and I respectfully disagree.
First mistake... the ad industry does not determine the marketing goals or target for products or services. The manufacturerer or provider does.
Let's take the "Gold Star" marketing company in the US, Proctor and Gamble. every roduct is designed, researched and packaged for a very specific age group, sometimes even down to lifestyle considerations. A particular H&BA product will appeal, say, to women between 24 and 42, and everything about the marketing of the product, whatever it is, is focused on that group and anything that is not in that group is ignored as it means inefficient usage of resources.
>
> There are hundreds of products new enough to the
> marketplace that it would be almost impossible for anyone to
> establish a brand loyalty. Many of these products, digital
> cameras for example, are driven by an ever changing and
> improving technology. The temptation to upgrade would be
> strong, no matter what the age of the consumer.
Yet each product is a combination of technology and marketing. Different brands inspire different consumer groups, whether by age or the degree to which the consumers are on the cutting edge or in a safety zone. Sony is safe, but more expensive, for example. Canon is for pros and wannabees, etc. All these images are cultivated and the products and line extensions are calculated to reinforce each brand niche.
>
> There are untold numbers of other products whose appeal
> crosses the demographic spectrum. The ever changing list of
> airline carriers for example. Or maybe DVD’s of just about
> any movie or TV show ever created.
Airlines know who travels the most and who does not. They know the demographics of the business traveller and the demographics, ages, geographic differences and even peak travel times of the leisure traveller. Leisure travelers put butts in seats, but do not make money. Business travellers make money... so the main marketing goes in areas like frequent flyer programs, special frequent flyer services, etc. They spend much more on the high volume traveller than on the casual one.
Beers are consumed by nearly everyone... yet nearly all the money goes to 21 to 39 year old male media and point of purchase and marketing. This is because this group consumes 20 or so beers for every one any other group buys.
Your movie example is particularly bad. the promotion for a release of Bridges of Madison County is not going to be the same as for the release of Season 7 of Barney. each one will be targeted at the consumer most likely to produce the larger share of the sales, and most other groups will be ignored as the cost of promotion (advertising, pop and marketing, etc) may be greater than the potential profits there.
>
> And even if all of the studies are correct and older people
> are in fact a hard sell, why not use advertising to
> reinforce their current buying habits? Encourage them to
> continue driving a Chevy and not lose the next sale to
> Toyota.
Since a lot of mainstream media is used by people of all ages, there is tremendous spillage. Chevy is not really interested in protecting the 60 year old buyer, as they do not WANT to have an image that makes them the Japanese Oldsmobile or Buick. they probably stay far away from "old" media so as not to get an image that will tarnish the brand.
> The baby boomers and generation Jones are a huge segment of
> the population. They have an enormous amount of spendable
> cash. Failure to even attempt to tap into that wealth is
> sheer stupidity.
Actually, the majority of retirees have little more than Social security, and a large additional segment has limited pensions to supplement. The median "weath" of a pre-retirment family in the US is under $100,000 and that is a very limited, constricted market. Keep in mind that one billionaire lifts the average of thousands of people, which is why I refer to median savings, not average.
>
> The mantra: over fifty five is not a desirable demo, Oldies
> radio is not a viable format. Orwell must be required
> reading during the interview in the advertising world.
Actually, it is over-55, and it is proven to be a difficult demo because the cost of selling is often higher than the profit on the sale.
And, again, it is not the advertising world but the fundamental marketing decisions made by manufacturers and service providers. Ad agencies and media simply do what the advertisers want, and that is usually to provide ad buys and media services that comply with the target demos.
