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March 8, 2004 - Strategy Magazine
News

'The ageless consumer'
Burned by aiming too young, marketers such as Mitsubishi capture both boomers and youth by focusing on mind-set

by Lisa D'Innocenzo
page 1

Thanks to longer life expectancies and boomers who refuse to grow up, Canada's parents are acting younger, while youth act more responsibly. Automotive and packaged goods marketers such as Suzuki Canada, Toyota, Mitsubishi, Nissan and Soyaworld are responding with executions that incorporate both teens and parents - and deliver against both targets.

There's a reason why the parents on The O.C. are cooler than nerdy Jim and dowdy Cindy from Beverly Hills 90210, and why the content of the new teen melodrama is as much about the folks as it is the kids.

It reflects the advent of the "ageless consumer," which was born out of the reality that consumers no longer act their age. Boomers for instance, act younger than their predecessors, while their kids are more mature - just like the characters on the show.

What this means to marketers is that there are now similarities between the two groups, enabling them to be targeted within the same campaign, a situation that wasn't common in the past, where parents were more likely to be the butt of a joke. Further, marketers who have clued into the trend - mainly in the automotive and packaged goods categories - are beginning to realize that consumers can no longer be defined by demographics, but that psychographics have more resonance as old stereotypes no longer hold.

Maddy Dychtwald, SVP of San Francisco-based thinktank Agewave, and author of the book Cycles: How We Live, Work and Buy, suggests there are three factors propelling the trend: Life expectancy has increased to 78 years; boomers now represent the majority of consumers, making their traits more mainstream; and there is more crossover between age groups due to increased access to information.

All this has created "a society where age no longer defines who we are," she says.

There's another interesting societal shift going on as well: whereas the boomers and Generation Xers didn't always get on with mom and dad, today's youth not only have positive relationships but share commonalities with their boomer folks. They listen to the same music, watch the same TV shows and sometimes even wear the same clothes.

Proof of this closer relationship can be seen in the "boomerang effect," says Dychtwald, which has seen boomers encourage their kids to return home after college.

As a result, "the marketplace ought to be considered an ageless one," she says. "The whole concept of segmenting the markets by age is passé. Marketers should go after life stages instead."

This can be achieved by pinpointing similar habits between different segments, she says, pointing to exercise as an example. A lot of boomers and their kids hit the gym regularly, so why not portray them working out side by side in advertising?

Another thing kids do with their parents is drive. Toronto-based Suzuki Canada seems to have glommed onto this fact, as seen in a new ad for its 2004 Suzuki Swift Plus. Created by Toronto-based Grey Worldwide, the spot features a "yummy mummy" behind the wheel with her teenage son as passenger. She points out landmarks as she speeds along - where she had her first kiss, where she met her husband, etc. In the end, the surprise twist is that it's his car, not hers.

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