Last week I
left off explaining what social anthropology is, and what the goal of this blog
will be. Today I explore the age-old issue of age itself. How does age play
into pinpointing target markets? Chapter 2 explores the two most contrasting
target markets: the elderly and the young.
They say
youth is wasted on the young, but are advertising dollars also wasted on the
young? “Tween” is a word that makes me cringe. It’s one of those pop culture
hybrid words that people think sounds cool but it actually sounds really dumb,
like celebrity mash up names. Tween was intended to replace the category of
“pre-teens” which technically only accounted for people who are not younger nor
older than twelve, because twelve is the only age where you’re actually a
pre-teen. So now we have tween, which generally represents ages 10-12. Then of
course there’s the regular teens, who make up the age group of 13-18 and are
arguably the most obnoxious people on the planet because of all their brain
chemicals and such. Teens are a huge age range and this makes them difficult to
market towards. Everyone knew that creepy guy (or girl) in high school who was
16 and dating a 13 year old, right? It was creepy mainly because the age
difference is only 3 physical years but in emotional years they were worlds
apart. Advertisers know that what you like at 12 is not the same as what you
like at 17. Teens are a coveted section of the market. The advantage of
advertising to them is that they supposedly have the most disposable income
because they are generally not burdened with adult responsibilities such as
bills. Therefore, they have more money to throw away on Twilight merchandise
and Miley Cyrus CD’s. However, adults still have a steadier and greater income
overall. Teens as a market segment also have the disadvantage of short
attention spans. What they like today is suddenly uncool by next weekend.
Advertisers must be conscious of this and because of the unpredictability of
teenage tastes, they can be a tricky segment to market to.
This brings
me to the next end of the spectrum whose tastes and habits almost completely
clash with the last market segment. The elderly. It seems that the elderly have
a lot of clout in this country. And sure, it’s arguable that they have earned
it. They get to cut in line, they get discounts on things, and they’re the main
focus of politicians. This is also a heavily focused on market within
advertising as well. But why? Well for starters, it’s clear that old people buy
things. They buy a lot of things, and this is because they have time. They have
nothing but time after retirement. I admit that I sometimes watch the Jewelry
Channel before I fall asleep. I find the sparkly colored gems soothing after a
long day. The jewelry itself is completely tacky and I find myself asking, “who
actually buys this?” and then it hits me: the elderly. My suspicions are
confirmed when people call in to rave about the products. In a series of super
scientific tests I can confirm that 9/10 callers are older people. 2010 US
Census Data reports that only 16.2% of the entire US population is 62 and over.
That seems like a small percentage, but 26.4% of the population is ages 45-64.
The majority of the US falls into the age range of 18-44 with a percentage of
26.6%. So 16.2% may not seem like a lot but with the other percentages being
split between gigantic age ranges, it actually is a sizeable chunk. The elderly
are predictable. They often shop at the same places and they have the same
general amount of income each month. Their lives are at a stable place and they
are ideal candidates for advertisers because even though they may not live 20
more years, for the years that they do live we can count on them to purchase
goods. They are generally a safe investment.
So the
disadvantages of each group are becoming pretty clear. The tweens don’t know
what they want or like and may or may not buy something with their limited
income. The elderly may not have long to live but they’re predictable
purchasers of moderately priced items. Both are good markets for advertisers to
focus on for short periods of time. Ideally, advertisers would find a product
that people need for their entire lives. That way, advertisers could market to
us when we’re young and then switch it up as we grow. The products would grow
with us, like an old family friend. Does this product and advertising strategy
sound familiar? Well, it used to exist. It existed in tobacco advertising.
Cigarettes were the holy-grail of products to advertise; reasonable enough for
everyone to afford, a habit that people continue for a lifetime, and something
that people buy often. After legislation passed that cigarettes could not be
marketed to teenagers because of the health implications, nothing since tobacco
advertising has quite covered that lifetime spectrum. These days, I’m hard
pressed to find a product that is marketed to young and old alike. Even if
people do use a product for their entire lives, they are rarely pushed to buy
it at several different times in their life. People need toilet paper for their
entire lives, but products like that are generally marketed to the person in
the household who does the purchasing and that person is usually neither young
nor old. It is difficult to find a balance between marketing to the young and
marketing to the old.
Next time I
explore two more equally diverse target markets: the mainstream, heavily
advertised to 35-50 age range and the alternative niche market segments that
are rarely advertised to. I explore minorities in advertising next week as
well.
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