Mind the Gap
If you’re in the online marketing biz, chances are you belong to Generation X (born between 1965 and 1980) or even Generation Y. Chances are equally good that your online donors and activists are baby boomers.
Therein lies the rub.
Boomers and Xers have different worldviews, cultural touchstones, and senses of humor. Not surprising given Xers’ tendency to define themselves primarily as "not Boomers." And, while Xers arguably dominate among non-profit fundraisers and marketers, Boomers are undeniably the primary target audience. It’s just demographically the way it is right now.
But you wouldn’t know it from many online marketing campaigns which are designed by Xers to engage other Xers. And therefore miss the mark.
Not long ago a colleague, who by the way is brilliantly funny and creative, developed a biting Flash parody based on the deservedly defunct Ashton Kutcher MTV show Punk’d,. The parody bombed. It was well-produced and cute. Problem was, no one in the email audience had ever watched or heard of Punk’d. The audience didn’t get the joke.
I was born in the peak year of the baby boom. My colleague Mars is dead-center in the Gen-X cohort. My other colleagues Sarah and Alia are young Xers. While we do have common interests and cultural loves (Seinfeld, Borat), the divergences are equally apparent. Xers seem to find Ben Stiller funny, which mystifies me. Animal House is the iconic comedy of my generation; for Xers it’s Austin Powers and Dazed and Confused. I think John Belushi was a genius. Sarah thinks Wes Anderson is a genius.
Xers also seem to have an inexhaustible appetite for reality TV, which I find mostly unwatchable. Another, equally talented, former colleague launched an unsuccessful parody of Operation Runway for a large organization. Same outcome as Punk’d. Same reason. The audience didn’t get the joke.
That you are not your target audience is a truism of good marketing. Given the current need to market across the Boomer-GenX divide, it becomes a major imperative.
Mark Rovner, President and CEO, Sea Change Strategies
June 5th, 2007 at 3:41 pm
Interesting that this article doesn’t note how genXers (such as myself) absolutely hate pigeonholing people or situations.
It’s also vital to realize that any marketing and design person who didn’t target their viewers, donors, and co-workers before creating their advertising campaign is guilty of serious errors.
Of course Punk’d doesn’t work as a Boomer ad campaign; it wouldn’t impress me, either. This was a failure because it was a BAD IDEA. Just like a parody of Animal House is also a BAD IDEA. Boomers don’t want to watch those parodies either.
And as for reality TV, this is, once again, an un-clever assertion. Generation X was the first group to backlash AGAINST reality TV. Boomers and Generation Y watch Dancing with the Stars, The Biggest Loser and American Idol more than any Xer does. Xers watch Lost, 24, Heroes, CSI and House.
Let’s talk about marketing to the two groups for a moment.
The Baby Boomer generation is experiencing a renewed sense of purpose and power, because lifespan has extended and quality of life after the age of 55, 65, even 70 has improved dramatically. They are discerning, capable individuals who have spent a lifetime working towards retirement and, because they have actually saved money, can enjoy that retirement. They love inspiration, beauty and what things might aspire to be. They hold to religion and community tightly.
Boomers still hold to optimism and investing in the future. Appeal to them by emphasizing their legacies, their optimistic view of a good future and realization that everything is cyclical. Boomers believe they’ll never need a nursing home and will never need to be referred to as senior citizens. In their estimation, they won their wars and built the foundations of business and technology we see today. They may never use MySpace, but they’ve got email addresses. Show them how the money they give will inspire, illuminate and continue to shine on.
Contrast this with Generation X, who were raised by boomer parents to perceive a variety of political and economic situations as permanent fixtures. Communism, guaranteed to kill freedom around the world, collapsed under its own weight. Consumerism and the “me generation” created an entire group of business individuals who had no problem creating shadow businesses, shady deals and even murkier morals to make money, and as a result (think Enron and any number of global corporations) my generation watched entire lives crumble as Kenneth Lay and a thousand other individuals sailed away on golden parachutes.
Generation X is a cynical, mostly non-believing group of people. We don’t believe anything that’s been handed to us. Marketing to this generation is difficult and not particularly profitable, as X is also the smallest of the generations with the fewest children and least solid job record. If you appeal to Generation X, you appeal to a survivor instinct and a sense of fighting a system that disowned and disenfranchised our parents. We watched our parents bring their desks home in cardboard boxes; we have no qualms about loyalty.
Appeal to a Generation X person by showing them concrete examples of how their money makes a difference. Give them figures and give them facts. Never lie to them and never over-accentuate things. Tell them the truth. If you can show them how their donation fights “the system,” you’ve got them where you want them. Above all, don’t refer to Generation X as “the lost generation” or the “slacker generation,” not even in jest.
Is the future of giving dead? Nope. Studies show that Generation Y, which is a huge population, is closer in psychological frame to the boomers. They will be tech-savvy and inspired individuals with vast internet-based resources and a willingness to believe in religion and government. And they started work 3 years ago. You may have to skip a generation, but you’ll get your philanthropists back. Trust me.
TDS