Are Marketers Experiencing The Most Challenging Time In History?

It seems that now is the time when marketers have to be as creative, innovative and diverse as ever before. No wonder that it might be called the most challenging time for advertisers when they have to advertise amongst four different generations. From which each of them has different views, expectations, and experiences. It seems that each of the generations live in different worlds while being in the same room. So, how can the marketer approach all of them and is it necessary to approach all? First, lets look into each generation.

             Baby boomers or “Me Generation ” are the earliest generation born between 1946-1960. They are seen as hard working people with strong work ethic. They like to compete and are good team workers. On top of that they are good at reaching deadlines at work. As MarketingWeek states “The 50-plus generation is economically powerful” https://www.marketingweek.com/targeting-the-baby-boomers/. The studies have shown that the way marketing is approaching the generation makes them feel old but this is often not the case. And the idea that “Me Generation ” are absolutely out of the world of the internet is a stereotype. In fact, the research shows that only 2% of the over 50-s hate using technology and 78% actively enjoy using it https://www.marketingweek.com/targeting-the-baby-boomers/.

             Generation X was born between 1960-1980. This is the generation that created the internet. Gen X has been defined as an “in-between ” generation https://www.investopedia.com/terms/g/generation-x-genx.asp. Gen X people are described as independent, resourceful and self- sufficient. These are people who value freedom and responsibility in the workplace. They do not like to be micromanaged. 54% of Gen X feel that brands ignore them https://cmo.adobe.com/articles/2017/9/dont-you-forget-about-me-why-genx-is-a-marketing-cantmiss.html#gs.vs5o2w. This generation is seen as social- savvy and 81%  of them have Facebook accounts and still understand the value of traditional media.

             Millennials are born between 1980-2000. It is believed that social media is their second nature. Millennials are described as confident, ambitious, and achievement-oriented. Polls have shown that Millennials want flexibe work schedules https://www.livescience.com/38061-millennials-generation-y.html. People are seen as masters of multi- tasking and for that it is important to make sure that marketers content captures millennials attention and then keeps it. https://www.morriscreative.com/personality-traits-millennials-market-generation/. Few expert tips for marketing to millennials are: Be sure the product is Instagram-worthy, let your audience be your star, focus on word of mouth, meet them in person, be transparent, be authentic and provide an interactive experience https://www.inc.com/christina-desmarais/27-expert-tips-for-marketing-to-millennials.html.

             Generation Z or Gen Zers are technologically advanced and know how to use smartphones from an early age. In fact, they never seen the world without the internet. Gen Zers are seen as the most connected, educated and sophisticated generation ever, however it is argued that their attention span is 8 seconds. It is believed that they do not just represent the future but they are creating it. This generation is described as independent, self confident, autonomous and they do not rely on their parents as much as previous teen generations did. Here are some keys for targeting GenZ: Never lie, earn trust, stand for something, do not be phoney, be consistent and do not be basic https://medium.com/swlh/how-to-market-to-gen-z-7660faded83f.  

The present situation might seem overwhelming when deciding about the best marketing techniques, however I believe that this time also brings many opportunities for those who are interested in entrepreneurship. When we want to advertise, it is important to clarify our target audience, if more precise we can describe it, if more likely the marketing is going to succeed. However, possibly it is worth targeting our audience by their passions instead of generations? Or maybe these two work well together? What do you think?