MARKETING TO THE MISSING GENERATION

Millennials are always in the news. Usually, nothing good is ever said about them. In fact, they’re the reason so many industries are dying. Millennials have killed bar soap, Applebee’s, tissues, and they refuse to get married, settle down, or have children. Even the once formidable real estate market is under fire thanks to Millennials.
 
So, in most instances, core Millennials aren’t the best demographic to target anyway. Many members of this generation are struggling to earn enough money for life's basics, let alone have any money set aside for discretionary spending. But fortunately for most businesses, the older end of the Millennial generation and most of Generation X are prime consumers to target in their marketing strategies.

Say Hello to The Missing Generation
Consider the combined older Millennials and Gen X as the missing generation, but a marketing sweet spot for most brands. These buyers are between the ages of 35 and 50, and are referred to as ‘digital pioneers.’ This demographic’s spending power and position in history sets them apart from older and younger consumers.
 
With older consumers, it can be difficult to effectively market to them because they didn't grow up with technology. Most didn’t even pioneer its use. Younger consumers, on the other hand, do not have much buying power. So we're left with the in between/missing generation who understands and uses technology, and has a lot more discretionary spending than their younger counterparts.
 
So, how can a business successfully market to the missing generation?
There are several critical components marketers need to consider when they reach out to the missing generation.

1. Create messages that appeal to their stage in life. The average age of first-time home buyers has steadily risen since the housing market collapsed. Now, the average age is 32. Most of the missing generation’s members will be homebuyers. Most will also already have children. The older end of the missing generation may have teens at home or no children at home. But, they aren’t quite ready for retirement like older generations. Consider their unique life stage when you market to this demographic.
2. Don’t coddle or patronize them with tech marketing. Digital pioneers were either super early adopters of technology or were the ones who created it. They know their way around a smartphone. Most probably use Facebook on a daily basis.
3. Appeal to their nostalgia. While digital pioneers are quite comfortable with technology, they do remember a time before social media and the internet. In fact, many older Millennials and Gen X are nostalgic for their childhoods, when times were simpler. When crafting marketing messages for the lost generation, try to appeal to their sense of nostalgia.
4. Do not use corporate messaging. Millennials and Gen X are leery of corporate America. The housing crisis shook this generation’s faith in big business and the government. It’s critical that marketers don’t use corporate speak or traditional advertising methods when they try to reach this demographic. Testimonials will appeal more to digital pioneers than corporate messaging.

Marketers have gotten caught up in the heady scramble to catch the attention of younger, tech-savvier consumers. In doing so, they’ve ignored a key demographic that has access to a steady stream of income. So when trying to appeal to members of the missing generation, don’t forget these crucial points.

Will AI Ever Be Capable of Creativity?

The robots are coming. They’re coming for your jobs. But fortunately, not all of your jobs. While it’s true that automation is taking over specific tasks at a terrifying pace, there is a glass ceiling for AI, and no, they can’t break it.

So, what jobs are safe from the massive influx of robot workers?  Creative jobs that require empathy. In fact, it’s safe to say that AI will never be capable of creativity. Creativity requires a soul, which a machine will never have.

Can AI corner the creative market?

No. But, and this is the good news; AI will make creative types more productive. How so? Take a look at programs like Grammarly and Scrivener. These programs have helped millions of writers plan, plot, and edit their work.

Recently, Google’s AI division developed a machine that was programmed to learn from its opponent. The machine could run more possible chess board scenarios than there are atoms in the universe. Pretty impressive. The machine played a best-of-five round of chess against world champion Lee Sedol. Sedol won the first round. But, the machine quickly learned and bested him in the remaining four games.

While a robot can measure ingredients for a cake. A robot cannot create a new recipe that tastes good. A robot cannot build something, paint something, or otherwise create art. Art resonates from the soul. Anything that involves memorization or diagnostics is ripe picking for the robot workforce. But if the task requires empathy to do well and right, it’s out of their purview. For example, a robot could take over a surgeon’s job. It can’t take over a nurse’s. A robot can vacuum your carpet. It can’t pick out and design an interior that’s cozy and pleasing to you.

While AI may be faster than people and can retain and cross-reference facts better than a human, it only operates in binary form. The situation for AI is either win or lose. It is either right or wrong. Black or white. AI cannot discern shades of grey. Human beings, as creative creatures, operate in a constant state of shifting perspectives and emotions. Creative pursuits, which most jobs are, require you to see things through multiple, empathic lenses. It comes down to passion and emotion. And humans engage with each other on an emotional level that AI will never be able to duplicate.

So good luck to us (and them). My money is on us! (But if we're gambling then the robots will likely be able to figure out the mathematical chances of that better. ;)  

TECH. GENDER. BRAND.

Last week, we attended an event hosted by Landor, titled, “Tech. Gender. Brand,” which shed light on some of the more important issues companies today face in terms of gender and its position in the workplace. Insights from the likes of Reporter Lydia Dishman, IBM Founder Nancy Kramer, Squarespace’s head of Diversity Lisa Lee, and CEO of Lowekey Greg Lowe II, were shared. The overarching theme seemed to focus on how today’s brands need to start creating a voice for themselves that aligns with this generation's values, one of those values being not so gender biased.

Advertising decisions can be biased because of unconscious, preconceived notions about gender roles.  

Gender roles have played a key part in the way people think, behave, and interact with one another since the beginning of time.  That being said, it only seems natural that gender roles and norms would play a part when thinking about and analyzing how companies advertise products.

When looking at America’s history in advertising, we are able to see how this came about; from infamous tobacco companies like Nebo Cigarettes creating ads objectifying women since as early as 1912, to even more recent examples like Carl’s Jr.’s 2015 “All Natural” Super Bowl commercial over-sexualizing women.  These are just a couple examples of how women are portrayed and objectified through media.

Is Machine Learning Going to Solidify this Bias?

Other than the actual ads, a prime example of females being sexualized in the tech industry can be seen when analyzing products such as  Amazon’s Alexa or Microsoft’s Cortana. These female personas are literally made to be ordered around within someone’s home, and programmed to be knowledgeable on all topics; sound like a demographic we know of? Or what about travel and hospitality companies like Uber and Airbnb that constantly struggle with female client safety issues? These unconscious gender norms are more often than not, shrugged aside in the industry. Not acceptable.

Not only is the aforementioned shrugged aside, it's literally disappearing; and by “it” we’re referring to females.  Machine learning has made it so females are legitimately losing visibility on social platforms. Ever search for a female name on LinkedIn like “Stephanie Williams” for example, and get a response such as “Did you mean Stephan Williams?” LinkedIn’s algorithm wasn’t even in favor of women (WOW). A company that’s meant to be a professional networking site was designed so women weren’t considered as connected as men. LinkedIn recently modified this “glitch”, but the theory still stands.  

The Takeaway

Today’s generation is all about new experiences, and as discussed in our previous blog posts, in order for brands to become iconic, they need to be upfront with their consumers, and stay honest and relevant.  Part of this relevancy, is steering away from these unconscious gender stereotypes and just being true to their brand.

Landor’s goal with this panel discussion was to bring light to the ideas associated with gender, specifically in the tech industry, and really create a dialogue that is often times ignored in the professional world.  Technology has uncovered these uncomfortable truths about cliché gender norms, and it is time we took a step forward and forget about these unconscious tendencies. The only way to make these changes are with these types of discussions, and hopefully with time, tech will be an integrated and diverse part of society.