Zac Martin made a post a few months back about the classification of generations in Australia as drafted by characteristics based off of the 2006 census. The layout was as follows.0-19 __iGeneration
20-39 _Generation X and Generation Y
40-59 _Baby Boomers
60-79 _Lucky
80+ __.Oldest
What I find interesting about this is that as time progresses it seems as if consumers are getting harder to reach via conventional means. iGeneration is almost completely dependent on the internet and therefore is hard to reach by means such as Television and as sad as it may seem I wouldn't be surprised if radio was almost a foreign system to them. Thanks to ad blockers even the internet isn't so successful.
The thing I find most intriguing about this is if things continue TV may just end up losing all of its power and beginning to be something of a targeted medium once everyone moves on and only the oldies stick to the aged technology. In may seem like an unbelievable thing nowadays as most people do watch TV. But if you compare average time of the iGen watching TV especially around the late teens I suspect a lot of TV time would have turned to internet time or at the very least to a combination. I know while I'm watching something on TV advertising is usually the time to turn to MSN meaning while it is being broadcast to me it's simply background noise. Most TV ads do not accompany for thi and try to be stimulating by sound alone so I get by pretty well.
Personally I figured out that I am horrible to target with advertising. All the advertising that I fully receive(Ignoring subliminal advertising) is posters on the train ride into the city every day and advertising that I seek out and interract with be it for this blog or simply interractive campaigns relative to my interests. Whilst my age may put me more in the Gen Y I believe I'd be more of an iGen but either way if the way I chose what advertising I am consciously allowing myself to acknowledge, then the future may to some look bleak...however I believe it will be more interesting. Creativity AHOY!
6 comments:
I don't watch TV, read the newspaper or listen to the radio.
You and I are a traditional marketer's worst nightmare.
I think that's the only advertising I get, too: posters seen during traveling... but only on long-ish trips, when I get really bored and start looking at things around me.
It might also do with who you hang out with, though. I hang out with a lot of tech-savvy kids who love the internet, so could agree with you, but when I really think about it, I could probably say about 1/2 of my class are never on the internet, and spend their time watching T.V. (When they're not doing homework).
But wow, yeah, it's true. The future for marketers looks difficult... but then that just makes life more fun and challenging, no? Good luck! =P
Although, there's always the possibility that the next generation will snap, and get sick of technology. When we're all old and wrinkly, passing hours with the internet, the younger generation might label internet surfing with our generation (i.e. the older generation) and make their own way by getting out more, or something. I think our generation can be put off by how hard the older generation works (Re: hikikomori analysis), so venture away from that with all kinds of tech stuff, and a "bumming" attitude. The next generation might be put off by our lazy attitudes and work harder, get out more (which doesn't actually mean they'll watch T.V... but yeah...) Stricter laws/regulations/punishments might also come in force and stuff, with music, and people may have to listen to the radio instead of "sharing" over the internet.@_@ You can never predict the future. =P Crazy things always happen.
@Zac: Too true. I still find it surprising though how many communications I receive on a daily basis. It's simply usually not targeted.
The only example I remember hitting me with a target market was uni student on the tram. However this only happens when I a not playing a handheld game or text messaging.
@Lili: Seriously you write longer posts than I do...you should get your own blog...
I'm not saying all iGen are internet dependent but what I'm saying is as time goes on internet usage rises and TV usage decreases. Whether this will continue is one of those unknowns.
Anything could happen. All we can do is expect the unexpected. Kudos if you know the anime.
Me? Watching enough anime to know where that quote would come from? Oh, you make me laugh. =P
I do have a blog... but it's generally just ramble. No one bothers to read ramble. =P
Yeah, I suppose it is increasing, but yeah: we can't predict the future! I always wonder what it'll be like, though. I'm really curious as to what the next generation will be like...
Everyone who has access reads your ramble. You're simply too exclusive to be popular enough.
I think you could do it though.
Also I don't bother thinking about the next gen because when you think about it what usually symbolizes a generation isn't even around until after that generation has begun. Think of the new aptly named iGen. iPod didn't even exist as the beginning of when the first iGen's were born.
Post a Comment