Are you talking to the right generation?

Today is the first time in history that we have five generations to market to: the Traditionalists, the Baby Boomers, Gen X, Gen Y and the Millennials. As a Gen-Xer myself, sandwiched between all of these people, I find this fascinating.  As a marketer who has spent much of her career in retail, deviating from the traditional 18-65 year old grocery shopper demographic is tough. Grocery, mass merchants and other retailers have to appeal to everyone, so how do you connect with a particular generation group who has vastly different values, interests and cares?

The answer is not cut and dry. If you think of a grocery chain like an organizational chart, it might make more sense. Position the brand/store banner as the lead or umbrella at the top of the chart and the brands/products as departments in the organization, then you can start to segment your generational branding that way as well. The overall 18-65 fits the brand umbrella, but the departments, brands and products you offer can be targeted at specific generations and consumer demographics.

If retailers do not start to understand that they need to talk more directly to each generation and connect with them, they will ultimately miss the opportunity to grow. In today’s world, you cannot speak to the masses… they won’t hear you.

Start with the worst-case scenario

When looking to solve a problem or design a line of products, I suggest you start with the most challenging scenario.

Many design firms WOW you with the amazing creative at Phase one. I think it is great to see that amazing work – the problem is that most of that amazing work doesn’t print, and if it does print, it certainly won’t print the way you saw it or print within your budget. I am a bit more practical. I get a lot of flack from my staff because it was my biggest pet peeve back when I was working for large retailers and buying services, to be shown something that I couldn’t have. It’s a tease, and in my opinion, just wrong. So we design to the budget, to the most challenging substrate and the hardest SKU with the longest name.

It’s hard and it’s challenging, and often times, it doesn’t lead to the biggest WOW, but it does lead to items that are designed to print on the press they are specked for and at the budget that the client can afford. Novel, I say!