Marketing Paper 2

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Marketing Paper 2

Introduction:

In this paper, characteristics of baby boomers, seniors, and hippie will be discussed in length in order to get a better understanding of their lifestyle and choices. These characteristics will help marketers to make necessary arrangement while offering products for this group. In this paper, the attitude, spending patterns, and demographics will be analyzed in order to increase understanding of these groups. Based on this information, some detail will be provided regarding the products which should be sold to these age groups. A short discussion will include the appropriate medium for reaching them and the message which will suit these groups.

Demographics and basic info

First of all, there is a need to discuss the demographics and basic information about these groups. Baby boomers consist of people who were born between 1946 and 1964. Currently, they are 73 to 55 years of age as of 2019. It is notable to consider that baby boomers generations represents approximately 20 percent population of the United States. They are people whose parents established families during or after World War II. At that time, the economy was stable and strong. However, baby boomers place value on education. On the other hand, seniors are people who are 65 years old or older. They were born before 1955. Seniors represent 27.8 percent of the US population. During their time, there was an increased focus on employment due to industrial revolutions. Hence, the majority of these seniors had a minimum qualification. Hippie is a subculture in the US that originated during the early 1960s. This subculture was started as a youth movement in the US. This movement was comprised of the youngster between 15 and 25 years of age. They belong to the age group 68 to 80. They embraced eastern philosophy by rejected established institutions of the US. They opposed nuclear weapons and criticized middle-class values in the US. They have long hairs and wear colourful clothes.

Attitude

It is highly important to understand the attitude and behaviour of these groups in order to formulate a marketing plan for them. Baby boomers are self-reliant, independent, and confident individuals. It is observed that they criticize modern cohort due to their lack of commitment and work ethics in the workplace. Based on their growth in the era of reform, they have a mindset that they can change the world (Kincade, Kim, and Gibson). Furthermore, this cohort is highly independent and self-assured as they grew up in the era of reform. As they have seen many movements, they are disciplined and team-oriented. On the other hand, seniors had seen World War II and its aftermath. They had experienced depression, deprivation, devastation, and death of their loved ones. They had also seen the psychological and economic shift. There was a sudden shift in the unemployment rate as it dropped to around 10 percent. Hippies advocated love and nonviolence as they saw both middle and high-class society. They participated in the movements that revolved around peace and love. They protested for peace in their movement due to which they promoted tolerance and openness to their children. Tolerance and openness were proposed and promoted by hippies as an alternative for oppression and restraints. They understood the importance of peace as a source of happy and peaceful life.

Spending

A critical examination of the spending power and habit of all these groups is highly necessary in order to determine their spending patterns. Baby boomers have a spending power of 5.4 percent on their expenditures. On average, they spend 3,425 dollars. They often spend nearly 46.8 percent as compared to others on pets. It is important to mention that the online spending power of baby boomers is almost 7 billion dollars. Seniors have a spending power of near 15 trillion. They are the fastest-growing consumers as compared to other groups in the entire world. Their spending power is increasing day by day. Hippies usually spend on drugs like heroin, marijuana, cocaine, and methamphetamine (Niesrin). They usually spend 500 billion dollars each year.

Product Development

Now, it is essential to identify which products will be presented to each cohort. For baby boomers, we will offer then vintage products as compared to temporary or recent products. This option will suit this generation because they prefer vintage products. However, for seniors, we will provide gardening and lawn care services at economical rates. They have grown up in tough economic conditions and they will judge every transaction in terms of value taken out of every transaction. They are in love with nature and their surroundings so they will be happy to get these services. In addition to this, we will provide DIY tie-dye t-shirts and headbands to hippies as they love these kinds of things. As they have long hairs, so they will be willing to acquire these headbands.

Marketing

Now, it is necessary to determine which marketing strategy and media will be used to reach these people. It has been noticed that baby boomers frequently use social media platform in order to interact with others. Therefore, advertisement on the social media platform will be highly effective to reach to this group of people. Furthermore, they value their time with families so they will be approached in a manner that may not disturb their family lives. An appropriate way to reach this group is through electronic media and more specifically through social media advertisement. The message must revolve around lower price and overall value that will be delivered to customers. For seniors, multi-channel marketing will be a better option as they are often read newspapers and watch television (Greenglass). It will be beneficial to concentrate the majority of efforts on making advertisement effective and in relatable language. If we will only rely on online marketing, then it will be difficult to target maximum seniors. The approach of newspaper and television should also be considered in this regard (Greenglass). In the case of hippies, the option of social media and television is highly effective. It will help in reaching a maximum number of hippies as these folks are largely found on these platforms.

Product/Service

Quacker Oats Company made Quacker Oats breakfast oatmeal for baby boomers. This product flourished as baby boomers often prefer healthy breakfast. For seniors, Planters (TIE) offered planter nutrition. However, it was failed as seniors did not prefer unhealthy snacks. For Hippies, Sam and his wife, Dana started a Mad Hippie which runs on philosophy. It is a skincare company which is GMO-free and cruelty-free. It is very popular among hippies.

Conclusion

There are significant differences between various generations of the Americans in terms of variables, which may interest marketers. These differences pertain to different variables affecting their decision making and purchasing powers. In order to be successful, a marketer should study the time period within which different generations grew up and relevant conditions at that time. Every cohort has its own liking and disliking. However, their spending power is significant, which means that marketers should provide them with adequate services in order to attain them as customers. All these considerations will make sure that the companies make products which suit people from different classes, as well as the marketers, will also know how best to present and communicate with them.

Works Cited

Greenglass, Cyndi. (2019). Secrets of Marketing to Seniors. Diamond Marketing Solutions Blog. Retrieved 6 December 2019, from https://www.dmsolutions.com/blog/secrets-of-marketing-to-seniors/

Kincade, Doris H., Jihyun Kim, and Fay Gibson. "Generational consumer segments and shopping process characteristics: Baby boomers and echo boomers with apparel product selection activities." Journal of Global Fashion Marketing 1.1 (2010): 19-29.

Niesrin, Niesrin. Hippies Characteristics in Peace, Love & Misunderstanding Movie. Diss. Diponegoro University, 2015.