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Marketing and PR: Professional Paper

Generation cohort is a group of people born during a particular time period. These people have normally gone through the same experiences and situations in their life. Members of a certain cohort shares the same behavior and attitudes towards different aspects of life. There are different generation cohorts such as Baby Boomers, seniors, Generation X, Generation Y, Tweens, etc. There is a difference between generations and generation cohorts. Many marketers target their products on the basis of cohorts. As normally all the members in a certain cohort share the same interests, same kinds of products attract each cohort.

Baby boomers is a cohort or a subculture that comprises of people who were born from 1946 to 1964. These people are currently aged from almost 80 years to 60 years. These people were born after World War 2 and were responsible for a number of developments that America is going through currently. They are senior citizens presently because they are all above 65 years. They are followed by Generation X. Gen X comprises of people who are born after 1964 till the mid of 1980’s. This is the generation that contributed a lot to the workforce and are also better education-wise. Generation Y is also known as Millennials who are defined to be born in early 1980s specifically in 1981 to late 1990s or 2000. They are people who are responsible for changes in different systems across countries. Generation Z is the latest generation that follows Millennials. These people are mostly in their young ages currently and are said to be born from mid 1990s to 2015.

Demographics and Basic Information

Tweens or Generation Z.

Tweens is the latest generation cohort. They are also known as Generation Z. These are the people who are not in their teen ages yet but are about to enter their teenage years. These people are not children nor teenagers. They lie between the two age groups. They follow Generation Y or Millennials and are born after mid-1990s. CITATION Kay10 \l 1033 (Williams, Page and Petrosky) The total percentage of Generation Z or Tweens is 25%. They are also known as Post-Millennials.

Generation Y or Millennials

As mentioned above, Generation Y is also known as Millennials. This word is commonly used in our everyday language because they are the people who have identified themselves due to different characteristics. These are born from early 1980’s to mid-1990. They are a currently of ages 25 to 39. As the age denotes, these people are the ones who are forming the workforce. Their population size is 95 million. They are also known as Echo Boomers.

Generation X

This is the generation that precedes Generation Y. These people are of ages 40 to mid-50, as they are born from 1969 to 1979. The population size is 82 million. These people are the ones who have seen the transition from newspapers to digital age. Being in their adult ages, these people have formed families despite crushing debt load. This generation is known to be lost as it forms a bridge between two of the greatest generations, Generation Y and Baby Boomers. They are also known as MTV and ‘Latchkey’ generation.

Impact of Situations on Attitudes

Tweens or Generation Z

Tweens or Generation Z is the latest cohort and comprises of people who are children or at most about to reach adulthood as the oldest people of the group are 24. There are different age groups within the cohort such as babies, toddlers, tweens (children of ages 8-12), teenagers and young adults. As different age groups exist, this cohort has gone through a number of events that have shaped their lives and their attitudes towards different aspects. They have gone through terrorism, major climate change, school shootings, etc. they have experienced harsh outcomes of the activities of generations before them, similar to Generation Y. They are seen to be more environmentally conscious along with fixated on bringing the change. This is the reason why in the present age we are seeing many activists who are in their teenage years. They prefer products and services that are environment-friendly and are produced through ethical means.

Millennials or Generation Y

This cohort comprises of the most educated people who are more determined to be involved in research and studies. They went through the era of 9/11 in their young years therefore they know the consequences that such activities have on the lives of people. Just like Tweens, they are also focused on challenging and changing the ways of older generations by standing up to them. They have also experienced adverse consequences of being socially irresponsible therefore they are determined to change them. They were born in the internet age therefore they are more inclined towards online channels rather than televisions.

Generation X

This generation was formed when technological changes were being brought. A number of events were ending in this era as well. These events included different wars between countries, the Cold War, etc. These people are accustomed to changes as they were born in the era where the world was moving from analog to digital. These people are family oriented and were cautious than their parents in different aspects. This generation did not earn high pays due to the economic conditions.

Annual Spending of each Cohort

Tweens or Generation Z

Generation Z spends $143 billion annually.

Millennials or Generation Y

Generation Y spends $322.5 billion annually.

Generation X

The annual spending of Generation X is $357 billion.

Product Development

Tweens or Generation Z

As mentioned above, Generation Z comprises of people who are mostly in their young years. Therefore, in terms of income and spending they are on the lowest level. Although their behaviors and attitudes have captured the attention and focus of marketers. Although most of them are not earning, still they use their parents’ finances to buy their desired products. It has been noticed that this generation desires products that are mostly influenced by the social media trends. However, the prefer products that are environment friendly and companies that are socially and environmentally responsible. Such products must be developed for them that are made from environment friendly materials and whose details are known by Gen Z.

Millennials or Generation Y

Millennials are the most important segment for most of the brands especially fashion brands. These people are responsible for changing ideas that were common before them. Therefore, they prefer products that match their ideology. Businesses have brought change in their product development due to this reason. Products aimed at millennials should be developed in a way that keeps them updated and involved. Secondly, products that offers much value at their price attract the millennials more. Due to this reason, fashion items can be developed for this cohort that are reasonably priced.

Generation X

As generation X comprises of people in their advanced young ages, they are moving towards retirement or are into such products that offer them a break. They are also ethical when it comes to their products choice. There are many opportunities for the marketers to develop products in different domains. As they are on vacations, such products can be developed that are related to getaways if not the holiday packages themselves.

Marketing

Tweens or Generation Z

As this cohort also contains people who are children, therefore, television and videos are important media through which they become aware of brands. Similarly internet is also a media that can be used for these people as teenagers and young adults are active on internet. They change their loyalties as soon as they feel disconnected from a product therefore engagement is also important.

Millennials or Generation Y

Marketers can use Video games, TV ads and internet as media for marketing for Millennials. The marketing material should be aimed at providing real life implications of the products. It has been noticed that Millennials like to purchase products have advertisements that show inclusivity along with the materials from which products are made.

Generation X

Generation X uses internet more than the other generations therefore the most effective way to reach them is through social media websites. Marketing should be done in a way that gives them the information about the product. They are not involved in researching therefore they will prefer products that provide information readily. (Williams and Page)

Product or Service

Chipotle created a web-series aimed at Millennials that featured a millennial lead who fights with an industrial food company due to corruption. This became very famous among the Millennials because this cohort is determined to fight off the negative situations that occur in society. This is an example of a successful product that was aimed at Millennials because Chipotle correctly identified interests of the cohort.

Mercedes targeted an ad towards millennials by showing the people in the ad who belonged to this cohort. This was a failed attempt because targeting millennials for such a car is not advisable as most of the millennials can’t even afford to buy luxury cars. Therefore, such ads and products must be made that are suitable for the specific generation cohort it aims.

Works Cited

BIBLIOGRAPHY Williams, Kaylene C. and Robert A. Page. "Marketing to the Generations." Journal of Behavioral Studies in Business (2011). Journal.

Williams, Kaylene C., et al. "Multi-Generational Marketing: Descriptions, Characteristics, Lifestyles, and Attitudes." Journal of Applied Business and Economics (2010). Journal.