Message to Marketers: Don’t Ignore Gen X

Posted by NetworkSolutions under Marketing
From http://www.networksolutions.com 4176 days ago

There’s a lot of hullabaloo about marketing to Millennials these days, but in all the frenzy, you might be forgetting about a very important demographic: Generation X. Aged 35 to 44, this often-ignored generation is important for marketers to target—but it’s important to target them correctly.

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Written by HeatherStone
4174 days ago

Hi Rieva,

It's great learning about Gen X, of which I am a member...However that age group is extends a little further than 35-44, with many sources stating birth ranges from 1965 to the early 1980s. The heart of Gen X is really those born in the late 60s and the 70s. This is important to know, because while you referenced Gen Xers entering the job market in the aftermath of the stock market crash of '87, I think what was even more of an influencing factor was that many of us saw our parents struggling with the various recessions during the 80's, when many middle managers and executives who had worked their way up the old fashioned way--without college--were just laid off and replaced with inexperienced young college grads straight out of school, who would work for much, much less.

I watched my mother go from Director of Finance to off the books accountant, skipping from job to job, working with Accountemps, trying to get just about anything to maintain our middle-class lifestyle during the 80s. So yes, I learned to cut coupons and comparison shop at an early age. But I think the spending issue goes much deeper than just that. It has to do with the backlash against the gross materialism of the preppie movement, which we witnessed and became a part of, and our disillusionment with the government, corporate America, and such. I think a lot of Gen Xers take a more utilitarian approach to spending and are less interested in luxury and more in simple comfort and its longevity.

I think Gen X is a complicated generation, last of the readers of books, but like you said, right in line with millennials on the technological front...and we lack the hedonism and naivete of the boomers. We're a bit more sarcastic and sharper-minded than the first wave millennials...so no wonder it's more difficult to market to us.

Interesting post, though!

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