Marketing Pop Culture

The difference between Gen X and Gen Y

According to a recent report from eMarketer, distinguishing between the two generations is relatively easy:

"Gen Xers use technology when it supports a lifestyle need," said Charles Golvin, an analyst at Forrester, "while technology is so deeply embedded into everything Gen Yers do that they are truly the first native online population."

Gen Xers--born between 1966 and 1979--numbers about 63 million, while Gen Y--those born between 1980 and 1990--number about 38 million

Read the full article here.

NEA's first national profile of professional artists

As was reported in yesterday's NY Times, there are "[m]ore Americans [who] identify their primary occupation as artist than as lawyer, doctor, police officer or farm worker."

Based on the 2005 census, here are some stats:

• Nearly 2 million Americans hold primary jobs that fit the census' definition of artist
• Combined income was $70 billion, with a median income of $34,800
• Percentage of black, Hispanic and Asian artists is bigger among younger ones
• For those under 35, 80% of the writers are white
• Women outnumber men only among dancers, designers and writers
• 60% of professional photographers are men, BUT 60% under 35 are women
• Number of artists has grown fastest in the West and South, mirroring the population in general
• States with the most artists per capita: NY, CA, MA, VT, CO
• Most actors per capita: CA
• Proportion of black artists remained unchanged at %5, same as in 1990
• Metro area with highest proportion of artists in the workforce: SF
• More than 1 in 4 artists live in CA and NY
• Median incomes in 2005: $42,000 for men and $27,300 for women
• However artists make more than the national median income of $30,100

Read the full article here.

Most Americans: Green is "Just a Marketing Tactic"

Nature Landscape: Land Formation, originally uploaded by photo.imagina.

Obviously, there’s a lot of talk about “green”.  More than ever, products and services are touting their eco-consciousness, foods are “organic” or “natural” and companies are staking claims that they support “sustainability”.

But according to an Ipsos Reid study reported today by the Center for Media Research, a whopping 70% of Americans believe “that when companies call a product ‘green’ (meaning better for the environment), it is usually just a ‘marketing tactic’”.

More interesting data points from the US panel:

• Men are more likely than women to believe such labeling is just a marketing tactic (75% vs. 65%, respectively).

• Southerners are most wary of the “green” label.  72% of southerners believe it’s a marketing tactic while 58% of those in the Northeast are least likely to believe this.

• Nearly half of the men surveyed (49%) are less willing than women (39%) to pay more upfront for green products for their homes

This should be a real wake-up call for marketers who are or are planning to jump on the green wave.  Clearly this will require more than changing packaging or coming up with nifty new positioning statements.  With 70% of Americans in what I’d call the “non-believer” category, it’s going to take a complete re-orientation of your organizations.  By this, I mean that green will have to be something that the entire company lives.  Imagine a P&G, Wal-Mart, Target or Coke demanding higher “green” standards from their supply chains, from the raw materials to the processing to the packaging.  Imagine further that they demanded that their distributors commit to a timetable for changing their fleets over to ethanol-based engines in order to reduce the amount of fossil fuels used to transport their products to retailers.

Perhaps it will take an effort on that order to overcome what seems to be a deep suspicion on the part of consumers.  Let’s see which companies take this information and really step up their green game.

More on this Center for Media Research report here.

 

PODCAST: Interview with Dr. Clotaire Rapaille

Did you know that in American culture

• Seduction is manipulation

• Being fat means you’ve checked out

• Work is who you are

• Money is proof

• Shopping is reconnecting with life

I recently spent a few minutes with Dr. Clotaire Rapaille, author of The Culture Code.  We talked about his last 30 years of work spent unlocking various “culture codes.”  His book, just released this past June, contains many of his insights about the various reference systems that are put in place for all of us at an early age.  By discovering the subconscious emotional attachments we have to various concepts and brands, he’s been able to illuminate the frames that surround these concepts.


MP3 File

The “Matrix of Brain Power” or, Organize Around Your Key Consumer Segment(s)

In the March 21 issue of the New Yorker, Tad Friend wrote a fascinating profile of Dave Wirtschafter, the president of the William Morris Agency.  I have to admit that I’ve always been attracted to stories about the personalities in the entertainment business, so when the moment presented itself, I took the opportunity to sit down and read the whole piece.

Now, the personalities, the psychological profiles, the gossip, all that’s wonderful.  However, here’s what stood out for me:  Apparently, there was “an internal power struggle about the company’s direction: should the agency stick to its traditional approach, in which music stars are represented by music agents and movie stars by movie agents, or try something new, as Wirtschafter wanted to do?”

Things seem to have sorted themselves out in favor of the latter approach.  Here is how Wirtschafter explains it:

"If you were a client, you’d want everybody at the agency thinking about you, so you’d have this matrix of brain power surrounding you as you entered the building—television, music, books, and movies all working together."

“Matrix of brain power.”  I love that!  It’s exactly what we’re talking about in the PMA/Northwestern Research Study on “ROI of Integrated Marketing” when we say that brands need to organize around their consumer segments. 

Behavioral Targeting Bolsters Brands

From today’s research brief released by the Center for Media Research:

Online research conducted by Dynamic Logic with Snapple, for The Internet For Women, iVillage and TACODA Systems, showed that targeting female consumers based on their previous site usage patterns, or behavior, has a greater impact on brand metrics than simply reaching them in specific content areas.

Using TACODA's "behavioral targeting" Audience Management System the Snapple message was enabled to reach diet and fitness conscious individuals outside of typical diet content areas, such as parenting or relationships, by targeting visitors who had previously visited diet and fitness areas.

These findings have implications beyond online marketing. In fact, given the extreme degree of market fragmentation, here’s an example of what going to be needed by brands going forward. Specifically, the ones that want to remain competitive will need to hone their ability to reach consumers based on needs, lifestyles or interests. Check out the writing and research by forward thinkers such as Don Schultz in this area.

Read the full research brief here.