Nothing fresh from Nielsen, but I’ll warm it up so we can have a bland snack:
The Me Generation Meets Generation Me
From their money to their media, Boomers and Millennials exhibit vastly different behaviors and habits…Understanding how to reach these consumers and capture their hearts with appropriate creative is crucial.
The Me Gen/Gen Me stuff is silly:
22 October 2009
Me vs. We Redux Redux
From my book ©2005:
Today, Baby Boomers are two or three times removed from being a “me” generation. What constitutes self-actualization when you are twenty-five is different than when you are fifty-five. In your twenties a person thinks they are the picture. As you get older, you see yourself more and more as a picture that is part of a bigger picture.
Talk to some folks in their twenties, thirties. They are now in that ‘me’ stage. It’s healthy, smart for them to be so. I was just like them thirty years ago, get a big bang out of them, admire their boundless creativity, energy – and self-obsession. These ‘me generation’ twentysomethings today will become a ‘we generation’ in thirty years.
Nielsen:
The aging brain is more easily distracted—as the brain ages it slowly loses the ability to suppress distraction.
Sounds familiar:
30 November 2008
Brains More Distracted, Not Slower with Age
Nielsen:
Contrast is the preference vs. color for online ads.
Online and any ads – television, print, outdoor. As Nielsen implies, these ‘insights’ have less to do with generational differences and more to do with youth/aging bodies and brains.
Remember: We were young once – and wallowed in graphic and auditory noise.
Nielsen:
… Boomers prefer clever, light-hearted humor (rather than mean-spirited) and relatable characters who are Boomers themselves or not much younger. The tone should be positive—avoiding words like “don’t.” For Boomer males, clever wit and calm dialogue-driven storylines work. For Boomer females, family-friendly humor and sentimental themes resonate best.
I’d agree with that. In fact, my book is all about that. I likewise agreed with it a few years ago:
16 September 2009
Boomer Backlash II
Click that link above, for there’s a downside to all this.
More posts about advertising and the Boomer brain:
