COMING OF AGE

J. Walker Smith, of market researchers Yankelovich Partners Inc., Norwalk, CT, says age mixes two things, life-stage and cohort, "a generational group as defined in demographics, statistics or market research," according to the dictionary.

"Different generations have grown up with different marketing, political and media events," says Smith, co-author of "Rocking the Ages," a book on generational marketing. "Coming of age in the '80s was nothing like coming of age in the '60s, which is nothing like coming of age in the '40s. So the question is, What does this mean just in terms of sheer tactical executions" of marketing campaigns?

Experts say no campaign should rely solely on generation. But cohort should be part of your plan-and your segmentation.

The three main generations today are the matures, the baby boomers and Generation X. Matures were born between 1909 and 1945. They were shaped by the Great Depression, the New Deal, World War II, Korea and the Cold War. They made great sacrifices and believe hard work triumphs over adversity. They trust institutions (remember, "GI" stands for "government issue").

There are over 70 million baby boomers, people born between 1946 and 1964 (the years vary depending on whom you ask), which makes them the most influential generation. They are shaped by the Vietnam War, the sexual revolution and Watergate. They grew up in good economic times and are considered self-indulgent and desirous of instant gratification. They distrust institutions (in the '60s they wore "Question Authority" buttons).

Generation X, born between 1965 and today (others say between 1961 and 1981), is affected by AIDS, downsizing and divorce. Coming of age in uncertain economic times, they are self-reliant, perceptive buyers and more concerned with material well-being than boomers were. They are entrepreneurial (the image of Xers as slackers is now well discredited). They are multicultural and very comfortable with technology.

These thumbnail sketches are, of course, gross simplifications. Each generation is subsegmented several times. For example, matures have the GI generation and the silent generation. Age Wave Communications, an Emeryville, CA, direct response agency that focuses on boomers, splits between Beatle boomers and Monkee boomers, among others. "It's almost every eight or nine years you get subtle but meaningful differences," says Michael Rybarski, senior vice president and chief marketing officer.

For an HMO client, Age Wave had to find the best prospects for a Medicare plan. "We realized there were really three generational cohorts: Depression [80 years old], World War II [72 years old] and Ike 2s [65 years old]. They're all over 60 but each is a different model," Rybarski says. By adjusting messages slightly, he notes, "we were getting leads for half what the client forecast. And instead of one out of 30, the conversion rate was one out of eight."

Age Wave even started up its own telemarketing operation because it felt the service bureaus it was outsourcing to didn't understand the generational aspect of that work.

Yankelovich's Smith says Detroit carmakers have discovered that by failing to take generation into account they lost Generation X. The average age of a buyer of a Detroit-made car is late 50s to early 60s. The car companies are even losing boomers.

On the other hand, Smith says, Levi's (especially its Dockers brand) does great with boomers but fails with Gen-X-and the company is hurting financially because of it. "They figured the power of their brand name would carry over into the next generation," Smith says. "But for the Xers, it was about not being identified with the status quo. Now Levi's has overhauled its entire marketing operation to deal with this problem, and it is a generational problem. Levi's is a company that understands baby boomers like Detroit understands matures."

Ann A. Fishman, of Generational-Targeted Marketing Corp. in New Orleans-herself a silent (a group at the cutting edge of redefining aging as a still-active time) says she was recently targeted by two publications. Time magazine sent a letter that said, "With our compliments, a special offer for senior citizens," over a picture of a watch. Harvard Business Review's letter had "Strategist, mentor, talent scout, architect, builder, coordinator, champion." The reply card read, "Yes, I want to increase my leadership power."

Asks Fishman, "Which one do you think appeals to a person trying to hold back the ravages of time? Time didn't get me. Harvard Business Review did."

It must be emphasized that generation doesn't mean age. New York ad agency Bates USA handles communications, including direct mail, for the U.S. Defense Department's Joint Recruitment Advertising Program, aimed at the 17-plus audience. "Ten years ago the important thing was being popular," says Ted Parrack, chief strategist for Bates 141 USA (as in "one for one") integrated marketing. "Today it's 'Feel good about yourself.'"

With baby boomers, youth is a key factor. They refuse to see themselves as old. Smith says, "You have to talk about a new opportunity for adventure. Matures you can talk to about fixing ailments."

Bringing up the rear are the teenagers, Generation Y, who are so similar to their boomer parents-in population and attitude-that they are called echoboomers. The success of Delia's teen catalog is just one example that this is a generation ripe with marketing potential. Michael Wood, director of syndicated research at Teenage Research Unlimited, says teenagers will spend some $141 billion this year.

Their buying habits haven't yet been formed so marketers are eager to know them-and to become their brand.