Advertising Age reports that an Anderson Analytics' brand survey of 18 to 24 year olds indicates that their preferences are skewed towards brands that pay particular attention to design: Apple, Target and so on. I see nothing new here and not much that can be made actionable: design sells, good design sells more and good design that is affordable should sell even more. As I've indicated time and again: marketing should devote more attention to product design than it normally does.
An aspect that does not make much sense to me is that the article indicates that this demographic influences the purchases of their parents. I come across this "theory of influence" more than expected and generalized more than what is reasonable. Certainly there is a certain level of influence that goes with forming brand preferences - that is after all the role of marketing and advertising - but this is one of the least well explained and most impenetrable areas of our trade. In the case refeered in the article, it is clear that the demographic has a different utility profile from their elders but utility is not just due to preference, it has to do with trade off: a 18% comission paid to a real estate agent seems outlandish, and yet is perfectably acceptable at a restaurant, notwithstanding the fact that there is greater value in buying and selling real estate than in being served a meal that one can perfectly well cook. Generaly, younger people have less disciplined financial habits and are more prone to paying premiums that do not carry the same utility for older generations so that relying, changing the utility profile of a domographic groups takes more than the influence of their children: marketers have to affect all the marketing "P"
What's actionable for you based on this discussion:
- when fashioning a marketing plan, rely more on the utility of the demographic that you're targeting than on theories of influence
- go back to basics and cover all your marketing "P"
- if there are strong reasons to account for influence, explore the use of the "one third rule": is one third of the demographic exhibiting the behavior you're targeting or can you reasonably expect to touch one third of the demographic
