Advert targeting Gen X

M&S TV Ad 2012 - Summer To Remember TV Ad - Marks & Spencer

When looking for the prefect add to talk about, I found this advert that plays on all the senses and other stimuli. This is perfect for the target, i found statistics on youtube of the advert. With location information.

Also other details in the statistics how traffic was made. (looked into detail later) the advert has gary barlow singing in the advert and then the viewer sees him at the end. He is within Take that the band that is loved by mostly women of Gen x.  So the traffic of this age group may have come from the take that website as shown below.

Analysis

Scene 1 -The entrance to the advert the viewers are given music (The beetles - here comes the sun) that instantly triggers emotions and feelings of nostalgia of the time when the beetles where very popular and the effect it had on the music industry at the time.

Scene 2 - of a girl/female walking though a wood, CU of the grass, this provokes the feeling of touch on the skin, being natural. For the target audience this reminds them of when they were younger.

Scene 3 - this is of a farther figure and two children cutting the lawn together, having fun.

Scene 4 - Three children on a adventure, this provokes excitement.

Scene - boat scene - she touches the water with her fingers..

Scene - picnic - all the food laid out on the table provokes a the sense of British heritage with the British flags and bunting all around the classic TV, this links to the queens jubilee that is coming up during summer.TV campaigns like this defines what people do for events like this.

Scene - sports like the tenis and egg spoon race builds excitement. Also the advert has a part when the men looses to a women and he laughs it off touching on feminism equal understanding.. but good sportsmanship. This tennis scene represents teamwork with the ballboy/girls working together.

Scene - the sense of taste is also is aroused when a lady bites into a strawberry.

Scene - in the dark around a camp fire, its a feel good factor, letting all the worries going away. enjoy some food and peoples company. people tend to think of camp fires when they think of get aways for the family.

'on your marks for a summer to remember.'
This develops the need to make this one a good summer to remember. as the advert has plenty of ideas to make it different, customers may think they need to go to M&S to get products.  Adding the  'only at your M&S' makes the customer think that summer is defined by M&S. 

Customer behavior (Gen X)

How does Gen X behave when buying products.

Black box model. is simple model that covers some of the areas of the buying process in a broad way.

Howard Sheth model. This model takes the black box model and expands how every stage of the purchase process the consumer saves information for the next time they buy a product or service.

Engel Kollat Blackwell Model (EKB)  following the same principles the EKB model shows the flow of information that is attended when buying a product or service.  

Kotler model -

Defining - values and groups

Individualistic: Generation X came of age in an era of two-income families, rising divorce rates and a faltering economy. Women were joining the workforce in large numbers, spawning an age of “latch-key” children. As a result, Generation X is independent, resourceful and self-sufficient. In the workplace, Generation X values freedom and responsibility. Many in this generation display a casual disdain for authority and structured work hours. They dislike being micro-managed and embrace a hands-off management philosophy.

Technologically Adept: The Generation X mentality reflects a shift from a manufacturing economy to a service economy. The first generation to grow up with computers, technology is woven into their lives. As law firms and corporate legal departments integrate new technological tools, Generation X has learned and adapted. This generation is comfortable using PDAs, cellphones, e-mail, laptops, Blackberrys and other technology employed in the legal workplace.

Flexible: Many Gen Xers lived through tough economic times in the 1980s and saw theirworkaholic parents lose hard-earned positions. Thus, Generation X is less committed to one employer and more willing to change jobs to get ahead than previous generations. They adapt well to change and are tolerant of alternative lifestyles. Generation X is ambitious and eager to learn new skills but want to accomplish things on their own terms.

Value Work/Life Balance: Unlike previous generations, members of Generation X work to live rather than live to work. They appreciate fun in the workplace and espouse a work hard/play hard mentality. Generation X managers often incorporate humor and games into work activities.

Groups

A group is two or more individuals who share a set of norms, have role relationships,and experience interdependent behaviors.

groups influence the socialisation process--i.e., they influence what we learn and how we behave

Why people like being in groups. As animals humans are social keeping together for a number of reasons;
-Support from others, this maybe in decision making. whats the best option to go for. (modern day, people like reading reviews on youtube and they can comment.. )
- Fear of neglect, not being bale to fit in and what it would entail of not being in the group. (loneliness maybe)
- importance of the membership, have a keen interest in a area of social pleasure.  

Where do values come from? 

(Source: Intergenerational value system Engel 1986in Evans etal, 2009)

How they effect buying process.

Maslow’s Hierarchy of Need

Research methods

Research methods

Secondary research

·         This would be the first stage to analysis the market in any research process. Resources like reports and journals are the most effective for this type of study because they go into good qualitative and qualitative data. When available the use of websites like nastonal statistics have large data on the subject areas. Other resources like TGI are good for large amounts of information, with analysis of primary research the link between habits can be established.


      Criticism - Secondary

•        The research may have been done for other resoans so the research may not be full relvent.
•        We did not carry out the reseach so we dont know, where, how and when it was done, maybe the time of year effects results for a perticular product.
•       Can be costly (but more likly to be cheaper then carrying out outselfs)

 Primary research    This field research can use a wide used a number of techniques such as Questionnaires, focus groups, observation.. and more depending on the type of study.

Questionnaire/survays can be in depth for finding out general information on habits. a good example if how would a customer buy a product for. Finding out information on more in detail habits and why makes this research methods not so suitable for the type of study for a questionnaire.

After carrying out a Questionnaire, Focus groups can take those results further in a more in-depth personal level. With Focus group, the question or task is given then its up to the group to decide on the results this makes it more of group dission so more results are given. This helps to build up a better idea to marketers what goes through customers/consumers minds when buying or using the products or services. (relation) relating this to Generation marketing, marketers will want to know what a brand means to their target audience (maybe gen x) what where the values still in this generations minds, does this still influence this mind set because past events. Generation marketing is interesting because its the way each generation reaches to values and symbols in life.

Observation, This experimental kind of research really need planning, because events can effect results. For example if i wanted to know about if Gen x would go on a cruise Holiday next summer, they may say no because of the recent events within this industry. An example of use of observation would be analysing how much passing trade could be in a area, to see if a cafe would be a viable start up.

Criticism - Primary

•  May be easy to Obscurer statistics, the wording may be in current so interpretation from the subjects may be wrong.
• Within the fouse group one or two people may dominate the group to give just their opinion.
• Mis-interpretation of the data and numbers. Giving false conclusions.

Platforms

What platforms does Genaration x use? 
On my other post (here) I found table that decriebed the genarartion and some of the platforms they use. i wanted to take this further then just in the work place and see if this generation is really takieng us new emeerging comms like the internert. Can I (as a marketer) find ways of research this genration directley fromt them. 


My first reaction to this was, time to check facebook. (have a quick brake) but that was the first step how many people are on facebook and is there any information ont he ages in facebook.

 

 These pies are the brake down of Globle users. the information i am looking for is age.
[35-44] (14.9%) + (8.0%)/2  [45-54]   = 18.9%  
This still a big posentage for a genaration that wasnt brought up with this technolodgy.

some statisics on facebook that shows its a usable platform for research.

• Average user has 130 friends on the site
• Average user sends 8 friend requests per month
• Average user spends an average 15 hours and 33 minutes on Facebook per month
• Average user visits the site 40 times per month
• Average user spends an 23 minutes (23:20 to be precise) on each visit
• Average user is connected to 80 community pages, groups and events
• Average user creates 90 pieces of content each month
• More than 30 billion pieces of content are shared each day   (This will inclide polls)
• Facebook generates a staggering 770 billion page views per month.

 As being a student i have seen facebok being a central hub for people filling out survays. or shareing polls inside facebook to get acquire information.

 Social media has blown up recently with new and intresting fectures that build on basic technoldgy. But as i was researching in a new platform called Google plus, that has had some press recently becuase it is trying compete to facebook and twitter on diffrent levels. Google has one of the most used email survices gmail that many of the Gen x will use (no data found) for business or personal. but this service can link to 'Google Plus' 

When scrolling down looking at all the +1's i  could give all these brands i came across i live confrance. this was people all over the world professionals in their own industry an exmaple a director for a magazine in new york a Comms excitive in californa for a internet start up all asking questions in the lastest Sony production of The Pirates! movie (link) anyone could watch and get involved by adding comments. This got my thinking from a research stand point, what if i could utilise this feacture to have a fouce gorup online without the hassel of location time travel issues.. even be specfiic with the age and type of people wanted int he group. just make sure they have a microphone and computer at a time of day and they can all interact, and if any other people of the age range wanted to state their opion they could add comments.

 

 

 

 

Define “Generation Marketing”

From page 4 of Solomon defining Consumer behavior it builds on looking at the bigger picture. Marketers will define a consumer into categorize like age, gender, income ,Occupation (social classing) and much more.

Defined - 'Demographics' - characteristics of a population, this could be area.
Defined - 'Psychographics' - which refers to a persons aspects of lifestyle and personality.

These are important factors to marketers because this data defines how a product will enter a market. I will be covering these psychographics influences to the genration in a later post. (values and groups) and then applying these influences and developed values with an example of advertising that appeals to Gen X.

When reading Page 90 of Soloman textbook on motivation at first i didn't understand the link, but as Soloman explains marketers will 'build products or services that will provide the desired benefits and permit the consumer to reduce this tension' This psychological perspective of a motivation that develops a need. Can be given to a generation like gen x, this is because of the past and current events they have to handle and deal with everyday. This could be from being witnesses to London and 9/11 terrorist attacks to food scares or babies food having glass fragments within. They become more sensitive to outside threats so they build securities.

Now onto a little side note that still aplies. Gen X was the real first Generation to be influenced by brands and products because it mass communication that was taking place at the time. Particular popular products shown on the 'Timeline' in a later post like the walkman, microwaves ovens, pc and macintoshes. Really started to take the main stage with this genration, people wanted to have the latest craze. These brands that  where introduced like sony are stil strong and still hold particular values this generation.  My own example would be with my parents, they will only by Sony Tv's because they still hold the same ideology that they did back when they first bought their own music hardware of the time. 

WARC articles

Title:Don't You (Forget About Me) - Marketing to Generation

lets theorize

While reading the one and only Soloman, I came across the 'Role Theory' the example used in the book is that people play roles in what every part they are playing in life. Soloman explains that 'each consumer has lines, props and costumes behavior' so that got me thinking what were the role played by people in this time, where the stereotypes of the time real? while researchin through the world wide web I a report that covered the different lifestyles of Gen X.

• Southern Starters (2,146,900) – office professionals at the start of their career, many in London and South East of England, moderate credit and store card usage. Use Sainsbury’s and upper end clothing chains.

Expanded:-  Within London, the population is always bombard by advertising from a range of different brands so the use of word of mouth from co-workers close friends and family are the still the most effect.

• Older Suburbs (3,100,300) – oldest of the Generation X group, living more out of town – many outside London.  High mortgage and loans – although relatively low disposable income.

Expanded:-  This older part of the generation is less susceptible to brands and adverting. This may be because of the low disposable income because paying for debts. 

•  Detached Aspirers (3,153,300) – better off young middle aged families, living in London and South East of England. Enjoy golf, most likely of this group to have grocery online shopping.

Expanded:- online shopping is interesting here, because its a emerging market. This is the perfect example why shopping online is needed because of their busy life styles, they have children to cater for and both parents have full time jobs.

• Online Families (694,300) – younger families living in town centres, many close to best performing state schools, use internet for family pursuits.  Keen on self-improvement, education. 

Ref: http://www.lloydjames.com/_img/pics/pdf_1316702235.pdf

Time as X gen knows it...

More detail to come, adding how these impacting and defined a generation.

This generation had a very interesting set of even that have for sure influenced that generations any many after. Mini skirts, i know what your thinking but it isnt just some clothing, it represents more independance and separation from the previous generation. This may have come from the music scene like 'My Generation'  by The Who. mini skirts are that generations early symbol of going against the traditional English ethic.

For many men and women a like believe still to this day that winning the world cup was a the good old days. Placing this into a marketing scene, many marketing campaigns have seen the world cup against Germany been glorified. Below is an Actimel advert that is a perfect advert, targeting this Generation. The reason the advert is so effective because it provokes partial stimuli, emotions from the time England won the world cup.   by representing the values of football in scercity  Bobby Charlton:

Values

X Generation was the new generation that changed everything Briton saw as workforce. 'Half of them would willingly work more hours if flexibly was offered' this could be because lifestyle was changing compared to their parents. 'This was seen more from professional sector' this Gen was seen to be the first to keep Independence to follow their profession, not to secure relationship and provide for the family.

Gen x has reacted to against the 'face time' culture of working your time and extra, it was seen by Veterans and Baby boomers that they have to work extra hours to get promotions and pay rises, the committed employees will work extra hours. But this isn't seen with Gen X because of the want for a balance of work/life.

Gen X feel better working in a team with seven in ten feel part of a team and half state that they feel their opinions and idea at work. This also goes hand in hand with the feeling of job opportunities with their current employer.

Key points

• More knowledge around other parts of the organisation.
• Leadership skills.
• Customer service skills, especially in the service sector.
• Project management skills in the TMT sector.
• Help with career management (in the public sector)

Compared to other Gens, Gen x will prefer pay based on performance not the set hours of work. 

Defining Generation x

1964–1978
Generation X for the UK started around 1964. Generation X felt they had inherited many problems and were described in popular media as people who “sleep together before they are married, don’t believe in God, dislike the Queen and don’t respect their parents.” Early years would have experienced strikes and the Winter of Discontent. Later formative years in the workplace,college and university would have been driven by the Thatcher years of commercialism. In the workplace the recession and housing crash around 1990 also had a major effect on Baby Boomers in middle management positions and Gen X who was entering the workforce.

Current age: Members of the workforce who were born between 1964 and 1978 and are approximately between 48 and 34 years old.

Size: They account for around 32% of the workforce.

Formative years: These ‘Thatcher’s children’ were exposed to news about corporate scandals, both their parents were working full time, and found a growing demand for educational achievement and performance.

Joined the workforce when: There was economic turmoil. Many graduated into the worst job market since the Great Depression. Exposed to large scale redundancies and cut of long term benefits therefore they are used to uncertainty.

Retention: Half have spent at least five years with their current employer.

View of career: Most are experienced as service and knowledge workers. Focus more on their ‘professional ladder’ of employability rather than the ‘corporate ladder’.

(Updated) - WARC report
Generation X is sometimes characterized as the forgotten generation. Xers learned early that self-reliance, skepticism and pragmatism are necessary ingredients for achieving success.
More than 25 years of Yankelovich MONITOR research on Generation X shows that Xers are characterized by three core values:

• Savvy: Xer savvy is a combination of critical judgment, knowledge and wariness.
• Diversity: During their formative years, Xers were the first to represent meaningful ethnic diversity, household diversity (they were the first “children of divorce”) and lifestyle diversity.
• Entrepreneurial mindset: Xers are driven by a need to forge a future on their own terms. They feel that they can't rely on anyone or anything. They develop their own talents, use their own judgment and succeed in their own way.

"Generation X grew up in the 'me generation' of the 1980s, and now they are able to see that it is not all it is cracked up to be," said Jackie Shelton, 31, vice president of Minor Advertising in Reno.



Generation X
Born: 1966-1976
Coming of Age: 1988-1994
Age in 2004: 28 to 38
Current Population: 41 million

Sometimes referred to as the “lost” generation, this was the first generation of “latchkey” kids, exposed to lots of daycare and divorce. Known as the generation with the lowest voting participation rate of any generation, Gen Xers were quoted by Newsweek as “the generation that dropped out without ever turning on the news or tuning in to the social issues around them.”

Gen X is often characterized by high levels of skepticism, “what’s in it for me” attitudes and a reputation for some of the worst music to ever gain popularity. Now, moving into adulthood William Morrow (Generations) cited the childhood divorce of many Gen Xers as “one of the most decisive experiences influencing how Gen Xers will shape their own families”.

Gen Xers are arguably the best educated generation with 29% obtaining a bachelor’s degree or higher (6% higher than the previous cohort). And, with that education and a growing maturity they are starting to form families with a higher level of caution and pragmatism than their parents demonstrated. Concerns run high over avoiding broken homes, kids growing up without a parent around and financial planning.

In the beginning...

Well, A blog.. many uses for a blog, the type of use's I have come into contact with is trying to find out how to fix my Windows xp when it blue screen for the third time. Always fun. But also other Blogs like 'TravellingTweed' a Blog that was used by an old school teacher telling her adventures down under. 


But now my blog, my blog to explain the characteristics that defined a genration. Through its Ups (80's music) and its Downs (Diana's death). This will be another playing ground, maybe more thought next time into the choice of generation. First thought x-Generation X-men, sounds cool. But when further looking into the chosen Gen, I realised I may be onto a win, this is the Generation I will need to impress, understand when going for a job interview, or kissing an ass to get a pay rise or promotion.


Right, do the the best way for me to get my head around Generation X, is to explore what happend, what where the key 'Game changes' in shaping ideologies of figures, politics, ways of life and everything in-between.


My next post will be a timeline kind of Infograph of what happened.

Compare and contrast other genarations

To understand one generation I think we should look at the range of generations. 

 
From this it seems they have a grasp of new techniques of communications. With the mass use of email for business. this generation was the first to grasp the Internet. Their views of the Internet is for information.

From this, my analysis is that they like to work with their own solutions. This is interesting compared to other generations as 'Baby boomers' will look to see what other have done in a more traditional seance. This is seen the same with Gen y, looking online for solutions. but however independent Gen x, will follow their own initiative. (why do they seek interdependency form their predecessors and descendants)


work/life balance, is the amount of hours taken up by work considerable different to their predecessors, to they worry about the amount of time not spent with their children. Being appreciated is an interesting analogy, what makes this generation craving more attention, maybe because their where so much attention given to baby boomers as they grow up young. in the middle of two very interesting generations (Internet whizkids and post war optimistic) I thought the middle of the sandwich was meant to be the best. (UPDATED) Also mentioned in a WARC report, 'Sandwiched between the 77-million-strong Baby Boom generation and the new heartthrobs of the marketing world—the 64-million-strong Millennial generation between the ages of 16 and 30—are 57 million Xers who warrant more attention.'
 
Gen X wants respect for their professionalism, this maybe because Baby boomers where out goers and the processes of standardisation appeals to them. Growing knowledge is valued this self worth, not like Gen y where they need to show off and share their knowledge. how ever with Baby boomers they respect time, not quality necessary.