Demographic Segments Defined

In a session entitled "Market Segment Insights" on Monday at AD:TECH in San Francisco, three industry experts shared insights specific to the demographic, psychographic and behavioral make up of four distinct generations: Gen Y, Gen X, Baby Boomers and Seniors. Leading off with Seniors was Nielsen//Netratings Senior Analyst Leslie Marable stressed the over 55 crowd should not be ignored by online marketers citing increased usage of broadband, a 25 percent increased likelihood over average household of computer purchase, 25 percent increased likelihood of music CD purchase and 15 percent increased likelihood of book purchase.

Covering Gen X and the Baby Boomer groups, Veritas Director of Research Scott Marden reminded the audience Baby Boomers are the country's biggest spenders and look for quality products that help define the generation's focus on itself. He cited the group's love of all forms of media from television to radio to billboards to the Internet and recommended marketers be sensitive to the generation's appreciation of value and sensitivity to price. Referring to Gen X, Marden told the audience this group wants value too but, at the same time, instant gratification because of the group's experience with the proliferation of choice made possible by new forms of media.

Finishing the session was the ever dramatic Michael Tchong who spoke about Gen Y. After he got over the frustration of being tied to a fixed microphone rather than the wireless he's used to, he proceeded to cite this generation's much talked about multitasking, usage of cell phone as primary communication device and texting as second language. Reminding the audience this group was born in 1979 and has no experience with an "unconnected" world, Tchong urged marketers to do a better job understanding the very different behavior and media consumption patterns of this group suggesting increased consideration be given to SMS marketing.