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1991-2008
Twentysomething™
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"CHANGES CALL FOR NEW LABELS"
By David A. Morrison
TWENTYSOMETHING™ Inc.
Kudos on your article "Behavior
Changes: Do Your Segments?" (Marketing News, July 22, page 5). The concept
of dynamic market segmentation is particularly applicable to young adult consumers. Back
in the early 1990s, the world "discovered" a new market segment, labeled it
"Generation X", and entombed it in an inflexible 18- to 29-year-old
demographic. (The erroneous psychographic stereotypes and the fact that a generation
extends far more than a mere decade are best saved for another time.) Static labels are
indeed the enemy and our firm has played a role over the past 11 years helping clients to
continually hit the proverbial "refresh" button on their segmentation radar
screens so as to see their current consumer subsets as they truly are RIGHT NOW.
Incredibly, many people still think of GenXers as the 18- to 29-year-olds profiled in the
1991 media frenzy even though this particular subset is now 28 to 39 years of age and
holding professional jobs, raising families, buying homes, driving SUVs, and so forth. Net
sum, the skateboard -- if there ever was one -- has long since been traded in for a
midsize BMW (or at least a Hyundai) and today's current batch of 18- to 29-year-olds
represents an altogether different beast. As a firm specializing exclusively in young
adult consulting and research, TWENTYSOMETHING INC. has been battling stagnant, sometimes
hollow, segment "labels" as we seek to maximize client decision-making. With our
rapidly evolving society, barraged by one paradigm shift after another, it is foolhardy to
set any market segment in stone. This fact rings doubly true for today's young adults and
the segments contained therein. No matter how you slice it, savvy marketers must always
keep their eye on the prize.
David A. Morrison is president of TWENTYSOMETHING™ Inc. Philadelphia-based and an industry pioneer, his firm specializes in young adult consulting and marketing research. Clients include an impressive array of Fortune 500s, leading advertising agencies, colleges and universities, global nonprofits, and state as well as federal government agencies.
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© TWENTYSOMETHING™ Inc.
Reprinted with Permission
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marketing segmentation Generation X Y young adults article paper