In the fall of 1994, I wrote this article for the Harmelin Media Report – a tongue-in-cheek look at my newfound power in entering the coveted Adults 25-to-54 demographic group. (Editor’s note – the Harmelin Media Report was our original agency blog, but being innovative groundbreakers, we delivered it exclusively through the US Postal Service.)
Somehow, 30 years have passed, and as I write this I am very shortly going to exit that same demographic that I couldn’t wait to join. It seems like a good time to take stock – of both myself, and the industry around me.
First thing I realized – at some point, the “money” demo changed from 25-to-54 to a much more youthful 18-to-49, apparently meaning that I had been, for seven years without realizing it, a super-important and influential consumer of all sorts of modern-day products. But then, at some point, the concept of the ‘age-gender’ demographic ceased to be important at all. I’d been tricked!
Imagine – in this new age, companies want to judge my value on things like what I drive, where I shop, who lives in my household, and what my interests are. I’m a unique person, not a monolith who just happened to be born in a certain year. How could this have happened? Why did nobody prepare me?
30 years is a blip of time, or so it seems to me as it has passed. But when viewed through the lens of the media industry, the changes and disruptions are mind-boggling. There was no commercial internet to speak of in 1994, and look at us now – connected across devices and places in a way we never could have imagined. One-to-one ad targeting is not just a reality, but table stakes, and we have so many tools to be more relevant to the consumers we’re trying to engage than ever before. (A humorous aside from the early days of audience targeting…we were listening to Pandora on our kitchen computer one day, when a golf-related ad popped up, I said to my wife “this is what I do for a living – they know I like golf, so they’re advertising to me.” So, when the ad refreshed on the page, showing “meet singles in Philadelphia”, I got quite the side-eyed glance from my bride, and her newfound knowledge of digital targeting.)
As a marketer, all these advances are incredible, and I work for a company whose ability to connect our clients with customers is exponentially stronger, even compared to just a few years back. Yes, I sometimes lament how easy the job used to be, before every day brought with it new technology or a new challenge – but on the whole, every day is exciting, and I’m learning more than ever before.
So, I’m about to officially join the 55+ world. And it feels very different than I imagined it would. Yes, I’m seeing way more Pharma and luxury SUV ads than I used to, so some of that old-school targeting persists. But mostly, as I go about my day consuming all sorts of media, I see evidence that yes, I am one very unique person, and regardless of age, I’m being seen for who I am today.
That said – I can still watch those Murder, She Wrote reruns (now streaming on Peacock), and I can still get confused by a remote control…so maybe less has changed than I think!
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