Over the past 7 years or so, there has been a lot of emphasis on targeting or marketing our products to the Generation X and more intensively, the Generation Y group. The reasons to do seem compelling, and in essence make a great deal of sense. Generation X and Y marketing would ensure you:

• Gained a relationship with the next largest demographic in North America.
• Befriended an elusive and influential group of people.
• Target those looking to make large purchases in life, synonymous with the first job out of university.
• Interact with Generation Y, who is said to be an up and coming rival to the boomer’s, when it comes to buying clout.

What we as publishers and marketers often forget however, is the remainder of the population, with the established credit and liquid assets to play ball in our arena.

The Centre for Media Research prepared a fantastic brief, providing great detail on the power those aged 40 to mid 60’s possess. The brief brings to light the facts I think many of us know, but forget to sell and or plan to:

• Over 72% of them access the Internet from their homes.
• 73% of those connected shop online.

What made the article a keeper and worth sharing in my mind was their deduction that over the next 15 years, generations x and y combined will grow by only 3%, where as the 50 to 64 age group, will grow by 50%! This definitely makes a strong case to re-evaluate our customer reach and marketing plans. Are we reaching the total audience? Are we leaving revenue at the table? Do our strategies and plans for growth exclude a large part of the market place? -These are all questions worth asking.

written by Beverly Crandon

The loudest peril when advertising in any form of media has always been the assurance of reaching your target audience. Ad Agency’s convince their client they have it down to a science and so do direct media sales representatives. The truth of the matter is that the average ad agency or sales representative provides this assurance without numbers from a hard or reliable source. However, for a commercial advertiser, there were no other options and you trusted that all would work out well when the controller tallied up the campaigns ROI.

Now, understanding the challenges commercial advertisers face, more and more technology is being created to provide additional assurance. Visible World is one such company that is keeping the plight of reaching the desired audience, as a top of mind call to action.

Visible World takes populous demographics and allows you to create and air dynamic, customizable versions of your commercial. The message changes according to FSA demographics, even though being aired at the same time. Automotive OEM’s, larger media companies and other industry leaders in varying verticals have already picked up the idea. The company boasts of a 90% customer retention and return rate, primarily, it says, due to the results it provides.

In more recent news, Visible World has just signed a deal with Tremor Media. The idea is to do what Visible has done to television advertising, online. Tremor Media, being the provider of in banner and in-stream video advertising, is the perfect partner for Visible World to spread their expertise in the world of web. As the relationship is still early, it will definitely be one to watch.

Instead of having clueless banner ads all over the sites you visit, you may just find yourself surprised when they more and more seem to appeal to you. It could be the Visible World and Tremor Media dynamic duo affect!

written by Beverly Crandon