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