From Baby Boomers to Gadget Lovers!- What we have to learn!..

Even though we wouldn't agree that age reflects in our decisions and that we can find age subcultures among the vast majority of people. We have often read major age subcultures like- the wannabe Gen Y, the sophisticated Gen X , the narcissistic baby boomers and now the new generation is a set of " Gizmo(gadget) lovers! Often these characteristics will influence in their normal decision making processes and in developing a loyalty towards any product or a service.

The baby boomers, who were born between 1946 and 1964, are in the age category, in between 40 and 60. This was one of the most sought after segment as they wanted themselves to look young, lively, attractive and often bought for themselves many things, dwelling in a world of indulgence. As they were brand loyal, by building powerful brands, marketers could maintain a rapport with them.

The Gen X ( born between 1965 and 1979) wee more materialistic but quite cost - conscious and often ignored hype. They were not so impulsive in their decisions and they portrayed complex buying behaviour with lot of judgemental decisions. They gave more importance to subtle things and believed in enjoying life and often preferred freedom and flexibility. And, therefore marketing to them had to be more creative; focused on style, fashion and language!

But the Gen Y ( born between 1977 and 1994) were more pragmatic, technology savvy and were value oriented. They turned tables and always searched for a price-quality balance, but they were more brand embracing!.

But while the baby boomers are now getting old, the new category of gizmo lovers, the new generation have their own characteristics. Although they are very proud, stylish and adventurous, they are not as much brand loyal. They are technology savvy and spend their life in the web and in their mobiles, and marketing to them needs to be more innovative and media savvy!

Gizmo lovers are trendy, young, innovative, early adapters and net savvy. They are likely to be influenced from online advertisements and mobile phone ads, rather than newspapers and hoardings! They experience technology and embrace the most recent ones, leaving the lesser tech savvy versions behind. Innovations become the major requirement, in order to market, sell and satisfy the needs of these Gizmo lovers. We have to take cues from all these hints, as they are likely to be the decision makers in coming future!..

For advertisers, Living in the Present would be the major catchline!

Wow! Wow Sports Brands!

Tiger woods, recently earned $87 million as endorsements last year, Phil Nickelson lagged behind him by $48 million. Manchester United's merchandise revenue was $23.6 million and had ticket revenue of $132 million. So fans are so adamant about their brands and why?

All have a love to become famous, almost everybody like games. We play games even at work! All are inspired by legends!

Jimmy Connors and Boris Becker, Pete Sampras and Roger Federer, Pele and Maradona and many!..

"Golaazoooooooooo! Brazil", we have heard it many times again we will!

Teams are brands. Teams become legends too. Teams become more than individuals themselves like Manchester United, Real Madrid and Boston Red Sox!..

What Motivates us? Oh! even if we don't feel or even if we are sceptic, it is natural to be fond of games and players bcoz we are and we believe:

Freedom and adventure
Hard work is good. Success follows from hard work
People can improve themselves. Tomorrow is better than today
Caring for others, particularly the underdog
Being ‘young at heart’

So sports endorsements and sports professionals in advertising becomes one of the most common tools! and so be it!

Garden Vareli!..A Brand that Was!

Garden Silks, were just another apparel store selling sarees. Instead of showing the traditional values associated with sarees, to sell themselves, its ads had always been showing trendy and beautiful women in sarees, quite emotionally attached to them. As they innovated with materials and designs, they made a brand name for themselves.

The noticeable traits that differentiated their ads were

moving images of beautiful women in flowing designer sarees made it look more trendier- it gave an image that sarees are not always traditional, but very contemporary too! It became a normal choice for the working woman during 80s and 90s. Further, it matched with social transformation, as more women were encouraged to look out for jobs then. Its advertisementis still a remarkable model for silk apparels especially sarees!.

Check the ad here! Although sarees are uncommon in 2000s, Garden Vareli ads positioned "saree" as a trendy, stylish and appealing attire!

My Picks for the Week!

I was just looking through some of the advertisements. They speak different languages. Some are plain and some are intutive. Some are clumsy and some are emotional. Some are talkative and some are funny. I liked them. They had lot of words in print! - they were amusing!

Movies weren't made with ads in them! So we'll never show them that way!

( But movies need ads to promote them and for the little money as it gets !)

Asian cousin meets French Technique. They Marry. They name their first born Suilan ! (for Suilan Hotels. ) .

The ad clears doubt from your minds. ( But, it says so simply that when two things combine, a third identity is formed. So it is never the same!)

They are good copies. But are they also a little bit clumsy?