Have You Forgotten the “Forgotten” Generation?
It seems like marketers are tripping over each other trying to reach millennials. Yet Generation X are consumers in the mid-30s to mid-50s range. So before you stick that beard-wearing hipster in red tennis shoes in your ad, think about the power of targeting this generation.
The reason for the skip is that Generation X is smaller than boomers and millennial groups. Yet the Generation X cadre spends more on housing clothing dining entertainment and healthcare than either Boomers or Millennials. For healthcare marketers, this group is caring for children and aging parents and they place trust in bends that achieve “authenticity and sincerity” according to influencehealth.com.
Gen X Goals:
- Work-life balance
- Continue to learn
- Be efficient, productive
- Tend to be more skeptical and cynical of institutions, but are more brand loyal
- More likely to use wearables (Apple watch, Fitbit)
This is the first generation to live entirely in the age of information. They are more inclined to conduct their own research to verify or disprove facts. The are also “Family First.” And they want to know your organization respects and recognizes that fact.
Mark Mathis
Mark wrote his first direct-mail fundraising letter in 1981 for the University of Iowa Center for Advancement. The effort raised a few million dollars in undiscovered wills and legacy gifts. From that day forward Mark discovered a love of the big idea that moves the needle. After 12 years at KWWL, Mark became a business owner as a co-founder of ME&V — rebranded as AMPERAGE in 2015. After 25 years of leading creative teams in video production, graphic design, PR, writing and web development, Mark transitioned out of ownership in 2021. Today he serves in an employee role as special projects consultant. He is creatively ambidextrous — son of an artist and engineer — and famous for distilling complex ideas down to a few words and a few visuals. Mark is a writer. When he found that many nonprofits struggled with complex branding puzzles, he wrote the book, “NonProfit-NonMarketing .” He also wrote a novel called “Reenactment.” Mark is an active blogger OneMinuteMarketer® with nearly 1,000 readers each week on LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter. One of his most popular YouTube videos is on “How to Look Good on Zoom.” One of Mark’s fondest business memories was being named to INC 500 two times and attending the INC 500 conference with other winners. Mark is considered by some a Civil War expert (and that explains his novel). Mark also served as an adjunct professor in the business and in the communications departments at Wartburg College. Mark is a graduate of the University of Iowa and is currently vice president of the University of Iowa Journalism and Mass Communications Advisory Board. Mark is married to state Sen. Liz Mathis, and the two love to travel, even when it means being trapped by a volcano in the Czech Republic for three weeks.
