Market study done by Arthur Associates for the Ad Club of Evansville.

1. Ad Club of Evansville, How to Annoy a Millennial, Bore a GenXer and Trivialize a Boomer! June 15, 2006
America’s Generations - 2006
GI/s Born: 1901 – 1926 Age: 80+ today
Silents Born: 1927 – 1945 Age: 61 – 79
Boomers Born: 1946 – 1964 Age: 42 - 60
Gen X Born: 1965 – 1981 Age: 25 - 41
Millennials Born: 1982 – 2001 Age: 4 - 24
Next Gen? Born: 2002 – present Age: 0-3
• What generation are you?
• What generation makes up the majority of your employees?
• What generation makes up the majority of your customers?
Judy: 1932 – early Silent
Neil: 1951 - second-wave Boomer
Tera: 1960 – late Boomer
Nathan: 1979 - trailing edge Gen X
Anya: 1981 - last year Gen X
Erica: 1984 - leading edge Millennial
Generation breaks defined by major event and/or parenting change
GI/s – turn of century
Silents – stock market crash
Boomers – WWII
Gen X – Vietnam & parenting
Millennials – stock market & parenting
(will next generation be defined by 9/11/2001?)
Use and value of Generational strategies:
• Human Resources
• Research
• Product Development
• Marketing
• Advertising: creative / planning / buying
• Public Relations
• Customer Service
• One-on-one Selling
Bibliography
• Generations – The History of America’s Future 1584 to 2069, Strauss & Howe; 1991 William Morrow
• Rocking the Ages – The Yankelovich Report on Generational Marketing, Smith & Clurman; 1997 HarperBusiness
• Generations at Work, Zemke, Raines, Filipczak; 2000 AMACOM – American Management Association
2568 Glen Echo Drive • Columbus, Ohio 43202-2421 • www.arthurbiz.com
• 614-447-2780 • 877-447-2780 • FAX: 866-722-9466

2. Silents - 1927 – 1945, age 61-79 (2006):
• 37 million alive today (May 10, 2006 US Census estimate)
• 12% of US population
Defining moment
• Stock Market crash and economic depression
Formative years / core values
• Family strength and values
• Economic uncertainty
• Governmental paternalism
• Community support / trust
• People connected
Attitudes / choices
• Frugal – economizers
• Patriotic, politically active
• News reading
• NOT risk-takers
• Open to new products / services
• Hungry to learn
• Grandchildren important to them
• Value family stability
• Pent up drive to “grab” life
• Economically disadvantaged blacks / single women
• Social
Connecting
• Talk to them, face-to-face
• Develop relationships
• Personal service
• Nostalgia connects to certain past
• Recognize how far they have come
• Offer “safe” first-time experiences / growth
• Be more formal – manners and courtesy count
• Get to the point but tell the whole story, they take the time to read
• Don’t ‘change’ the pattern, say ‘improve’
• Loyalty works
• Use experiential learning, hands-on
• Make memorable, visual clues critical, messages simple and explicit
• Consider lifestyle changes – retirement, loss of spouse, health, etc.
Ad Club of Evansville, How to Annoy a Millennial, Bore a GenXer and Trivialize a Boomer! June 15, 2006
Neil Arthur, Arthur Associates LLC
2568 Glen Echo Drive • Columbus, Ohio 43202-2421 • www.arthurbiz.com
• 614-447-2780 • 877-447-2780 • FAX: 866-722-9466

3. Boomers - 1946 – 1964, age 42-60 (2006):
• 78 million alive today (May 10, 2006 US Census estimate)
• 26% of US population
Defining moment
• End of WWII and post-war economic recovery
Formative years / core values
• Leading edge nuclear family intact, trailing not
• Financially stable
• Economic expansion beyond any prior
• Opportunities abound
• Live life to the fullest
• Limitless possibilities
Attitudes / choices
• Career driven
• Disproportionate wealth
• Free spending
• Forever young
• Receptive to advertising
• Feel ambushed
• Face fierce competition
• Have great expectations
• Face layoffs
• Age discrimination
• Eldercare / childcare
• Moralistic
• Distrust authority
• Workaholic
• Aging is mandatory…growing old is optional
Connecting
• Receptive to advertising & marketing messages
• Multigenerational messages work
• Don’t make any age sound like a marker
• Do not ever use the words:
o Senior Citizen
o Aging
o Elderly
o Mature
o Retiree/retiring
o Slow down
o Golden years
• Women respond to empathy not rivalry
• Applaud women’s achievements despite stress
Ad Club of Evansville, How to Annoy a Millennial, Bore a GenXer and Trivialize a Boomer! June 15, 2006
Neil Arthur, Arthur Associates LLC
2568 Glen Echo Drive • Columbus, Ohio 43202-2421 • www.arthurbiz.com
• 614-447-2780 • 877-447-2780 • FAX: 866-722-9466

4. GenXers - 1965 – 1981, age 25-41 (2006):
• 64 million alive today (May 10, 2006 US Census estimate)
• 21% of US population
Defining moment
Viet Nam generation begins parenting…and divorce
Formative years / core values
• All about survival
• Divorce
• Career moms
• Parents as buddies
• Marriage is disposable
• Us against them
• Independence
• Distance from older generations
• Premature wealth
• Refined tastes
• Self-reliant
• Strong FEMALE generation
• Males seek identity / masculinity
Attitudes / choices
• They are a generation but don’t feel like it
• Distrustful of major institutions
• Sense of disempowerment
• Unimpressed with authority
• Save the neighborhood / volunteer
• No ideology / pragmatic
• Make marriage work
• Be there for children
• Work hard / make money
• Local / local / local
• Appreciate parents hard work
• Attitude! Attitude! Attitude! -Edgy -Cynical -Fun -Retro
• Buy car for warranty relationship over time – search for ‘family’
Connecting
• Convince their peers – a la “Friends”
• Tap into their self-focus
• Video-gaming – part of DNA
• Tell a story
• Poke fun at their POP culture
• Use ‘retro’ – the ‘70/s
• Multi-generational appeal works
• Take racial diversity for granted
• Understand men’s resentment of women
Ad Club of Evansville, How to Annoy a Millennial, Bore a GenXer and Trivialize a Boomer! June 15, 2006
Neil Arthur, Arthur Associates LLC
2568 Glen Echo Drive • Columbus, Ohio 43202-2421 • www.arthurbiz.com
• 614-447-2780 • 877-447-2780 • FAX: 866-722-9466

5. Millennials - 1982 – 2001, age 4-24 (2006):
• 91 million alive today (May 10, 2006 US Census estimate)
• 31% of US population
Defining moment
Shift in parenting / teachings…helicopter parents
Iraq War I
Formative years / core values
• Adult micro-supervised
• Grade pressure
• Time pressure
• Team players
• Diversity acceptance
• Community active - High School community service
o 1984: 900,000 US students
o 2003: 6,200,000 US students
• Technologically hardwired
Attitudes / choices
• Feel very much like a generation
• “DON’T call us Generation Y”, we are more than the next letter
• We are not ‘echo-Boomers’, we have our own identity
• Optimistic and enthusiastic
• Respectful of authority
• Focused on education
• Nurtured
• Close relationship with parents
o Over-parented?
o Left-brainers only?
o Over-stressed?
o Lack of play time?
o Over-structured?
• Drug use – down but not out
• Sex bombardment by/ through many mediums
• Disdain adult-world ethical failures
• Millennial boys: the second sex? Girls on a tear…boys falling behind
• Spirituality rising – “Young people want to know something bigger than themselves,” -Marcus Robinson,
college senior; Time Magazine
• Millennials are gender bending…males cooking and females home-improvement
• Have’s and have-nots gap widening…be sensitive
• Millennials view older people positively and look up to them for wisdom
• Great expectations of themselves
Connecting
• Peer-to-peer recommendations and approval are enormously important…win over their friends
• Millennials support causes
• Recognize generational hot button changes…these are NOT GenXers
• Tap into renewed enthusiasm for reading print
Ad Club of Evansville, How to Annoy a Millennial, Bore a GenXer and Trivialize a Boomer! June 15, 2006
Neil Arthur, Arthur Associates LLC
2568 Glen Echo Drive • Columbus, Ohio 43202-2421 • www.arthurbiz.com
• 614-447-2780 • 877-447-2780 • FAX: 866-722-9466

6. The Next Generation – 2001 to today, age 0-3 (2006):
• 12 million alive today (May 10, 2006 US Census estimate)
• 4% of US population
Defining moment
• Terrorism on US soil
Formative years / core values
• New globalism
• Heightened security consciousness
• ‘big brother’ concerns grow?
Attitudes / choices
• Demanding
• We shall see what else develops
Connecting
• Cuddling
• Security may become major concern
• Just as receptive to advertising as prior generations
Ad Club of Evansville, How to Annoy a Millennial, Bore a GenXer and Trivialize a Boomer! June 15, 2006
Neil Arthur, Arthur Associates LLC
2568 Glen Echo Drive • Columbus, Ohio 43202-2421 • www.arthurbiz.com
• 614-447-2780 • 877-447-2780 • FAX: 866-722-9466