Comments on: Not Everyone Is an Upscale, Urban, 30something, White Male Hipster

By: Alan Wolk

Alan Wolk — Wed, 30 Jul 2008 15:55:49 +0000

Yes Kredyt- by all means, pleas do.

By: Neil Anuskiewicz

Neil Anuskiewicz — Fri, 19 Oct 2007 21:58:45 +0000

TToad, why hasn’t the media’s self definition of cool *already* changed?
I guess I am completely mystified by this.

By: Neil Anuskiewicz

Neil Anuskiewicz — Fri, 19 Oct 2007 21:54:32 +0000

Yes, it makes no sense for a certain type of hipster deciding what is cool for everyone. Especially, as you suggest TToad, as the baby boomers have a lot of buying power.
I am younger than the baby boom generation, however, I have never quite understood why the ideal market is considered the young and hip?
You would think that a demographic that is large and has some extra cash would be ideal.

By: Tangerine Toad

Tangerine Toad — Fri, 19 Oct 2007 20:35:35 +0000

@Stephen: I do remember that campaign, very true indeed.
Another great example of what I’m talking about is the mens’ fashion industry. Why are $3,000 suits inevitably shown on 20 year old models. I mean I know guys want to seem younger, but seriously, half of them look like they’re wearing their bar mitzvah suit.
But as I said before,I wonder if the media’s self-definition of “cool” will change as the Baby Boomer hits senior status.

By: Stephen Denny

Stephen Denny — Fri, 19 Oct 2007 19:23:25 +0000

TToad: if you remember Sony’s first work on launching the MiniDisc, it fell neatly into this mold. All the data showed the user was a 40 year old lawyer driving a Jaguar. Of course, the creative was aimed squarely at his son. The one who couldn’t afford a $1000 Walkman, in particular.
One of the worst marketing flops in modern history, all because they “knew” what would work. It’s been too long now, but I seem to recall tallying up the total costs of what their launch campaign probably cost and I think we came up with a figure of around $10K per unit sold.
We have a certain “cool” archetype in mind when we set out to do creative or positioning work, probably born of the other neat creative we’ve already seen. It’s true that you can always sell an older man a younger man’s car (and not vice versa); but there are limits to believability.
Know your market, speak to your market, and ignore the rest. If the hipsters in your circle of friends have never heard of your product (that wasn’t designed for them), congratulate yourself on not having wasting your media dollars.

By: Neil Anuskiewicz

Neil Anuskiewicz — Fri, 19 Oct 2007 03:03:26 +0000

Yes, I was alluding to that baby boom’s golden years. Very astute of you to pick up on that.

By: Tangerine Toad

Tangerine Toad — Thu, 18 Oct 2007 22:50:00 +0000

@Neil: It’s not just the ad business. All mass media: films, television, magazines, books- seemt to be guided by a similar sense of what constitutes “good.”
I’ll be curious to see if that stranglehold continues as the Baby Boom moves into its golden years.

By: Neil Anuskiewicz

Neil Anuskiewicz — Thu, 18 Oct 2007 21:16:42 +0000

Good points you make. It seems like these firms should have, say, Grandma working on staff and so on. I guess it would depend on who they often target.
Why would they have one demographic creating the messaging for a bunch of other demographics? Seems strange.

By: Ann Handley

Ann Handley — Thu, 18 Oct 2007 17:35:12 +0000

Toad: I like your practice on your blog to call out ads that appeal to different demographics, including your tadpoles! Nice approach.
And I totally love the Dolce voice, too. Then again, I’m a sucker for talking dogs…(lol)!!

By: Seni Thomas

Seni Thomas — Thu, 18 Oct 2007 14:00:42 +0000

Toad,
Great post. This is also just a problem with the medium itself. TV, at least today, is still a carrier of mass blast messages. However, in the online world you still can’t be everything to everyone, but you sure can be more things to more peoples/groups. Through the microtargeting of different communities you can appeal to groups in a manner that resonates with them. For example if you are a luxury brand, but want to build a ramp for younger folks to get a taste, you can launch a cheaper product within the portfolio and only target youth communities. For instance you are releasing a new car so you make an advergame like the recent Toyota game. This way the traditional 50+ year old consumer will rarely come in contact with the marketing messages and this will stem bleeding out brand equity.