Marketing agency people deal with the above-mentioned terms on a daily basis, usually when it comes to defining the target audience. These terms should ease the understanding of the population our campaign is addressed to, but also impact the strategy, creative messages, even the media choice used to reach the right audience. Demographic groups actually represent groups of people with similar characteristics, born in a specific time period, but the list of their similarities doesn’t end with their age. Due to growing up in more or less similar circumstances, and historical contexts, members of one group also share certain values, habits, concerns, and comprehension that define them all.

By classifying people in this way, we not only understand their age but also the life stage they live in. We can also understand their concerns, wishes; financial solvency; priorities; how much they consume social media, how much they trust traditional media; their attitude towards ecology; politics, ideology…Of course, this type of categorization is not applicable to each individual case but certainly is on a statistically significant level.

Baby boomers are people born in the first two decades after World War II, and currently, they are in the 58-76 range. They are followed by gen X, this gen covers the period since 1965. – 1980. Millenials cover the next generation, and the age between 26-and 40. Gen Z, the top target of everyone in the advertising world, covers the period between 1995. – 2012. The next generation is the so-called Alpha gen.

What conclusions did demographers and sociologists come to? What do we know about each of these groups?

Baby boomers.

Though young gens make fun of baby boomers and their behavior on the internet, the fact this generation easily adopted that technology too, reveals the important truth about people from this period. Namely, they belong to the generation that experienced the most technological changes in their life, and they’ve managed to adopt them all. It seems their favorite innovation in television as they mostly consume that innovation. They also consume traditional media like printed media and radio.

During their lifetime they were exposed to the banking revolution but they still follow their initial habits. Based on the research, baby boomers almost exclusively use cash as their main paying means, and they prefer ’physical’ to electronic banking. From a financial aspect, this generation went through its peak, their financial solvency is less in comparison to the young population, and their main occupation is supporting their kids.

The events that shaped the boomers are the Cold War and the optimism that existed after the victory over fascism.

Generation X.

This generation is often neglected because it is between boomers and millennials, two significantly larger demographic groups. It seems it has been the case since their early childhood. Namely, due to the fact they were born in families where usually both parents were working, this generation is prone to expressing individuality and independence throughout their whole life.

Just like baby boomers, Gen X likes TV the most, which justifies their nickname – MTV generation. This generation has a strong technical knowledge and pops up as the first generation that grew up with computers. Gen X is skilled in using the internet, they do thorough research before shopping, and how a certain loyalty to the chosen brand.

Also, this gen is inevitably shaped according to unfortunate events in the 90s.

Millennials.

Due to the fact this gen spends the most money, it is expected they will become the richest generation by 2030. They grew up with computers, but also made a smooth transition to smartphones. Most of them use electronic banking and shop online.

They don’t grow loyalty to brands, and their shopping is based on practicality and function as they don’t have patience for bad and inefficient products. This is the reason they pick brands with superior reputations.

The global economic crisis has affected them, so millennials later decide on huge life steps like weddings or buying a house or apartment. It is more important for them to have access to certain things than to be their owners, so no wonder it’s a common cause that most of them are tenants.

They value individuality, and in comparison to the next generation, don’t have a huge need to belong to anything.

Generation Z.

This generation is often associated with TikTok, but in fact, it is much more than that. Earlier than others they became financially aware, and after seeing their parents in trouble, they do not want to get into the same situation.

Their whole life is on the phone, research shows that most of them got their first mobile phone at the age of ten, but they played with their parents’ phones even earlier. They have accounts on mass social networks and are constantly researching alternatives. They like raw and honest content and are interested in socially important and environmental topics. They prefer belonging to a certain group, and at an early age show independence, both economic and emotional.

They are loyal to brands but have high expectations. Not only do they want quality products, but they want brands to share their views on important life and social issues with them.

Generation Alpha.

Smart devices, digital presence from an early age, virtual education…these are the conditions that shaped this generation. It is expected this generation will be well-educated and wealthy, but also far away from anything related to cash. They will perceive money as digits on the screen, spent in different applications.

Which of these groups are most common in your briefs? Have you already had an opportunity to work on a campaign focused on Gen Alpha?