If you're an avid reader of marketing articles, chances are you've come across terms like Baby Boomers, Millennials, and more recently, the famous Generation Z, also known as Centennials. In this post, we will present you with a portrait of the types of generations that make up the current market, so that you can fully understand who they are and how to address them effectively. We'll take a look at Generations X, Y, and Z, highlighting the peculiarities of each group and providing advice on how to approach them from a marketing standpoint.
Table of Contents
What is Generational Marketing
Generational marketing focuses on segmenting age groups, based on the period in which they were born. Understanding the different generational groups is crucial when developing marketing strategies, since each group has unique characteristics, values and preferences, and generational marketing focuses on understanding and addressing these differences collectively to develop effective strategies.
The types of generations
Baby Boomers
We start with the generation that those born between 1945 and 1964 and now between 51 and 70 years old. Concerned about health and a healthy life, this group is characterized by having experienced first-hand the transition to democracy, the growth of the welfare society, the incorporation of women into work and, in recent years, the digital revolution. . Against all odds, this generation will be in charge of changing the concept of "Third Age" as we had understood it until now. They are really active, concerned about beauty and well-being, take care of their diet and demand quality treatment. Among all types of generations, the baby boomer generation is currently the most classic when it comes to buying. They are consumers par excellence of traditional media. We are facing a group that has entered the Internet thanks to the simplicity of using smartphones.
Generation X
they have 34 and 50 years between and they have clearly lived between two worlds: the analog world in their infancy and the digital world in their youth and maturity. Generation X is made up of those born between 1965 and 1981. They are generally well educated, have traveled more than their parents, and have embraced the Internet age naturally. They are the ones who read paper books as children and work with computers when they are older. Although classified as conformists from a social and political point of view, we are dealing with a really important generational group that tends to be consumerists, loyal to brands and highly influenced by the tastes of their children. According to a study of eMarketer, we are talking about the generation of consumers that feels most comfortable using traditional and digital media.
Millennials or Generation Y
Known as Millennial generation are now between 21 and 33 years old (born between 1982 and 1994) They have grown up with technology, have a more global vision of the world and have experienced a social moment of economic prosperity that has offered them a high level of well-being from the cradle: leisure outside the home, vacations, fashion, technology... What was a whim for previous generations, for them it has been a matter of first necessity. However, we are facing the first generation that probably will not have more economic resources than their parents. They are demanding, their world is on the Internet, they flee from the conventional and seek more complete and differentiating shopping experiences.
Centenials or Generation Z
The so-called Digital Natives are between 5 and 20 years old (1995 – 2010). The little ones have grown up with a touch screen. Young people with a proactive attitude in social networks. They have not yet entered the labor market and are recognized as realists, non-conformists and, of course, consumerists. However, the youth of this type of generation has been marked by an economic crisis that will undoubtedly accentuate trends in their behavior. The relationship with them in marketing must be online, bidirectional and very fast. In addition, we are talking about young people who want to connect and feel part of a story.
Alpha generation
Within the type of generations, there is an emergent one; the Alpha Generation, often referred to as Generation A or Generation Alpha, are all those people born from approximately 2010 onwards. They are the youngest and most recent generation to date, succeeding Generation Z. Although they are still very young, the members of the Alpha Generation are growing up in a highly technological and digital environment, which greatly influences the way they interact with the world.
Being born in an age where technology, social media and digital communications are an integral part of everyday life, the Alpha Generation is expected to have natural digital skills and an early adaptation to technological innovations. Since this generation is still in its early stages of development, it is interesting to see how their behavior, preferences, and values will evolve as they grow up to become consumers and active participants in society and the economy.
And before finishing, we leave you this video about the current generations of consumers: Baby Boomers, X, Y and Z.
We hope that this general portrait with the types of generations and the different generations of current consumers invites you to dig deeper and analyze the best way to connect with them.