Each generation is inevitably different from the previous one, and this is not new. But marketers have learned to track and analyze these differences in order to understand the needs of customers of all ages.
To clearly show the difference between generations, let’s imagine a specific situation . Pasha and Masha invited friends to visit . And while the adults talked , the children spent their time watching the TV . Little Petya , first watched the cartoon on TV . Suddenly Petya became worried , began to cry and call his mother . It turned out , that was interrupted by advertising cartoons . For adults this was not anything extraordinary , they explained to Pete , you need to wait a bit ,the advertisement will end and the cartoon will “return” . But for Petya, this situation turned out to be extraordinary . Before, my mother played cartoons for him on her iPad, and no advertising interrupted their showing. The boy Petya is outraged, he does not want to watch ads, but wants to continue watching the cartoon.
It is obvious that the younger generation perceives the surrounding reality in its own way. And their way of perception differs from the way that the older generation uses to understand the world. This difference in the views of “fathers and children” entails global changes. Predicting these changes correctly is the skill of the marketer.
Take a closer look at the children, and you will notice that their behavior and habits are oriented towards the future, and therefore eloquently indicate what and where in our life needs to be changed. For many marketers focused on strategic planning, observing children and describing their behavior is just a treasure trove of information. How they interact with each other and with the outside world, what factors are annoying for them and what are not, what they pay attention to, etc.
Despite the reactivity of the “old” generation, the general infrastructure of life has changed so much that the patterns of behavior and consumption have changed even among them, let alone the young.
These changes are so rapid that our expectations from brands have outstripped the development of these brands themselves. Our children are no longer ready to wait a whole week to watch a new episode of the series, and advertising that interrupts the showing of a movie or video at the most inopportune moment is incredibly annoying to them. In fact, they are much more focused on the content that interests them, which they have chosen.
Much has been said about how marketers need to understand how different consumer groups view the world, what they are doing, and why they are doing this. But is it possible to receive information about changes in behavior even before they occur? For this, great research is being carried out among children and youth, in schools and institutes. In our country, of course, there are much fewer such studies than abroad, because we are more and more interested in issues “here and now”. But it is precisely those who look to the future and will continue to play an increasing role in the market, it is such companies and marketers who research and closely monitor all the changes that the next generations show.
