Notes and Thoughts on Grocery 2.0

You’ve heard of the Baby Boomer generation; those 78.2 million people born between 1946 and 1964. You’ve heard that they’re affluent, have $3 trillion in disposable income and switch brands just as readily as younger generations (according to a 2002 AARP study). Baby Boomers have become marketing magnets, attracting advertisers who for years ignored them. Like the coveted Generation Y (18-24) demographic, marketers vie for Boomers’ attention constantly, especially through emerging media and technology, which both groups have embraced. But while both groups play a key economic role, both because of their size and available income, marketers who target the young and Boomers solely, leave out a huge portion of our country’s population; one which cannot be ignored.

Born between 1965 and 1981, Generation X consists of the 83.8 million Americans in the 25-to-44-year-old bracket living their peak years of product and service consumption.

According to a recent report by eMarketer, Generation Xers have embraced technology to a greater degree than Baby Boomers. They go online for information on everything from parenting to consumer products and to shop, bank and network with peers. In 2007, the Pew Internet & American Life Project estimated that a full 90% of Generation Xers used the Internet, which is only one percentage point less than Generation Y.

“Generation X fervently embraces electronic media. Computers, PDAs and mobile phones are ingrained into all aspects of Generation Xers’ lives. They eagerly embrace new gadgets and applications as replacements for existing ones,” says eMarketer.

Since most Generation Xers are still earning full salaries, they have disposable income. According to Javelin Strategy and Research, Generation X’s total income was $3.67 trillion in 2007. That figure is projected to grow to $4.2 trillion in 2017. Because of this, Anderson Analytics places Generation Xers as the second most important marketing demographic, right after Baby Boomers.

The problem for advertisers has been that Generation X’s media usage is fragmented. They embrace a wider range of lifestyles than previous generations and are more immune to traditional advertising. The silver lining? According to eMarketer, “by embracing the growing forms of pinpointed electronic media that Gen X reveres, marketers stand a greater chance of increasing their visibility among this elusive, hard-to-reach generation.” The same goes for Boomers. With 91%, 90% and 79% of Generation Y, Generation X and Baby Boomers online, shouldn’t you be too?

Rachel

During the Association of National Advertisers’ annual conference, executives sounded off on advertising agencies’ archaic workflow processes, which hinder simple approvals and overall speed to market. To increase efficiency and promote new initiatives, many said they would bypass agencies altogether in favor of working directly with media companies.

“We’re going to pilot a number of different relationships where we go direct with media companies,” said Gary Elliott, VP of corporate marketing at Hewlett-Packard.

“If I were an agency, I would be really worried about being disintermediated,” said Becky Saeger, CMO of Charles Schwab. “More and more the agencies are almost in the way sometimes…we know that [media companies] understand what we’re trying to do with our brand so we get higher quality input and not have to rely on our media agency to be in the middle all the time.”

Marketer’s relationships with publishers have begun to create consistency out of continuous media, and corporate, fragmentation. The following are some benefits of using MyWebGrocer for marketing and advertising initiatives:

1. Direct client-to-publisher communication means MyWebGrocer understands the bottom line objectives and action plan for achieving them.
2. With over ninety retailers, MyWebGrocer is the largest online publisher of grocery advertising, reaching millions of unique grocery shoppers monthly.
3. Each advertiser has a team of dedicated employees to assist with everything from set-up and graphic design, to quality assurance and reporting.
4. Online campaign lead times can be as short as 48 hours.
5. Because MyWebGrocer developed its network from the bottom up, advertisers know exactly where, when, how and at what point in the purchase path their advertising will appear.

Rachel

To learn more about MyWebGrocer, click here.

To read more about the ANA annual conference, click here.