From the Jumbo Shrimp Lab
Ross Honeywill, in a desperate attempt to shore up the sagging status of the aging Baby Boomers, invents a subgroup called NEOboomers — “New Economic Order boomers” — and proclaims their superiority to all those Gen X-and-later upstarts.
It is, of course, a crock:
Fourteen million of America’s 65 million Baby Boomers are part of an influential breed know as the new economic order or NEO. These NEOboomers out-perform, out-rank and out-spend the younger generations 2:1.
Characterised by their determination never to retire and by their progressive social values, these NEOboomers vote governments in and out, are more confident about the economy (yes, even in these times of financial crisis), are less interested in religion and spend more than anyone else in the economy.
I suspect that when their days wind down to the last few, they’ll spend even more than anyone else in the economy, just to make sure that their lives are prolonged a few extra days. I’d even bet that they’d develop a sudden interest in the religion they so confidently scorn.
But it’s in their social attitudes and behaviour that the NEOboomers really stand out. They love the arts and are far more socially progressive than Gen X and Y and look forward to an ‘exciting life’ rather than the ’secure life’ their traditional cousins prefer.
As Grantland Rice never said: “For when the One Great Scorer comes / To write against your name / He marks — not that you won or lost — / But hell, at least it was ‘exciting’, wasn’t it?”
There are times when I am utterly embarrassed by the sheer fatuousness of my demographic cohort, and this is one of them.
(Via jenX67.)
fillyjonk »
22 June 2009 · 3:20 pm
Oh, good grief.
The whole “generational” thing is just one big stereotype, anyway. If it were actually true I would have had to have clerked in a video store for most of my 20s, instead of going to grad school.
Though those damn Millennials…now THEY do fit the stereotype ;)
McGehee »
22 June 2009 · 4:38 pm
All Baby Boomers fit the stereotype, except for me and all of them I know personally.
Ross Honeywill »
22 June 2009 · 4:58 pm
It’s true that all generational segments are fatuous – Gen X; Gen Y; Baby Boomer – they are all defined by one factor, age. So all they do is tell us how old someone is. That’s why the NEO typology, defined by 100 behavioural, 82 attitudinal and 12 discretionary spending factors, is so essential in bringing a one-dimensional view of society to life.
Dick Stanley »
22 June 2009 · 8:31 pm
Media creations, all.
McGehee »
23 June 2009 · 1:52 am
Brought to life or not, it’s still one-dimensional.
Ross Honeywill »
23 June 2009 · 11:17 pm
Thank you. That’s my point. Age profiles like Gen Y or Gen X OR Baby Boomers are one dimensional and useless in determining attitudes or behavior. (has anyone actually read the story?)
And as for the original rant by Jumbo Shrimp Lab, I have interviewed 200,000 Gen Ys and 220,000 Gen Xs across 3 continents to inform my judgments, what about you? Opinions based on a sample size of one?
CGHill »
24 June 2009 · 7:53 am
Well, here’s the issue: You’ve talked to 420,000 individuals and gathered various data points, and for what? To expedite marketing.
This may be my crunchy-con side seeping out, but so be it: there may be a lot of money to be made by marketing to me, or by marketing to somebody other than me, but it’s still just marketing, still just trying to separate person A from sum $. Pardon me if I don’t think this qualifies exactly as one of the Highest Aspirations of Mankind.
What I’m hoping Gen X can pull off is a 180-degree spin. Messages from the top down, the very model of 20th-century advertising, will no longer dominate the commercial culture. (See Doc Searls for a broader overview.) You can’t just amass a supply of something and then attempt to create a demand for it anymore.
And personally, to the extent that I am regarded as a marketing opportunity, I respond with as much negativity and resentment as I can muster. Fortunately, I am, in demographic terms, old — 56 this year — and therefore traditional top-down operations want little or nothing to do with me, with the exception of AARP, who can go fart up a flagpole. No doubt this leaves me out of the coveted ranks of the New Economic Order. But trust me: I can live without that distinction just as easily as I can live without Mensa, Armani, or the American Express Black Card.