How Do You Market to Perennials?

... and no, I'm not talking daisies, hostas or lilies (#plantnerd). As a subscriber to a number of e-newsletters like theSkimm, The Hustle and NextDraft, I enjoy a lot of the world and national news brought to me, in a quick-take, often sassy format. And in the April 5 issue of NextDraft, I found out about Perennials. https://youtu.be/qLTlNPB0zLs Gina Pell, content chief at The What, was looking for a new way to look at people, beyond their birth year, calling it "so antiquated ... so 20th century," regarding shoehorning people into just being their generation. She wanted to regard them by mindset ... something that's a bit different for marketers, who are classically used to segmenting prospects and customers by demographics, such as age, sex, education level, income level, marital status, occupation, religion. In a post she wrote in October 2016 — titled, "Meet the Perennials" — Pell breaks the group down into this: We are ever-blooming, relevant people of all ages who live in the present time, know what’s happening in the world, stay current with technology, and have friends of all ages. We get involved, stay curious, mentor others, are passionate, compassionate, creative, confident, collaborative, global-minded, risk takers who continue to push up against our growing edge and know how to hustle. We comprise an inclusive, enduring mindset, not a divisive demographic. Perennials are also vectors who have a wide appeal and spread ideas and commerce faster than any single generation. Who's not a Perennial? Someone who is close-minded, and who looks at life like a timeline, i.e., "By 30 I must accomplish this, this and this. By 40 I will have a growing family and will have reached management status. By 50 it's time to slow down." Okay, so, as someone who is in the upper-age bracket of the Millennial generation, this speaks to me on some levels. I get sick and tired of being lumped into a group that can span nearly 20 years (I have very little in common with a 22-year-old, much less 15-year-old). That said, I face the a lot of the same challenges: dealing with student loan debt; struggling with job security; etc. But while writing that sentence, it made me realize: hasn't every generation dealt with those issues, too? In their own ways? Pell closes her post with: Being a Millennial doesn’t have to mean living in your parent’s basement, growing an artisanal beard, and drinking craft beer. Midlife doesn’t have to be a crisis. And you don’t have to be a number anymore. You’re relevant. You’re ever-blooming. You’re Perennial. I appreciate the sentiment. But for marketers, how do you market to this group? Do you toss out demographic data, and instead focus on values? And is it worth it? You tell me. And tell me what you think of the idea of Perennials ... is it fitting, or just another buzzword-to-be?

Generational Marketing

How Do You Market to Perennials?

Melissa Ward

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Melissa Ward