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As a generation of women ungirdled, markerters embraced a new strategy to capture this shift.
It's unclear if Daniel Yankelovich actually coined the term "generation gap," but his research in the 1960s and early '70s certainly helped popularize it and focus America's attention on the different values and motivations of the Baby Boom generation compared to its elders. The generation gap helped explain the social upheaval occurring at the time. It also underscored the need to find new ways of talking to America's youth, regardless if the communication occurred in a classroom or on a billboard.
Yankelovich's seminal work in this area quickly bridged the gap between social research and commerce. The generation gap helped explain why the Woodstock Generation was burning bras; generational marketing helped explain why young women weren't buying girdles and suggested what they might purchase instead. Yankelovich Partners Inc. has specialized in research on generational marketing for most of its 40-year existence. In 1971, an annual report on consumer behavior called the Yankelovich Monitor debuted. One-on-one interviews and lengthy follow-up surveys with thousands of consumers of all ages are performed each year for the Monitor, giving Yankelovich Partners a massive database of comparative information on generational attitudes and how they differ. That work has demonstrated the importance of generational cohorts as a demographic factor distinct from age.
Last year, two Yankelovich partners involved in the Monitor research presented their insights on generational marketing in Rocking the Ages, published by HarperBusiness. The book divides America into three broad generational groups: Matures, a cohort including everyone from World War I doughboys to the Silent Generation; Baby Boomers, "the 78-million-strong gorilla"; and Gen X. Their message: Generation-shaping social and economic events influence how each group reacts, and astute marketers must be cognizant of how their target generations view the world and shape their marketing messages accordingly.
Rocking the Ages was written by Ann Clurman, a Yankelovich partner who has worked on the Monitor project for more than 20 years, and J. Walker Smith, a managing partner and member of the Yankelovich organization since 1991. Prior to joining the firm, he was research director at Dow Brands.
Smith and Clurman's book dissects key generational differences uncovered in their Monitor work and discusses trends...