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Jim Magay |
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Remember when our view of the typical American family was defined by Norman Rockwell paintings and Saturday Evening Post covers; a vision of a grandmotherly woman carrying a perfect roasted turkey to the table, as her offspring looking admiringly on, husband beaming at the head of the table, cutlery at the ready for carving duties?
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An idealized America to be sure, an image that persists today only in our collective psyche.
The reality tends to be much different. The 2010 Census will probably find that we number around 309 million souls.
The concept of an average, white, mother, father, and 2.2 child family is as obsolete as a first generation iPod, or an eight track tape deck.
A new report, “Ad Age White Paper” by Peter Francese, claims that the “Iconic American family – married couple with kids” will only account for 22% of households in the near future. What this means for us ECPs as marketers of our products is that it’s “all change” in our previous thinking.
"One fact says it all," Mr. Francese writes. "In the two largest states (California and Texas), as well as New Mexico and Hawaii, the nation's traditional majority group -- white non-Hispanics -- is in the minority." And in the nation's 10 largest cities, he says, "no racial or ethnic category describes a majority of the population."
Consider these 2010 projections: 80% of people age 65-plus will be white non-Hispanics. Only 54% of children under age 18 will be white non-Hispanics. Mr. Francese observes: "White non-Hispanics will surely account for fewer than half of births by 2015."
In 2010, Hispanics will be both the nation's fastest-growing and largest minority (50 million people).
Over the past decade, Mr. Francese says, 85% of the nation's population growth occurred in the South and West. "During the still-nameless decade from 2000 to 2010," he writes, "a total of about 3 million people have moved out of the Northeast, and another 2 million have left the Midwest for the South and West.”
Mr. Francese's report offers his "20/20 vision," analyzing how things will change over the next decade. "Our nation will be older and more diverse, and consumer markets more complex," he writes. The white paper pinpoints age and income groups where marketers could find the biggest opportunities (you’ll need to buy it!).
As we get ready to trek to the Big Apple for Vision Expo we should think about these numbers and trends. We need to start educating ourselves about how this new reality will affect buying habits. We’ll be rethinking product mix, personnel requirements (can you say second language?), and our observation skills. We will be tested as we try to take the pulse of our clientele to tailor our offerings to clients with changing tastes.
Jim ”stay flexible” Magay
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Jim Magay
jmagay@ziplink.net |
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