So the economy is in freefall, the UK is expected to go nowhere for at least the next 15 months, and you’re looking at your business wondering how many more body blows it can take.
You should specialise in catering for a particular group of people. That way you can target your offerings, service and marketing.
But first you need to understand the three generations which, for the first time, are living, working and mixing together.
Baby Boomers
Born between 1945 and 1961, these folks grew up with hard work. Technology wasn’t available.
Face to face was the normal method of communication and as a result, they’re good at it. Far better than those who have lived and breathed email and the internet.
Baby Boomers give away money. To solve major world problems they’re likely to hold a pop concert for charity. Many may feel guilty about the fact they’re earning big bucks as today’s senior executives or, more likely, chief executives.
They’ve paid off their mortgages, seen the kids fly from the nest and they’re plannig their retirement. That worries the corporates because mass retirement equals a mass brain drain.
Baby Boomers are the only ones left in a corporate company who read manuals. So who’s going to fix stuff in the office when they retire?
Generation X
Generation XBorn between 1962 and 1977, they are left in a world that is neither black nor white. When the Baby Boomers went to university they had free love.
Generation X coped with the onslaught of Aids, they saw the introduction of computers and they’re self-taught on technology.
They still print off long emails and they are the last generation to read Bleak House, cover to cover. Generation X is overly cynical.
They’re digital immigrants, often grumpy middle managers and trying to cope with Generation Y.
Generation Y
Generation YBorn between 1978 and 1998. Think Amy Winehouse, who sings like an angel and swears like a trooper.
Welcome to Generation Y which treats technology as part of the furniture and believes attendance anywhere, anytime, is ALWAYS optional.
The space surrounding Generation Y buzzes with ‘helicopter parents’ who constantly hover over them and intervene like personal swat teams if they believe their offspring are not getting a fair deal. Helicopter parents will stop at nothing.
Generation Y is incredibly brand focused to the point they’ll tattoo their favourite brand on their bodies, or name their children after them. Witness the increase of kids with names such as Porsche, Rolex and Chardonnay as just three examples.
So how does this affect you and your travel business?
Remember, Baby Boomers witnessed the first man to land on the moon on snowy, black and white screens.
They were the first Brits to holiday abroad when flights became affordable and packages to Majorca became available.
They could sit on a beach in hand-crocheted swimming costumes with their neighbours from both sides of their terraced house in Bolton. They favoured group travel because they felt safe in numbers.
Remember that now, 50 is the new 40.
Baby Boomers want to be healthy, lose weight, become debt-free and travel. They grew up hammered by marketing and believed messages, such as a washing powder claiming to ‘wash whites whiter than white’. So they’re likely to believe you when you tell them (not that you would) they’ll have a lovely holiday in an unfinished pod overhanging a building site.
But treat them right in the first place, because they hold 80% of the nation’s wealth and that’s likely to last, even through the chill winds of recession.
Remember too that Baby Boomers feel at least 15 years younger than they actually are, so they don’t want to be sold a holiday on the basis that they’ll be surrounded by people older than they are.
They want to relive the glory days they had with their hippy mates when they were younger. These days, they want to be ‘sight doing’, not sightseeing, so they can talk about their holiday for at least six months before and after they return.
Generation X is exacting, materialistic, cynical and pretty grumpy right now because they’ve bought most things on credit and their household income has dive-bombed.
A tricky bunch, worried about job security, there are a number of dos and don’ts when flogging them anything. So we’ll put them on ice for now and tackle them next week.
Fast forward to Generation Y, which has grown up being able to access any information they want, when they want it, 24/7.
They’re able to research absolutely anything, so they won’t believe you if you tell them you’ve got the best product out there. They have an in-built cynicism about ad campaigns. They want to find things out for themselves, so all you have to do is plant a seed and let them cultivate it.
Don’t under estimate Generation Y’s spending power.
There are 9.7 million 16 to 28-year-olds in the UK today, and one in three Euros spent in Europe is by Generation Y. It is the most culturally diverse generation in history, with the most gender equality.
Typical of this generation is 24-year-old Emma who left her native Australia two years ago to travel the world for six months.
She didn’t pre-book a single night or plan her great getaway. She simply met people along the way and went places to do things with the ones she liked. She helped build a school in Peru. She stayed in a lot of hostels, which are much more sophisticated than a Baby Boomer could ever have dreamed of.
Shane, 21, is another typical Generation Y’er. Frequently, he travels to places on a whim, on a $20-a-day budget. He loves to tell his friends about his experiences, mainly on Facebook. He reviews the hostels he mostly stays in on hostelbookers.com.
Generation Y worries about social causes, the environment, poverty, world hunger… but they won’t believe your opportunistic marketing messages that capitalise on any of these issues.
You will have to be genuinely aligned with a good cause to create an emotional connection to Generation Y, which is very fraud-savvy.
Generation Y will buy sleek, beautiful and mostly cool looking packages. As Apple chief executive Steve Jobs said about the iBook: “I wanted to make the computer so cool and so attractive that Generation Y would want to lick the screen.”
How to reach Generation Y? Well, things like Flickr, blogs, Facebook, YouTube and Google are a good start..
Try cool competitions and look to others for inspiration, such as Red Bull, which is now synonymous with adventure sports.
Walkers crisps is another. They ran a new flavours competition, had millions of responses in a week and created a loyal following.
Could you run a competition for this individualistic generation to design their own holiday? Be warned: your marketing doesn’t need to be overly slick – often you need to be ‘rough and dirty’ in your approach.
But whatever you do, never resort to corporate crap. This week, pick up an Innocent Smoothie and see how that company communicates to its customers. It’s a huge hit with Generation Y because it has a cool story behind it. You could create one too.
Kevin May, editor of Travel Weekly’s sister title, Travolution, moderated sessions on reaching Baby Boomers and Generation Y at the ABTA Travel Convention in Gran Canaria this week.
Thanks for this article’s material to:
- Emma Reynolds, co-founder, Ask Gen Y
- David Smith, co-founder, hostelbookers.com
- Bruce Morton, co-founder, e3unlimited.com
- Dr Paul Redmond, Generation Theory expert, University of Liverpool
- Giles Hawke, sales director, Complete Cruise Solutions
