I saw a t-shirt on a gray haired woman, it said, "No longer a key demographic". I stalked her through the story trying to get a shot with my cell phone camera. I know, I know. Crazy stalker. But the shirt's point is very real to me. Sometimes, the ads blasted at us on the radio, TV, billboards and signage are not designed to appeal to our age group.
I'm okay with not being a 'target audience' but what frustrates me is when the advertisement itself, meant to appeal to a younger crowd, is not even understandable. Some of the most bizarre ads happen when a company gets a social conscience. Then instead of advertising what they sell--the expected--they pick a cause and give you imagery of that cause. For months, I drove by a billboard that displayed a flaming car, upside down. Obviously the target of a car bomb or some kind of wartime activity. Underneath the image was the corporate name of a company that made clothing. Teenager's clothing. So. Car bomb equals t-shirt sales?
I've always thought that marketing was voodoo and witchcraft. I'm coming to realize that it's not even aimed at me anymore. Now that I've reached a point in my life when I have more disposable income, no retailer even focuses on my needs. As America ages, and the number of people in my demographic increase, I expected more ads to be attractive to me, designed for my needs, or focused on my wants. But that is not the case.
So, here I am. Money to spend and no one cares what I think or what I want. Google does an interesting thing in email. They actually scrape the words in an email to deliver ad links on the side of the email frame. If you write an email to a friend and tell her that your date is 'hairy as an ape' then your sidebar ads will be for hair removal systems, zoos or animal supply companies.
In a couple of sci-fi movies, the screenwriters envisioned a future where walking past a full body scanner would tell them enough about a consumer to deliver ads tailored to that individual. I find that future engaging and fascinating. Now that the airports are putting in full body scanners, I guess it's not far behind. I'll be someone's demographic, someday!
--Sandee Wagner
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2 comments:
Hey Sandee, I just found your rantings. I'm impressed.
It's not that your opinion isn't valued by advertisers.It's just that your circle of influence casts a greater shadow over your buying practices than you could ever hope to crawl out from under. So they advertise to those with their hands in your pockets. Your children. HA! They so have us figured out.
RD
Well, that might have worked when my kids still lived in the house and I bought stuff for them... but now that my kids have mortgages and kids of their own... advertisers are missing the mark with me. Ren, thanks for stopping by!!
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