Advertising Research: Gen X & Retro 1980s 2nd Version

 In this post, I am going to look at advertising in relation to Generation X which will link to my advert for the 1980s retro party event. 'Gen X still reads newspapers, magazines, listens to the radio, and watches TV (about 165 hours worth of TV a month). However, they are also digitally savvy and spend roughly 7 hours a week on Facebook' DMUIC (Digital Arts Handout, 2023) In regards to my own advert as I would like to reach my target market I would put advert in a music magazine such as Q, however this has actually closed down now (Savage, 2020) and possible on social media but probably Twitter and Facebook. Magazines have struggled to survive with the rise of online magazines, cost (now a magazine is very expensive as print costs have soared and the covid pandemic meant that now people really relied much more on information online as they could not physically go out.  The editor of Q stated; 'We've been a lean operation for all of my tenure, employing a variety of ways to help keep our head above water in an extremely challenging print market.' (Savage M. 2020)

Q Magazine, David Bowie Issue (2016) 

Forbes magazine askes the question; 'Why is Gen X-centric marketing still missing the mark so badly?' (Wiley, 2022), Wiley reminds us in his article that Gen X are the smallest generation and often we are overlooked.  However, we are at the height of our earning power in our careers and therefore should have money that we want to spend on goods and services that perhaps other generations would struggle to afford and being that we are older we want more luxury items as our tastes have evolved over the years! Wiley states; 'Gen Xers are in their prime spending years, second only to baby boomers in terms of buying power'  (Wiley, 2022).  Therefore considering advertising for Gen X I would use any means available as Gen X will access both traditional and digital media and I do think if adverts were honed to attract them they would be more likely to spend money, Personally as a Gen Xer I am out off by adverts aimed at Gen Z and Y, they do not have what I want and I will spend more time searching for the goods and services that I am willing to spend money on.  

References

DMUIC Digital Arts Handout (2023), Target Market Behaviours, Leicester, DMU

Savage M., Q Magazine to close after 34 years. (2020). BBC News. [online] 20 Jul. Available at: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-53477377 [Accessed 25 Oct. 2023].

Wiley, D. (2022). Council Post: Here’s How Brands Can Authentically Connect With Gen X. [online] Forbes. Available at: https://www.forbes.com/sites/forbesagencycouncil/2022/03/31/heres-how-brands-can-authentically-connect-with-gen-x/. [Accessed 25 Oct 2023].