Moving Towards 'Generation None': The Implications for Ad Agencies and Brands

This weekend, the New York Times ran an opinion piece about ageism in the workforce. As longevity increases, and pensions are not what they used to be, many older workers are choosing to stay in the workforce longer...but they are not always welcomed with open arms. In fact, the article states that 2/3 of older job seekers have experienced age discrimination. 

New York Time Opinion Piece on Ageism

http://www.nytimes.com/2016/09/04/opinion/sunday/youre-how-old-well-be-in-touch.html?_r=0

Ageism appears to be a broad societal problem that affects some industries more than others. In fact, it is far more egregious in the advertising business. One need only compare the age distribution of the ad industry to the total workforce to see how young the industry skews, and how few opportunities there are for those 45 and older. 

Source: US Department of Labor

The market case against ageism

While the New York Times article focused on the merits of the work ethic and economic impact of older workers, in the advertising business there is a strong market case for an increase in older workers. The fact is that the market conventions that fueled the youth culture of agencies no longer apply.


One of the fundamentals ingredients of great advertising is deep customer insight that allows marketers to connect emotionally with their audience. That is why, historically, the age distribution of the U.S. population (and many other countries) drove much of the focus on hiring youth. As illustrated in these historical charts, for decades younger age groups represented the bulk of the population. While the population 'bump' may have migrated a to be a bit older over time, the 'cliff' at the the older end of the spectrum remained the same. 

During those same decades, audiences had relatively few media choices. Thus it made sense for agencies to skew their workforce to the under 45 crowd, as they would likely have greater insight into the prevailing mindset that was shaping the popular culture of the time.

Moving Towards 'Generation None'

But looking forward, we see a different picture emerging :

The 'cliff' is not as steep, and will all but disappears the next 20 years. More importantly perhaps, is that there are no real 'bumps'...the distribution curve is flattening out. We will have a population with no dominant age group...not the Boomers, not the Millennials, and not Gen Y or Z...essentially we are moving to 'Generation None'. Combine this with the  growing multicultural composition of the population, and the increasing fragmentation and customization of media and content, and you are left to wonder if we will be a nation of subcultures in which there is no dominant popular culture? In such a scenario, mainstream agencies will need to better serve a variety of subcultures.

One need only look to follow the money to realize that insight across all age categories should be valued by brands and their ad agencies.

In looking at the top ten advertising spend categories, most have a broad appeal that both mirrors and evolves with general population trends. Thus older buyer influence must be considered across these categories. Additionally, there are some categories that skew older, including three in the top ten: automotive, financial services, and pharmaceuticals. Yet, based upon the composition of the advertising workforce, it is highly likely that ads for these categories are being made by someone much younger, who may lack the insight necessary to deliver a compelling message. Perhaps that explains why these three categories generally exhibit some of the most formulaic banality in advertising today.

And while big agencies have earnestly begun addressing other diversity issues such as gender and ethnicity to better mirror the population, there has been much less focus on ageism. But if deep customer insight is critical in developing great advertising, then the ageism conversation needs to be elevated to a similar level. And the answer is not, as some have done, by developing niche agencies catering to Boomers, but rather by integrating a broader perspective across all subcultures into mainstream ad agencies.