In our Smartshot webinar on Radical Demography, we told you about four dramatic demographic shifts that need to be in marketers’ peripheral vision, including “DINK” (dual income, no kids) households and multigenerational households. Well, guess what? In Nielsen’s new Pop-Facts® Demographics report, they describe these shifts as an integral part of their five demographic key trends for the next century. And, they’ve got the numbers to prove it. (Contact us if you’d like a copy of the deck.)

Then again, that shouldn’t be new news to our frequent readers. What is new is that marketers are paying attention, particularly to the rise of multigenerational households.  A recent article from Ad Age shares a number of examples, including:

• Nintendo marketing their Wii gaming systems to appeal simultaneously to kids, adults, and grandparents, including games like Brain Age and Wii bowling
• Toys ‘R’ Us has offered targeted coupons to grandparents, since grandparents “buy one in four toys, four of every 10 children’s books, and one of every five video games.”
• Ameriprise Financial advisers have been trained to address the specific needs of adults who are now tasked with caregiving for their parents
• Even TV shows like “Modern Family” and “Parenthood” are starting to portray multigenerational households as the norm. And those shows are likely to have more multigenerational households watching them, providing advertisers with the opportunity to target this demographic more effectively.

Oh, by the way, don’t think our other two trends from Radical Demography (single person households and female-headed households) were left behind. In fact, they recently came together when single women lauded Lowe’s for positively portraying single women in their 30s in their TV spots. See, demography can be radical.

Speaking of radical, don’t forget to vote for Upshot’s proposed panel for SXSW 2011. Voting ends this Friday. You’ll need to create an account to vote, but we promise that it takes less than a minute. We appreciate any help we can get!

Don’t forget: we also covered the topic in a more lighthearted manner in our latest Potty Posting, which is available here.

Be sure to follow Upshot on Twitter (@upshot_agency) for information on subsequent Smartshots. And, if you have marketing topics that you’d like to see us tackle (in 15 minutes!), just shoot us a message using the “submit something awesome” box to the right.

Of course, our last Smartshot (on Facebook’s Instant Personalization) is still available for viewing.

UPDATE: The video of the webinar is now available here!

As always, a PDF version is available for sharing and perusal right here: Totally Radical Demography.

But, if you’d prefer a text-only version of the Posting, just continue right on reading.

TOTALLY RADICAL DEMOGRAPHY

Like, totally.

While we’ve been tracking all of our 10 Trends for 2010 throughout the year, the recent Census got us re-stoked about the eighth trend on our list: Radical Demography. As a refresher, Radical Demography warned us to look beyond the same stories we’ve been hearing for years: explosive Hispanic population growth, aging Boomers, Gen X-headed families. Now, we’re talking about social shifts that are so dramatic that they’re worthy of such an 80s-tastic phrase as “radical,” if not “most excellent.” Taken individually, these changes provide important clues about how to better target and message to often-ignored niches. But, as a whole, these righteous shifts have given the bogus concept of the “average consumer” a facial disgracial (in English: it’s now totallyless than a quarter of all households. We’re not mental; this is the world of outdated). By the time the Census results come out next year, the traditional family (a married couple with children) is expected to account for Radical Demography. Let’s take a look at four emerging (or re-emerging) household types and how the most bitchin’ marketers are targeting them.

SINGLE, READY TO MINGLE: Does a “singles cruise” bring to mind a scene of mass debauchery (perhaps an “excellent adventure”), or a sign of savvy marketers reading the demographic tea leaves? Well, probably both. But the fact that Norwegian Cruise Lines is offering single-occupancy rooms for the first time in their 43-year history shows a recognition of the startling spending power of the single consumer, who now accounts for 35% of all US spending. With Americans delaying marriage longer and divorce rates still hovering high, the rise in singledom isn’t especially surprising. Over a quarter of Americans currently live alone (27% in 2007 versus 17% in 1970), and married couples only accounted for 60% of home purchases in 2009 (compared to 81% in 1985). By the way, 21% of those unmarried home purchases were made by single women (meaning only 10% by single men), which may explain why Home Depot’s now (wisely) offering “Do-It-Herself Workshops.” But, when other marketers (especially in food and CPG categories) don’t address this population, they’re really doing it themselves, like singleedition.com’s recipes-for-one and kitchen gadgets for solo cooks.

SH*T MY DAD SAYS, IN THE NEXT ROOM: Even before the Great Recession forced youngsters to move back home (most heinous!), we were already witnessing a longer-term resurgence of multi-generational households. 2008 saw a record number (16.1%) of Americans living in households with multiple generations of adults, and there are plenty of explanations: the rising share of immigrant families (especially Hispanics and Asians, although many African-American families are also in this boat), the rising age of marriage, and Medicare cuts. Regardless of the cause, the effect is multiple generations having input on household decisions. With each cohort responding to dramatically different purchase drivers, these families may require simultaneously messaging to a number of household members in independent ways.

DINKS AREN’T JUST SPACEBALLS CHARACTERS: Although it sounds like an insult, “DINK” is just short for “Dual Income, No Kids” households. In 2007, married couples with kids made up a smaller percentage of US households than married couples without kids (22.5% vs. 28.3%). Throw in the aforementioned single folks (without kids) and childless cohabitators and you’ll realize that the majority of US households now lack those grody little weasels. As we asked in our original 10 Trends, how much of your marketing is based on the assumption that you’re talking to parents? When you’re talking to Gen Xers (and even some older Gen Yers/Millennials) who don’t have kids, their priorities, their interests, and their disposable income will all be greatly impacted if they’re not subject to the iron grip of Hannah Montana.

MORE ELYSE KEATONS, FEWER PEGGY BUNDYS: What’s your idea of a breadwinning head of the household? Is he a cranky middle manager like Jack Arnold? Is he generously affluent like Phillip Drummond? Is he even a “he”? PSYCH! With women increasingly outlearning and outearning their husbands, many households are reversing traditional gender roles. Our creative briefs frequently refer to the multi-dimensional mom who’s bodaciously juggling kids, work, household chores, and her own interests, but how much does that description change if we add “And, she’s the primary source of household income”? Suddenly, she’s not the overstretched “supermom” who needs a break and a pat on the back; instead, she’s driven, focused on the big picture, and, while perhaps short on time, knows exactly what she wants from marketers. We could even say she’s most triumphant.

Obviously, these are different folks (with diff’rent strokes), so we’re not saying you should be targeting all of these household types at once. In fact, we’re saying the opposite: divvying up your demographics can take your targeting to the max! When your target is Jessica the Gen Xer, ask whether your campaign also resonates with her intentionally-childless friend and her neighbor whose father has moved in. You may find your marketing taking a radically different approach.

the hotspot for haute thought is the pot at upshot

demography is totally crucial at theawesomeblog.net

If you haven’t already heard, our 10 Trends for 2010 are making their way around the interwebs at a blistering pace. (You can catch our press release here.)

You can get your own copy of our 10 Trends by clicking here.

Be sure to share it with your clients, coworkers, friends, and pets. What? Maybe Mr. Snuggles would benefit from learning a thing or two about “Radical Demography.”

Before moving on, we should mention a thing or two about these trends. We settled on these ten trends after carefully analyzing marketplace and cultural shifts all year. As a result, these are trends, not fads. They reflect long-term shifts in values and attitudes, and won’t be disappearing any time soon. That’s why we’ll be tracking each of these trends at the Awesome Blog; they have already been added to the category lists above (under “Sociocultural Trends are Awesome”). Keep checking back to see how these trends adapt over the course of this year.

Now, for those of you who’ve arrived at The Awesome Blog for the first time, welcome! Relax, kick off your shoes, and stay awhile. There’s plenty of awesomeness for everyone. Take a gander at the categories in the menu above, or go buck wild with the random awesomeness button up there on the right. Or, just drop us a greeting in the comment section below. We’re glad to have you. And there’s a lot of awesomeness coming your way.

The PDF includes more pictures like “Whistler’s Mommy Blogger” to the right. (That image, as well as the images in the posting, all come from Mike Licht at Flickr. Be sure to check out his entire collection!) For a text-only version of the posting, just continue reading!

Mother Knows Best

Well, mother and her network of online friends

Last posting, we introduced you to the radical idea that women actually use the internet. (Don’t laugh too hard; we’ve had to convince clients of this before.) Obviously, you know better, but you might not have realized that women are the majority online, that they’re extremely active participants, and that they’re creating much of the web’s most desirable content. It’s not hard to figure out why: while the American Dream allows us to choose between 7,983 stroller models, that kind of selection tends to be a little overwhelming without the trusted advice of our peers. Today’s mom isn’t just “on the internet” – she’s consuming it in a uniquely social manner. She wants to get online, get her recommendations, buy her items (about half of moms using social media base purchases on blogger recommendations), and be done before her little Billy sticks a fork in the wall socket and blacks out a city block.

Thus, we have to start this discussion with the “mommy blogger” phenomenon, which has been so insatiable for marketers that we probably need a variation of “cougar” to describe them (“ocelot” doesn’t quite have the same charm). The number one thing working for these moms is their perceived authenticity, especially compared to traditional PR and corporate-run sites. These ladies also tend to be much more entertaining, informal, and irreverent than traditional marketers; when was the last time a Huggies ad encouraged mom to grab a margarita? With 8 million women writing blogs, and a collective audience of over 22 million women, brands have learned to embrace this community.

Now, we know the temptation here is to find the most popular blogger and toss giant bags of cash at her until she shills for your product (by the way, you do know that blogger freebies are now regulated by the FTC, right?), but we recommend targeting bloggers in the same way that you target consumers. Forget about the most popular bloggers for now, and take a good look through a number of authors’ archives (and comment sections) to get an idea of which niches they best represent. Better yet, go beyond sponsoring the blog and partner with the author. After all, there’s a reason why she commands a significant (and engaged) audience: she obviously has a nuanced, insightful perspective that, frankly, you don’t. Why not work with her to come up with better targeted, more insightful, and more innovative ways of interacting with moms? GoodNites bedwetting products did this with Meagan Francis, who now writes articles for the site and answers parenting questions. WalMart even created their own mommy blogger community, which immediately drove all the mom & pop blogs on Main Street out of business (kidding!). Without a doubt, these bloggers hold an uncharacteristically large amount of sway over their audiences, and wooing them is a smart strategy (as long as you and she are both fully transparent about said wooing). But, what’s being lost in all the hullabaloo is that Mommy Blogs are really social networks in disguise. GASP!! SHRIEK!! More on that in a second!

As with gaming, there seems to be a persistent, but totally unfounded idea that women, and especially moms, don’t dig social networking. Can we finally kill this notion if we tell you that Roper recently found that 90% of new moms frequent social networks? Yes, the busiest, most harried people on the planet are active participants on Facebook (where women outnumber men 1.35 to 1) and Twitter and the like. These sites serve as much needed links to the outside world, as they’re undoubtedly the best spots for keeping up with their inner circle of friends and family, sharing photos, and general socializing. (Don’t be so shocked. Keep in mind that most of today’s “new moms” are young enough to have been raised on the internet, texting, and Justin Timberlake as a sex symbol.)

But, these broad communities (I promise no pun intended) aren’t necessarily where the most interesting mom conversations are happening. After all, if you’re pregnant and you suddenly find yourself unable to stomach vegetables, how much help will your network of coworkers and high school friends really provide? On the other hand, a community of like-minded pregnant women and newborn moms would certainly have useful anecdotes to share. In fact, babycenter.com addresses the veggie puking, along with more than 100 other questions in their brilliantly organized “Is it safe?” and “Is it normal?” sections. And, as hinted above, there are de facto social networks hidden in the bowels of mommy blogs. After all, the blogger’s voice is just the loudest in a (virtual) room that features comment sections, message boards, discussion forums (all of which we can track with our Radian6 subscription). The ability for moms to voice their concerns and receive a quick, genuine response is perhaps the biggest draw of these blogs; a smart blogger will openly draw on their readership for this diversity of opinions. Since almost 60% of moms’ conversations mention brands anyway, just throwing targeted display ads at these sites misses the treasure troves of qualitative data that they have to offer. Just scanning the aforementioned babycenter sections provides a remarkably nuanced collection of passion points for moms, so why not supplement your focus groups with real moms sharing their biggest concerns for free? Oh, internet, is there anything you can’t do? Oh, that’s right, you can’t verify the validity of breaking balloon boy news. But for everything else, we cool.