Recently I've been doing research on the best media mixes for generational marketing so it felt especially poignant when it was reported on May 24 that Bob Dylan turned 70. At 69, Paul Simon is not far behind. Joan Baez turned 70 last winter, with Crosy, Stills, Nash and Young each preparing to pass from 60somethings through the golden arches to 70.
I wonder if Bob Dylan's 70 was a sobering—if not scary—moment for most Boomers. The first wave of Boomers is scheduled to hit 65 this year. Had she lived, Janis Joplin would've been 68 last January.
This is the generation who continues to believe they're cool, into uniquely cool things, and that most messaging is either about them or for them. Seeing Dylan turn 70 couldn't have been easy, because mathematical logic then dictates we're really in our 50s and 60s. The generation that grew up crying, "Make a difference! Change the world! Imagine the possibilities!" now also says "Make the doctor's appointment! Change the progressives! Imagine cortisone shots to ease the pain!"—so, no surprise demographers and marketers believe Boomers will transform the concept of "old age."
Boomers' children are the Gen Y lot—the Millennials, or anyone born 1982 to 2000. Reportedly, these kids are problematic, characterized as spoiled, not very motivated or hardworking, with big entitlement issues for their own lives (eg, CEO's office by age 32, making millions, with luxury cars and killer toys).
I think they're transforming all our concepts about work.
Consequently, I also think they've been given a bad paint job, probably by bitterly resentful Boomers who took a superficial read on these kids. If the Boomer question for life had been "Is it meaningful?" most Millennials tend to ask "Is it fun?" This can make them seem supercilious, until you examine their particular meaning of "fun."
Next week: In defense of Millennials
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