LEARNING TO MARKET TO ECHO BOOMERS

Earlier this week CBS TV’s 60 Minutes re-broadcast a fascinating piece on "echo boomers" born between 1982 and 1995 and how some companies are marketing to them. This is a must read for all music marketers:

"They have been heavily programmed. …

(Their) whole lives have really been based on what some adult tells them to do."
Dr. Mel Levine
University of North Carolina

From the 60 Minutes Transcript: "If you’ve ever wondered why corporate America, Hollywood, Madison Avenue and the media all seem obsessed with the youth culture, the answer is simple.The largest generation of young people since the ’60s is beginning to come of age. They’re called "echo boomers" because they’re the genetic offspring and demographic echo of their parents, the baby boomers."

"Born between 1982 and 1995, there are nearly 80 million of them, and they’re already having a huge impact on entire segments of the economy. And as the population ages, they will be become the next dominant generation of Americans."

"Who are they? What do they want? As Correspondent Steve Kroft first reported last October, you’ll be surprised. The oldest are barely out of college, and the youngest are still in grade school. And whether you call them "echo boomers," "Generation Y" or "millennials," they already make up nearly a third of the U.S. population, and already spend $170 billion a year of their own and their parents’ money.Almost none of it is spent on boring things like mortgages and medication, and the world is falling all over itself trying to sell them things."

Read the rest of the transcript and watch video online here.