Remember Pearl Harbor Day and a Generational Marketing Breakdown

Earlier this week, Pearl Harbor Day (December 7) was observed to remember the day Japanese bombers attacked the US forces stationed in Hawaii—an act which brought the US, finally, into World War II. It's a day to honor those that fell and all those who served. It was the members of "the greatest generation" whose lifeblood and sacrifices made on the front lines of the war and at home paid for the freedoms we still enjoy as Americans.

What is "The Greatest Generation?"

The term “the greatest generation” was coined by Tom Brokaw to describe the generation of people that grew up during the great depression and whose members fought in World War II. This generation grew up in a time of incredible and sometimes even painful want, yet had the backbone and determination to face and overcome some of the most difficult challenges imaginable. Pearl Harbor Day is the perfect day to honor “the greatest generation” for the sacrifices they made, for their wisdom and for the much of the prosperity we have enjoyed in generations since.

Famous members of this generation include people like John F. Kennedy, Robert Kennedy, George H.W. Bush, Walter Cronkite, Joe DiMaggio, Billy Graham, Charles Schultz, Ronald Reagan, Jackie Robinson, and many more who went on to make major contributions in shaping the world and our society as we know it.

Honor members of “the greatest generation” by soliciting stories and nominations of local individuals who are members of this generation, holding an open house, extending dedicated happy hours or shopping hours, giving special awards or honors or by extending a special offer or free gift to them.

In recent years many reports and articles have been written as to the characteristics of different generations, how to market to them, how to manage them as employees, etc. At a minimum, you should be familiar with the general breakdown and marketing generalizations:

The Greatest Generation: Born between about 1909 and 1942, they’ve seen it all when it comes to advertising. They are savvy consumers who are careful about who they do business with. They want to know more about your business and about you, before doing business with you. Keen on value, they don’t shop just for fun. Having spent their early years in the Great Depression, they try not to waste anything if they can help it.

Baby Boomers: Born from about 1943 and 1965, on average this generation outspends other generations by $400 billion per year. They have exceptional drive and the ability to evaluate (and see through) advertising to find out whether something has real value. This group is projected to grow to represent as much as 20% of the total population by 2030.

Generation X:  Born between about 1965 and 1980, a somewhat overlooked generation whose members are now entering/in their peak earning and buying years. Generally very tech savvy, they love to shop. They put a high value on education and knowledge. Prestige is a draw for this generation, but value trumps labels.

Generation Y:  Born from about 1981 and 1990, the children of Baby Boomers, many members of this generation lived longer at home than did previous generations. Tech savvy, Gen Y members process information quickly and tend to be brand loyal.

Gen Z or the Internet Generation:  Born between 2000 – present, the children of the youngest Baby Boomers. The only generation to be born fully in the internet era and the only generation whose parents are also (generally) more accepting of technology.

For more information about national and regional demographics, visit www.census.gov.

The above is an excerpt from December 7 in 365 Days of Marketing.


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Elizabeth Kraus is the author of 365 Days of Marketing.

If you want to build a business which provides the maximum when it comes to customer and employee satisfaction and loyalty as well as profitability, change the way that you  understand and use marketing.  365 Days of Marketing is available on amazon.com or save $5 off the list price when you use the Code USH9VPJG and purchase on my site at 12monthsofmarketing.net.

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Stocks React Positively To EU Summit Announcement

There weren't a ton of details provided about the new agreements that came out of the EU summit, but after yesterday's sharp selloff the news was enough to spur buyers back into the market.

The members agreed to tighter fiscal controls, with penalties for member nations that exceed budget deficits of more than 3% of GDP. They also stepped up the time table with which the ESM should enter the picture. But it looked to me like the dollar amounts they are talking about are still not enough to really ringfence the problems. Also, Britain decided not to sign and join into the agreement as they don't want to cede any fiscal sovereignty.

Asian markets were lower overnight, despite a CPI figure out of China that looked better than expected. Europe's markets are higher this morning, and the euro is getting a slight boost as well.

Commodities are mostly higher, except for oil prices which have been slight lower near $98.20 this morning. Gold prices are up to $1716, and copper and silver prices are higher as well.

In corporate news, both Texas Instruments (TXN) and DuPont (DD) lowered their forecasts. Those stocks are getting hit, but are not weighing on the rest of the market for the most part.

The 10-year yield is trying to get back above the 2.00% level after falling below it in yesterday's trading. And the VIX is down 7% so far down to 28.40 after spiking back above the 30 level yesterday.

Trading comment: We still have a long way to go into today's session, but so far buyers have already stepped up to the plate. I have said I thought we were in the timeframe of the year where most investors would be in buy-the-dip mode. And since yesterday was a pretty big dip by most measures, it is not surprising to see buyers come into the market. The SPX continues to consolidate underneath its 200-day average. I still believe it will make a successful breakout before year-end. But I also realized the credit gauges have not improved, and the chances for another correction in Q112 remain high.

Jordan Kahn and/or KAM clients are: long GLD, SCO, SLV, and SH

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Quote of the Day

From the UK paper The Telegraph:

"Draghi's insistence that the fiscal contract eurozone leaders are attempting to thrash out at their latest summit will be sufficient in itself to restore confidence is cloud cuckoo land. He cannot sincerely believe it. The problem in the eurozone is not fiscal indiscipline, though there has certainly been a lot of it, but current account imbalances entrenched by big differences in competitiveness. These cannot be made to go away with repeated rounds of growth stifling austerity, and as for Mr Draghi's claim that it is possible to have both fiscal austerity and decent growth provided competitiveness is improved, it's simply naive to believe that's what is going to happen in practice. In fact, most of the evidence from the eurozone periphery is that it is continuing to lose competitiveness against the surplus north, with Germany progressively improving its share of an ever-shrinking market. As long as that goes on, the debt problem is going to get worse, not better. This weekend's summit will do little to solve the fundamentals of this crisis. Only a fully functioning fiscal and political union, with tax and spending decisions centralised in one authority across all 17 nations can do that. Even turbo-charged by financial and economic crisis, that's a very long road indeed."

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Style, strategy and marketing savvy - December 8 - 2011

Anyone who knows me for long knows that I'm passionate about branding and its importance to marketing success. The same principles that hold true for businesses also apply to people. Whether you're a business owner, entrepreneur or 'just an employee,' and whether or not you ever plan to own your own business, building "brand you" is nevertheless essential to your professional success and the future of your career.

View online at www.12monthsofmarketing.net/3dec2011.html

In this issue:

- How and why to build "brand you"
- Ten secrets of successful leaders
- Marketing insights: Do you know what you're really selling?
- Ten sloppy social media mistakes
- Marketing insights: Email is essential to your success
- Most read on the blog: Four ways to sell more gift cards this holiday season


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Elizabeth Kraus

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Draghi Pours Cold Water On ECB Bond Purchases

The market is lower in early trading after a disappointing reaction to comments by ECB Pres. Draghi, who implied that the ECB would not step up its bond buying program beyond what has been discussed already. It's unclear to me why he is taking this tone, unless he is trying to get other players to get more involved. The EU summit is tomorrow (tonight actually) and maybe this is posturing ahead of it. We still don't know to what extent the IMF may get involved.

The ECB also cuts its main lending rate 25 bps to 1.00%. Draghi said there was no talk of 50 bps, and that the vote was not unanimous. The ECB also lowered its marginal lending facility to 1.75% from 2.00%. The Bank of England held its rate steady at 0.50%. And the Danish central bank cut its rate from 1.20% to 0.80%. So the liquidity spigot in Europe is opening, but I'm not sure even a fire hose can help more than just a temporary stop-gap.

The euro is lower on the rate cut news, and that is weighing on commodities also. Gold prices are lower near $1715, and oil prices are down to $98.75.

In the U.S., jobless claims fell more than expected to 381,000, but folks are already complaining that this figure was seasonally adjusted and is thus skewed.

The 10-year yield has eased back to 2.00%, that key level that we can never seem to hold above for too long. And the VIX is spiking +4% higher so far and has touched the 30 level again (currently 29.80).

Jon Corzine is testifying before Congress this morning about the MF Global disaster. He'll probably say that he just didn't know about the fund diversion. I don't expect them to get a lot of answers and clarity from him. What a fall from grace.

Trading comment: The biggest news item this week will be the announcement that follows tonight's EU summit. The market has recently rallied up to overhead resistance, so its normal to see a pullback from those levels. The hard part is gauging how the market will react to tomorrow's announcement. A positive reaction could result in a successful breakout above recent resistance. But a negative reaction could easily take the SPX back down to its 50-day average below. I'm betting we have a little more correcting to do, but hoping its not too big. I still think that most participants are in buy-the-dip mode into year-end. That said, I hope the EU officials bring out the howitzer.

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ECB Extending More Liquidity

The markets are lower in early trading, but there has not been much news. Asian markets were higher across the board overnight, while Europe is up slightly this morning.

The ECB has said that it will loosen the criteria for loan collateral, which is an attempt to provide more liquidity to member nations. Tomorrow the ECB will have its policy announcement and many investors are hoping that they ease monetary policy further with an actual rate cut. Of course, the big event this week is the outcome of the EU summit on Friday and what they will say in terms of any big initiatives to deal with the debt crisis.

The euro is down slightly on the news, and most commodities are flat. Gold prices are actually up a bit near $1734, but oil prices are lower and have broken the $100 level.

Energy and financials are lagging the action so far this morning, while healthcare and utilities are down the least.

The 10-year yield is lower to 2.06%; and the VIX is +3.5% higher near 29.25.

Trading comment: If you pull up that chart of the S&P 500 you can see that once again we were turned away at overhead resistance near the 200-day average, which sits near 1264. The market hit that level again yesterday but faded, and this morning is moving lower still. I expect some consolidation around these levels, with an eventual successful push above these resistance levels. I would actually prefer to see the market pullback ahead of the EU summit meeting. I worry that if we rallied straight into the meeting, that might increase the chances of selling off harder after the news comes out.

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S&P Puts Most Eurozone Members On Downgrade Watch

The market is flattish in early trading on lot a lot of news here in the U.S. The big news release came last night when S&P analysts put 15 eurozone members on credit watch for a potential downgrade. It's a bit odd that they would do them all at the same time, but not that surprising given the state of the finances among member nations.

Asian markets were lower overnight, and European bourses are down this morning as well. The dollar is slightly higher vs. the euro, and commodities are mostly lower. Oil prices are off slightly to $100.66 and gold prices are also lower near $1713.

The 10-year yield is still above its 50-day average at 2.06%; and the VIX is down a fraction to 27.65.

Other than that there is not a lot of domestic economic data or corporate news that is moving the market. Defensive sectors like healthcare and utilities are leading the market so far while financials are lagging the action.

Trading comment: The S&P bumped its head at its overhead 200-day average for a second day and moved lower from there. The index is still below those levels but does not seem to be giving up much ground so far. The S&P 500 is now barely in positive territory for the year, and I think that performance anxiety will continue to be a factor from here into year-end. That means I expect dips to be more shallow than in recent months as more participants look to use pullbacks to their advantage. The put/call ratio opened very low this morning, which also lends itself to this thesis.

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