Digital Advertising Seattle Xennials: Meet the Demographic between Gen X and Millennials

digital advertising seattle Finally! My generational identity has been defined! Thank you Marleen Stollen und Gisela Wolf for accurately painting the picture of the challenge that so many advertisers, trying to reach this unique demographic, face. There are major differences between a Millennial and a Generation X. Now those differences can be classified into a neat and tidy demographic of it’s own! Meet the Xennials! #Xennials are those of us born between 1977-1985. We’re in-betweeners really. “We had to bridge the divide between an analog childhood and digital adulthood and we are reminded of this day after day. We live with one foot in Generation X and one in Generation Y.”
“Millennials” are often considered a challenging demographic to reach in the marketing industry. Unlike other demos, Millennials’ media habits are more diverse and fragmented and rely on digital advertising Seattle.

While the Millennial Generation is technically defined by birth years 1981-1997, we’ve always preferred to break this generation into two demographics for advertisers. So when we came across this article, we were nodding in agreement and happy to have a new term for the new demo. We’ve often described the first half of the generation as the ones who grew up with pagers and first-generation Nokia cell phones, didn’t have social media until college or shortly after, and can recall the distinct, obnoxious sound of AOL connecting to the web (which took so long!). I can remember being in an elementary school classroom when our Librarian rolled in a massive computer (on a cart, of course) to teach us  of a cutting edge technology called CD-ROM. It was a big deal. CDs were about to replace the floppy disk! Yet the younger half of my Generation may not be able to recall life without cell phones. (Side note: Remember when the game Snake on your Nokia phone provided enough stimulation to hold your attention while waiting for an appointment?)

We are seeing a great demand for digital advertising Seattle in 2018. Advertisers desire proven advertising strategies to reach the older Millennials in particular, the Xennials, because (for now) they are generally more established in their careers and have more secure incomes. So how do smart advertisers effectively invest marketing dollars into reaching the right demographic for their business? They work with a Media Buyer, of course! Understanding how to reach these two separate but similar aged demographics is our job. That’s what our skill set (Media Buying) is. We do not focus exclusively on Millennials. We just use this generation as an illustration of why understanding demographics in advertising is so imperative. Many marketers aren’t quite sure what a Media Buyer is and how their role fits into the overall marketing planning process. Media Buyers are niche and an absolutely necessary secret weapon in a large media market like Seattle. The best Media Buyers know exactly where to place your ads to strategically reach the right people, at the right time, with the right message. As you go into 2018 advertising planning, I encourage you to research the top Seattle Media Buyers. Our advertising agency is not a jack of all trades, master of none. We leave the creative side of advertising to the masters of creativity. There are many brilliant creative advertising agencies in Seattle who can ensure that your ads resonate and capture. Our job is to make sure that your advertising investments in those creative messages are maximized by placing those beautifully crafted messages in the right media plan.

We’re in full swing planning mode for digital advertising Seattle 2018 right now. It’s definitely time to start the conversation about media purchases for the new year. Don’t wait until you want to be running ads to make a plan. Plan in advance, the early birds really do get the worms.

-Robin

Robin Imholte, President, Media Director