I’ve got some good news for us "baby boomers." Just when we thought we would have to resign ourselves to being “boomers†we are sent a savior! Thanks to Jonathan Pontell we are now the younger and more hip “Generation Jonesâ€. If you are one of the lucky "baby boomer's" aged 41-52 you can leave the boring "boomer" scene for the trendier “Jones Sceneâ€. I couldn’t find out how old Jonathan is but I would like to think that he is a “Joneserâ€, since only someone in our generational demographic could come up with such a cool way to redefine ourselves.
The celebrities that were lucky enough to be born between those magic years are jumping on board the new demographic. Rosie O'Donnell, Maureen McCormick, (actress Marcia Brady), and George Stephanopoulus (ABC News) have all proclaimed their joy at finally being able to identify with this new demographic. As the Chicago Sun Times say’s, wherever Pontell goes the subject has “people in that age bracket†responding, “Yeahâ€.
If you we’re one of the boomers that missed this important demographic cutoff all we “Jonesers†can say is “invent your own demographic!†It’s not that hard. The next step will be segmenting each demographic into even smaller segments. I already feel a bit alienated from the “Jonesers†in the over 50 age bracket. The 50, 51, and 52 year olds must have really lobbied hard to be included in ‘our’ demographic.
As a nursery retailer we are told by consultants to discern the subtle and not so subtle differences between "Gen X", "Jones", and "Boomers" so as to be better able to target each of these three demographics properly. This just seems like to much work so I am going to target my demographic, “The Jonesâ€. “Boomers†will want to be seen to be as cool as a “Joneser†so they will respond while “Generation Xâ€, also know as the “lost generation,†will respond to the more mature and self-assured “Jonesers†marketing that we will produce.
The excitement builds as we all rush to focus on this completely new demographic, which apparently has been ignored or not properly focused on until now. You can imagine all the consultant work that will be needed by companies concerned about how best to approach “The Jonesersâ€.