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Marketing Trends for 2016 Onwards

By Julian Campbell

There are two major marketing opportunities emerging which will affect the majority of businesses from 2016 onwards. These were once considered niches but today they represent dominant buying forces. Is your business taking advantage of them? Do you even know what they are?

Irrespective of product women now account for the majority of buying decisions...

As you can see from the following statistics Women now account for the majority of buying decisions :

• 94% Furniture decisions
• 89% Vacations
• 88% Kitchen appliances
• 80% Home improvements
• 80% Healthcare
• 75% New Homes
• 66% Personal computers
• 60% New cars
• 55% Consumer electronics
• 53% Used cars

Are your products are geared to attract female customers?

The common fallacy is that men seem more interested in many of these products and whilst that may be true, it doesn’t mean men buy more of them. Unfortunately, much of the marketing, advertising and especially the salesmen and I do mean the men still focus on the men. Take cars for example whilst women actually buy nearly 60% of all cars, they influence the purchase of 80%. Yet we still focus on power, prestige and attraction when trying to sell them.

Baby Boomers

Then there’s that other important group, the baby boomers. Now approaching their 60s, they are buying 41% of all new cars and 48% of luxury cars and women over 65 are spending as much on apparel as women in the 25 to 34 age group. Yet where is the advertising dollar being spent for these items? You got it - the 25 to 40 age group; only about 5% of the advertising dollars are being spent in the older market.

“One company is starting to get it right, the car maker Ford has developed something they call “the third-age suit” to help its design engineers (most of whom are under 40) to grasp the needs of aging drivers. This outfit adds about 30 years to the wearer’s age by stiffening the knees, elbows, ankles and wrists. It also adds material at the waist – a rotund stomach affects people’s ability to sit easily – and it has gloves that reduce the sense of touch. Ford’s lucky designers also wear yellow scratched goggles to find out what it is like to have cataracts. The exercise has been fruitful. Thanks to this suit, the company’s cars are now easier to get in and out of; their seat belts are more comfortable to wear; glare has been reduced and the controls are more readable and reachable”. (Extract from “Trends” by Tom Peters and Martha Barletta.)

What can you do in your business to attract and satisfy the needs of these two growing markets?

Copyright © Julian Campbell 2012-2016

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