Me, Worry?
Like generations X and Z, Boomers like to share pics and updates with friends and family via social networks. But they’re more likely to fret about how their data is being used (Adobe “Voice of the Generations Survey,” Sept. 24, 2019). Forty-three percent of Boomers endorsed the statement “I worry about how my data is used all the time,” versus 31% of Xers, 20% of Millennials and 14% of Gen Z.
+ Not surprisingly, Boomers are less comfortable connecting with brands on social networks than younger gens. Just 33% of Boomers surveyed in July concurred that “there is a place for companies interacting with individual people on social networks, forums and/or messaging sites.” Meanwhile, Gen Xers are more likely (49%) to welcome brand interaction via social, while Millennials (63%) and Gen Zers (69%) are more enthusiastic still.
+ Young gens dominate social overall. While 49% of Boomers are active on social media, 78% of Gen Xers and 90% of Millennials are users. They go to social for news, to socialize with friends, get inspired and advice and follow celebrities. It’s simply a bigger part of their lives than for older gens, so maybe that’s why they’re more open to brand connections on social. They’ve come to expect and, maybe, appreciate brand interaction.
Holiday $ea$on
This holiday season consumers may set a record for retail sales. eMarketer is predicting total U.S. sales will climb to $1.008 trillion by Christmas, marking the first trillion-dollar holiday season ever. Thanksgiving is partly to blame. It falls on Nov. 28 this year, leaving just 26 days for holiday shopping. This has made a lot of shoppers anxious, getting a head start on their lists. Santa even pre-empted the Great Pumpkin this Halloween, forgetting all manner of manners and restraint.
+ The calendar gives Amazon and big box retailers with fast shipping an advantage. The short calendar puts Amazon at an advantage with its best-in-class delivery and big-box retailers with advanced omnichannel operations in position to capture late-season transactions, per eMarketer analysts. The escalated Thanksgiving promotional period also favors those with the biggest marketing budgets.
+ Cyber Monday will crush it, securing the title of biggest online shopping. eMarketer is forecasting sales in the $10 billion range. Black Friday, Thanksgiving and “Cyber Tuesday” are also expected to be busy, busy, busy.
Deep Fakes
Twitter is sitting out this political season, beginning next month. Citing the risks of “deep fakes,” misinformation and microtargeting, Twitter will ban all political ads, CEO Jack Dorsey said Wednesday.
+ “While internet advertising is incredibly powerful and very effective for commercial advertisers, that power brings significant risks to politics, where it can be used to influence votes to affect the lives of millions,” Dorsey tweeted. “Internet political ads present entirely new challenges to civic discourse: machine learning-based optimization of messaging and micro-targeting, unchecked misleading information, and deep fakes. All at increasing velocity, sophistication, and overwhelming scale.”
