Healthcare Trends
‘The new old generation’ – how does Generation X, a key target audience, function in the healthcare market?
The success of a campaign is largely dependent on it being aligned with the target audience’s needs and addressing that audience on the relevant channels and in the right tone. To do this, you need to know the target audience precisely. Christiane Lafrentz and Tobias Schwaiger, both members of the Management Board of WEFRA LIFE SOLUTIONS, have a new masterclass focusing on a group of consumers that is particularly important for marketers: Generation X.
Generation X includes people born between 1965 and 1980, so people from their mid-40s to just under 60 years of age. According to the German statistics platform Statista, it is the most populous age group in Germany, representing 19.8% per cent of all the country’s inhabitants1. ‘Generation X, like all generations before and after it, has been influenced by the cultural, societal, political, social and technological changes that it grew up with,’ explains Christiane Lafrentz, General Manager of WEFRA LIFE SOLUTIONS, ‘This means marketers should, above all, strongly consider the way media has transformed since the 1970s so that they understand how the audience ticks.’
Video advertising and streaming services creating fresh ideas
Relevant changes during this period included in particular the transition from three public broadcasters to private television as well as the rise of video-based advertisements. ‘The ideas that set the direction for Generation X’s tastes came from America,’ Lafrentz says, ‘MTV, for example, was very popular. In terms of advertisement design, too, people generally got their ideas from across the Atlantic. You would see what the state of the art was by looking at the US or the UK.’Tobias Schwaiger, Executive Creative Director at WEFRA LIFE SOLUTIONS, highlights another major revolution in the field of video: the rise of streaming services, including Netflix above all, as well as Amazon Prime. This has left its mark on the tastes and consumption patterns of Generation X, too. ‘Two-thirds of 45- to 59-year-olds use streaming services,’ Schwaiger explains.
Having said that, linear television still remains important to the audience: ‘Over 90 per cent still switch on the TV.’ Moreover, he says that there is a noticeable revival of big Saturday evening shows. Not to forget, YouTube also enjoys popularity among Generation X, as it does among other audiences as well.
Christiane Lafrentz summarises it all neatly: ‘Unlike what you might assume at first, Generation X also uses digital media regularly. They move between different worlds, having grown up with mail and fax machines before experiencing the complete digital transformation and now, through that, gaining over 25 years’ experience in using digital media. Smartphones and mobile internet have ensured an extra level of dynamism here, too.’
Whether X, Y or Z, everyone is on social media
Generation X does not differ dramatically from the younger Generations Y and Z in its frequency of social media usage either. ‘One preconception that we frequently encounter is an assumption that people over 40 are not even active on social networks,’ Schwaiger explains, ‘Yet that is not true. You just need to find the right touchpoints where these people are active, because they really do differ.’ For instance, just under 60% of 50- to 59-year-olds use Facebook, especially as a communication platform, while other networks such as Instagram, TikTok and the like dominate among Generations Y and Z. Even WhatsApp is similarly relevant to Generation X as it is to younger people, with 84 per cent communicating through this messenger service regularly.Health-conscious and keen to consume
Besides its inclination towards digital and social media, this generation also approaches the topics of health and preventive care differently than the current elder generation. It has already grown up with significantly more consciousness of and better access to preventive healthcare. As a result, staying fit and agile is something that its members bear in mind, and if possible before any health complaints arise. ‘Generation X wants to be proactive about their health and make a preventive contribution to staying fit, active and healthy. Its members are therefore interested, informed and aware about nutrition and health-related topics,’ Lafrentz explains. On top of that, Generation Xers also can and want to make material investments in their conscious lifestyle, health and fitness thanks to their often successful careers.
Conceptualising campaigns differently
So, what consequences do these traits of Generation X have on the strategy of marketers in the healthcare market? ‘Brands in the luxury segment have already identified how to appeal to Generation X,’ Lafrentz observes, ‘They should be seen as an example.’ According to her, that also includes conceptualising OTC campaigns in a different way, ‘for a generation that, in comparison with elder ones, is influenced digitally by fast content and new aesthetics.’ Schwaiger believes strongly that more flexible and adaptive action is needed in this context. ‘For that, you need to fully utilise the possibilities of digital advertising, have variability in the assets and, for example, try out many different visuals and messages to find what performs better on a given campaign platform.’In a digital environment, she says, competition with other video content should always be taken into account. ‘The challenge for advertisers is to remain in the world of the medium visually as well as in the appeal to the audience,’ Schwaiger says, ‘Viewing and consumption habits need to be reflected and custom content created. Otherwise, you will be written off as another advertisement and be unappealing to users.’
Aligning specific healthcare marketing campaigns with the preferences and needs of Generation X is a major opportunity for marketers, Lafrentz says knowingly, ‘Those who succeed in attracting the enthusiasm of 50-year-olds today have a good chance of becoming a love brand and securing sales for many decades.’
Anyone wishing to experience the remarks about Generation X again live and in full can request access to the masterclass here. The WEFRA LIFE masterclass series will continue in September and December this year, too, so stay excited and, if you have questions about our sessions, you are always welcome to contact masterclass@wefra.life.
1https://de.statista.com/statistik/daten/studie/1131021/umfrage/generationenanteile-in-deutschland/, retrieved on 23 May 2024, 1:50 p.m.