Why Changes in Consumer Demographics Mean Changes For You

If you’re younger than 38, at least in the US, you’re now in the majority. Demographics are shifting in developed countries and new priorities are emerging as younger generations come to have increasing sway in what they demand from their peers, brands and content. Free Actionable Bonus: Free Actionable Bonus: Want to create better content for social media? Get the complete guide to building a social media strategy and creating content for social, plus 6 awesome examples to inspire your next post. What’s Changed? Younger consumers are now less concerned with the basic products they need. The focus for them has shifted to products that they want to own, either because those products are the ones currently in the hands of celebrities or because the product’s message represents something important to them. Increasingly, the value associated with a product or service is coming from what it represents more than its usefulness. The risk to brands is not recognizing this shift. Focusing simply on the qualities of your features isn’t enough to attract millennials. They expect content to either save them time or bring direct value to them through creative story-telling and true engagement. Content’s New Role Millennials are social media savvy and expect the businesses they buy from them to be as well. Brands that can’t keep up can no longer rely on the loyalty they maintained with older cohorts. The best brands are creating thoughtful, engaging and empowering content and delivering it through the platforms and mediums that their target audience is actually using. How Are They Doing It? Creating True Value Tracksmith, a running apparel company, knew that its customers were competitive runners, and not simply weekend warriors. The brand also recognized that, at the time, no company was filling the ‘running lifestyle’ niche. Other companies, like Nike, were more focused on fitness than running. Matt Taylor, Tracksmith founder and CEO, has said that â€Å"long-term, we want to have a role in anything that someone who is committed to running wants or needs.† And that includes content. Running Influencer Campaigns Your word alone is not enough. Customers are significantly more likely to trust a recommendation from someone they know or from a social media influencer than most marketing materials. This is why many have embraced influencer campaigns within their content strategy. A prime example of a modern influencer campaign is Calvin Klein’s #mycalvins campaign. Calvin Klein contacted 600 influencers across Instagram and Tumblr and had them take photos with Calvin Klein underwear showing from underneath casual-wear. Each post was accompanied with the ‘mycalvins’ hashtag and spurred millions to follow Calvin Klein. Millions of fans imitated the campaign for themselves and Calvin Klein reposted the best user-generated content on a microsite as part of their ecommerce store. Creating Captivating Stories An excellent example of a brand that has transitioned from a company-centric marketing approach to an experience-based one is Mazda. Russel Wager, Mazda’s VP of Marketing, described the key challenge of this new approach as â€Å"connect[ing] our products to an experience, an emotional value,† and finding â€Å"the story that does this for the audience we want to reach.† Mazda chose to tell that story through narrative ads. One follows a protagonist from teen to empty-nester and another (embedded above) has individuals intimately describe how important motorsports are to them, where Mazda has a dominant presence. By framing the ads in a way that connects with people on a more intimate level, Mazda creates higher quality engagement amongst its fans and the comments on the above ad vouch for that. â€Å"Love the film! Love the company! Love their cars! Love2drive! Anything, anywhere, anytime, but most of all in my Mazdas!!!† – Ken â€Å"I love this video so much for that it shows genuine love.† – Alan â€Å"Thank you, Mazda, for being my brand, now and forever. † – DaedalusZero Empowering The last key content element to maximize your marketing effectiveness with younger demographics is to make your content empowering, especially with women. Over the next decade, women will control two-thirds of U.S. consumer wealth so creating content that appeals specifically to women is not optional. Using YouTube and a three-minute long video â€Å"Dove Real Beauty Sketches,† Dove asked women to describe themselves to a forensic artist from behind a curtain and then compare the resulting sketches to reality. This campaign served to start a discussion on women’s self-image and has been viewed over 180 million times. Campaigns like Always’ #LikeAGirl and Nike’s #BetterForIt serve to empower more explicitly, by showing women competing in and training for sports. But whether it resembles Dove’s campaign or one like Nike’s #BetterForIt, it’s critical for brands to start embracing empowering content. Young women, aged 18 to 34, are 80% more likely to like, share, comment and subscribe to empowering content. What It Comes Down To It’s no longer enough for brands to try and let their product speak for itself. The youngest consumers are demanding products and brands that represents their values. To create that brand and deliver that value, you need to create content that captivates, is unique and is delivered through the digital mediums millennials use most, because those are the consumers that are going to control the purse strings going forward.

Should the Government Control the Content that Can be Displa essays

Should the Government Control the Content that Can be Displa essays the Content that Can be Displayed on Television? The television was once a device whole families could gather around to share a fun evening together with, but television is starting to depart from family friendly shows in favor of adult programming. The question then arises, what can be done to protect children from seeing inappropriate subject matter on TV. Recently, a call for government interference has come about and seems to gaining support, but should the government intervene? Who is accountable for letting children see this material anyway? The American people put pressure on the big television companies to begin a ratings system on TV shows several years ago. The result was every large station suggesting their own system, with the exclusion of NBC. The government then opted for a system similar to the one used to rate movies. Generic letters suggesting a certain group of peoples opinions as to how offensive a show may be. Also brought to aid the fight against dirty TV was the v-chip, which allowed programs with only certain ratings to be shown on a TV that has it. But still people say this is not enough. Why people support government interference so vehemently is beyond me. If people dont like what is on TV they shouldnt watch it. Supporting government involvement on any greater plain is unwise. Firstly, it is a violation of first Amendment rights. Like it or not, freedom of speech is crucial in our society. Another reason against it is the probability the government will go too far. The government could easily switch from removing adult content to direct censorship of what can be said. Another reason why government is not good is because it is unnecessary. Children will see explicit material in their own lives, even if it comes from something that is less of a socializing force than TV. However, if parents object to their kids seeing such material, they mu ...

Rene Descartes in Philosophy - the Distinction between Mind and Body Essay

Rene Descartes in Philosophy - the Distinction between Mind and Body - Essay Example The book contains six different meditations and opens with Descartes discarding away all information and knowledge he had ever known before. This laid ground for him to begin a new search for knowledge and wisdom. The distinction between mind and body and the existence of other material things is the last piece of meditation in the book (Rozemond, 2006). The sixth meditation deals with the existence of material things and the difference between mind and body. This meditation has two main arguments that Descartes uses to prove that the mind and the body are two distinct realities. The first argument states that since it is possible to conceive the mind and the body as two different things, God can cause them to exist independently. This argument fulfils the traditional criteria for metaphysical real distinctions. The second argument states that while the body is divisible, infinite and extended into space, the mind is unitary, indivisible and un-extended into space. These two distinct natures of mind and body distinguish the two elements as distinct and independent realities. In this meditation, Descartes attempts to find proof about whether material things can exist out of self and God. He then proceeds to prove that the mind is distinct from the body. With regard to the latter, Descartes begins his proof by asserting that God is capable of creating anything that Descartes himself can clearly and distinctly perceive. He follows this argument by stating that if God is capable of creating things that are independent of the other, then such things are distinct and different from each other.

Hazardous Waste Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Hazardous Waste - Essay Example The site initially belonged to Hooker Chemical who later sold it to Niagara Falls School Board for $ 1 in 1953. Hooker Chemicals were using the site for burying toxic waste. By the time of selling the site, Hooker Chemicals had buried 22,000 tons of toxic waste that they revealed in the sales agreement. However, construction projects and rainstorms on the site released the waste causing an environmental disaster. As a result, the inhabitants overflowed in to the waste. This characterized the infamous Love Canal case (Stoss and Fabian 1). The Ivory Coast case took place in 2006 at the capital city of Ivory coast, port of Abidjan. A tanker ship chattered by Trafigura oil and commodity shipping company disposed a 500 tone waste mixture of fuel, caustic soda, and hydrogen sulfide in the city. A local Ivorian contractor dumped the mixture around the city. Although Trafigura denied transportation and knowledge of improper disposal of any toxic waste, the gas emissions from the hazardous waste claimed 17 lives and injured many. As a result, the oil company paid $ 198 Million for cleanup to the Ivorian government in exchange of liability of prosecution (Amnesty International 1). In the Love Canal case, the government and Hooker Chemical were at fault. All these parties were aware of the eminent danger posed by the buried waste chemical yet they did nothing to avert the crisis. The US government had to relocate 800 affected families and indemnify them for their homes. The Occidental Petroleum paid fines worth $129 million for the Love Canal case. In the Ivory Coast case, the Trafigura Oil Shipping Company, the local Ivorian contractors were at fault for improper disposal of hazardous waste. Trafigura Oil Company paid $ 198 Million to the Ivorian government for clean up though it denied liability for dumping. The local Ivorian contractor got a 20 years jail sentence for improper disposal. The Comprehensive

Womens issues in the 1800´s Essay Example for Free

Womens issues in the 1800 ´s Essay In comparing the three authors and the literary works of women authors, Kate Chopin (1850 -1904), The Awakening, Charlotte Perkins Gilmans (1860-1935), The Yellow Wallpaper, and Edith Whartons (1862-1937) Souls Belated, many common social issues related to women are brought to light, and though subtly pointed out are an outcry against the conventions of the time. In these three stories, which were written between 1899 and 1913, the era was a time in which it seems, women had finally awaken to realize their social oppression and were becoming rebellious in their pursuit of freedom from the male-dominated societal convention in which they existed. They commenced viewing their social stature as unjustly inferior, and they realized that these conventions placed deterrents on their intellectual and personal growth, and on their freedom to function as an independent person. All three of these women authors have by their literary works, voiced their strong unfavorable feelings about the patriarchal society in which they lived. These women authors have served as an eye-opener for readers, both men and women alike, in the past, and hopefully still in the present. (There are still cultures in the world today, where women are treated as unfairly as women were treated in prior centuries). These women authors have impacted a male dominated society into reflecting on of the unfairness imposed upon women. Through their writings, each of these women authors who existed during that masochistic Victorian era, risked criticism and retribution. Each author ignored convention and proceeded to write about womens issues. They took the gamble and suffered the consequences, but each one stood by what is just and reasonable. They were able to portray women as human beings, rather than as totally self-sacrificing and sanctified women, as was expected of women in that era. Todays women are privileged that there were daring women such as Kate Chopin, Edith Wharton, and Charlotte Perkins Gilman. It is also fortunate for us all, that from the late 1800s to the early part of the 1900s there  were women, rich enough to have the luxury of leisure that enabled them write about what they felt were very important issues for women. In Kate Chopins The Awakening and Edith Whartons Souls Belated the two main characters admirably brave, daring, and courageous women. They were women whose souls were belatedly awakened and seemed to have gone through metamorphoses. These two women found that they no longer desired to live by the imposed social moral conventions of the time. They dared to act upon their passion and emotions by opting and daring to live in sin, in order to exercise their own independence and personal freedom; in other words, they refused to live with the public. Though Kate Chopins character, Edna, is portrayed as less than a devoted mother, in the end, she gives up her life for her children sake. She commits suicide so that in the future, her children would not be the objects of malicious societal gossip because of her infidelities. In Gilmans Yellow Wallpaper the main characters (name not mentioned) motherly instincts, are nearly non-existent, since it is implied that part of her mental illness has been triggered by post-partum syndrome. This lack of motherly instinct is depicted when she makes one of the few references to her child, It is fortunate Mary is so good to the baby, such a dear baby, and yet, I cannot be with him, it makes me so nervous (664). In each of the stories the women took dissimilar paths. The paths taken, though unintentional and unconventional, by Chopin and Gilmans heroines have very serious consequences, lead them to their desired freedom and out of their intolerable lifes responsibilities. Chopins character welcomes death through drowning. Gilmans character welcomes insanity. Whartons character initially chooses to risk losing the man she loves, rather than go back to a life plague by social conventions and expectations. Not one of the main characters chooses to go back to their original situation. In Souls  Belated, it is implied that Lydia decides to return to Gannet and possibly marry him, in order to restart living a new life with the man she loves, though she detests societies conventions. All characters were in unhappy marriages where the distribution of love was one-sided. All their marriages seem to have been marriages of convenience, as was the custom of the day, mainly for the upper classes, and all women felt trapped. Chopins character, Edna, married Leonce Pontellier because he was financially stable, and because she wanted to go against her familys wishes. .Add to the violent opposition of her father and her sister Margaret to her marriage to a catholic and we need seek no further motives which led her to accept Monsieur Pontellier for her husband. In the Yellow Wallpaper, the main character speaks of a one-sided love when she reflects; It is so hard to talk to John about my case, because he is so wise, and because he loves me so (663). The author Souls Belated in giving the reader a pointer as to why Lydia acted on her emotions writes .. from the first, regarded her marriage as a full canceling of her claims upon life (674). In all the stories, the authors commonly depict propriety in marriage, a yearning for freedom from convention, loveless marriages, wealth and unconventional women. Chopin and Gilman imply that the mental illnesses experienced by their characters are due mainly, to male oppression. Chopin and Wharton write about infidelity, passion and love; and Chopin and Gilman write about women working for pay. All authors write about women who feel trapped by tradition and convention and all display abhorrence toward the social expectations set for women. Bibliography The Norton Anthology of American Literature. 5th Ed. W.W. Norton Co. NY. 1998. Chopin, Kate. The Awakening 672-690. Charlotte Gilman Perkins. The Yellow Wallpaper 657-670. Wharton, Edith. Souls Belated 467-670.

The World is Too Much With Us by William Wordsworth Essay -- William W

The World is Too Much With Us by William Wordsworth In William Wordsworth's 'The World is Too Much With Us,' this poem heeds warning to his generation. This warning is that they are losing sight of what is actually important in this world: nature and God. To some people both of these are the same thing '...as if lacking appreciation for the natural gifts of God is not sin enough, we add to it the insult of pride for our rape of His land' (Wordsworth). With his words, Wordsworth makes this message perpetual and everlasting. William Wordsworth loved nature and based many of his poems on it. He uses very strong diction to get his point and feelings across. This poem expresses Wordsworth's feeling about nature and religion containing a melodic rhythm (Wordsworth). Each line and each word were chosen very carefully to express his thoughts and feelings. His references to God and Greek Gods catch the reader's eye to find out why he connects God to nature (Gill). His soft tones and harsh words make the reader feel and see what the speaker do es. This relatively simple poem angrily states that human beings are too preoccupied with the material and have lost touch with the spiritual and with nature. The first part, the octave, of "The World Is Too Much with Us" begins with Wordsworth accusing the modern age of having lost its connection to nature and everything meaningful: "Getting and spending, we lay waste our powers; /Little we see in Nature that is ours; /We have given our ...

Negative effect of video games on children Essay

The Negtive Effects of Video Gaming on Children Children don’t have to buy an expensive gaming system to play video games anymore, than can simply log onto the internet through their home computer or their handheld devices and they have an array of videogames to choose from. Every time a child pops a role playing videogame into their gaming console or logs onto the internet to play so called interactive video games, they enter a virtual world where there are no real consequences for their actions. While playing violent video games children can choose to play the violent roles of either car thieves or killers. The more time a child spends playing video games the less time they spend engaged in normal social activities with their friends. When a child is allowed to spend hours a day playing video games, especially violent role playing games, they can cause them to become violent, socially isolated, and depressed. First person role playing games allow children to identify with their character (Harding). The more time children spend as killing machines in the false reality of the video gaming world, the more desensitized they become to death and killing in the real world. Studies have shown the more time children spend playing violent video games, the more likely they are to respond to real world situations with aggression and violence (Gordon). A 2004 study published in the Journal of Adolescence found children, particularly teens, who played violent video games are more likely to become aggressive, confrontational, and see a decline in their academic performance (Harding). Allowing children to play violent video games is not worth the risk they pose! Children are exposed to enough violence through television without the help of violent games offered to them over the internet and through popular video gaming systems. Video games do not only expose children to violence they allow them to engage in it through the violent roles they allow them to play. Many of the roles children play over the internet or through their game consoles simulate real world situations where they can steal and murder with no consequences. Parents should not need to read the results of a study for them to realize that allowing their child to play violent roles in video games, where they kill and steal, will encourage violent behavior from them in the real world. During September 2009 in Ohio a sixteen year old boy named Daniel Petric was forbidden by his father from buying the new version of the violent video game Halo that he was obsessed with. After being forbidden from buying the new version of the violent game Daniel snuck out of his house and bought it anyway. When Daniel’s father discovered he had disobeyed him, and bought the game, he took it away from him and locked it in his lockbox where he kept his gun. Later that same night, sixteen year old Daniel unlocked his father’s lockbox to retrieve his game and found his father’s gun. After finding the gun Daniel went into his parent’s bedroom and shot both his father and mother in the killing them (Gordon). No one can say with absolute certainty that the video game Halo caused the boy to shoot his parents. One thing is obvious, if the boy’s account of events are to be believed, the game played a huge factor in his descion to murder his parents that evening. Violent behavior unfortunately is not the only negative effect from children playing video games to often. A recent study by Douglas A Gentile, an associate professor of psychology at Iowa State University found that children who spend several hours a day playing video games are at risk to become addicted to them. Once a child becomes addicted to their video game, their addiction can cause them to become depressed, anxious, and have social problems including social isolation (Gilmore). If a child is spending several hours a day gaming they can very easily become depressed. When a child spends most of their day playing video games they do not engage in normal healthy physical activity with their friends. It makes sense that the more time a child spends isolated playing video games the more likely they are to become depressed. Children need to spend time interacting with their friends in order to develop normal social skills. When children isolate themselves playing videogames alone all day, they begin to lose their friends and social skills. Studies show that the depression caused from children pathologically playing video games can be easily lifted when they simply stop playing them (Frontelera). Douglas Gentile said, â€Å"We found in children who started playing pathologically anxiety and depression got worse. And, when they stopped gaming the depression lifted† (qtd. in Gilmore). The idea that allowing a child to play his or her favorite video game for a couple hours a day can lead them to social isolation may sound farfetched, unfortunately it is not. The more time a child spends playing video games the less desire they have for one on one human contact. Although, children have the ability to interact with other players including their friends through the internet, their friends become part of the game itself and there is no real contact. Children need to spend time in social environments with their peers in order to learn and maintain the social skills they need to navigate through life. When a child loses his or her social skills they quickly become isolated and depressed. Their isolation and depression can lead them to identify themselves more with the character they are playing in their videogame than their own real life. First person role playing games allow children to identify with their character. Studies have shown the more time teenagers spend playing violent videogames at home the more likely they are to respond to real world situations with aggression and violence. A child’s imagination is amazing and sometimes limitless, unfortunately it can become dangerous when they begin to imagine themselves stealing cars and murdering people while playing first person role playing Videogames allow children to become kings and queens, or car thieves and murderers. Children can become so entranced by the different roles they play in the virtual worlds created for them through videogames that the line between the real world and the virtual one depicted in the video games they are playing becomes blurred. . Violent video games rewarded children for things like stealing cars and killing people.