If you’ve played our new Persona Pix card game, you’ll already be familiar with our cast of colourful characters. Split into generational groups, from Builders (born between 1925 and 45) to Gen. Alpha (born since 2010), each of the personas featured in the game is designed to represent a real-life sub-set of consumers.
Although you might not find ‘Five Phone Felix’ or ‘Environmental Esther’ on your customer mailing lists, each character is grounded in real research into the habits, concerns, motivations, and life factors of the generations and groups featured in the game. So, what does the data tell us about generations featured, and how has that influenced the creation of the Persona Pix gang?
Builders (1925-45):
While 96% of households had internet access by January/February 2020, research by the charity Age UK suggests that 25% of 65-74 year olds rarely use the internet, rising to 54% in those aged over 75. While connection rates are increasing for this demographic, for every Digital Doris, there is also a Worried Walter, concerned that they are missing out on important information if communication moves exclusively online.
Baby boomers (1946-64):
While baby boomers may be on average more digitally literate than their older peers, this group also has its concerns about services and communication increasingly shifting online. Reflected in Persona Pix by Sceptical Simon, research by the Direct Marketing Association reveals that “over 65s continue to show less confidence in sharing personal information in comparison to 18-24s” (Gen. Z). This suggests that perhaps a more careful approach needs to be taken with this demographic when communicating how personal data is likely to be used?
Gen. X (1965-79):
With Gen Xers now aged from their early 40's up to their mid 50s, it would be easy to assume that almost all of this group will be easy to reach through social media. While perhaps once true, 40% of people who undertake a ‘digital detox’ never end up re-activating their social media accounts. With 19% of Gen Xers likely to undertake a detox, Off-grid Obafemi won’t be the only person that can’t be reached on social media.
Millennials (1980-94):
According to the 2019 Deloitte Millennial Survey, millennials (alongside their younger cohorts in Gen. Z) will in generally “patronise and support companies that align with their values.” The idea is well represented in Persona Pix by ‘Ethical Evie’, whose purchasing decisions are driven by social and environmental issues. Millennials can also be a distrustful bunch, and you’re likely to have a high number of privacy conscious ‘Private Preeti’s’ on your mailing lists. The Deloitte survey revealed that around one third of millennials have “lessened a business relationship because of the amount of personal data the company requests.”
Gen. Z (1995-2010):
Gen. Z was the first generation to be ‘born digital’, with connected devices part of their lives since early childhood. Unsurprisingly, this generation spends more time than any other online, 97% using the internet for social networking and 94% sending and receiving emails online. While good news for communications, zoomers have very high expectations. An IBM survey revealed that 62% will not use apps that are slow to load, while 60% won’t use apps, websites or facilities that are hard to navigate. Inez the Innovator won’t be the only zoomer impressed when her service providers adopt innovative approaches.
Gen. Alpha (2010-now):
While the oldest Gen. Alpha kids are only just reaching secondary school age, organisations should already be considering how they reach this group when they do reach maturity. As the second generation to come of age with digital technology embedded into their lives from birth, Gen. Alpha kids will have grown up interacting with services like Alexa since early childhood. Companies that haven’t factored these expectations could soon fall behind, just as they need to develop communications strategies for this generation.
How to understand your customers and deliver engaging communications?
The research above is just a snapshot of the demographic data that’s gone into developing the Persona Pix characters, and all organisations will (or should) be doing their own research into customer motivations and habits.
However, the challenge remains that many still struggle to extract value from the wealth of customer data they already hold.
Get in touch to discover how Paragon can help you better understand your customers and deliver communications that really resonate.
