The Midults

[whitewine82]

So, I was in my facebook and I found this article from WGSN and I thought very interesting and finally I got some answers of why this crisis that we living in fashion is happening. We need to talk about that.

Millennials are old news; meet The Midults
BY WGSN INSIDER
Tired of all the Millennial marketing and branding buzz? New site The Midult wants to bring attention back to the neglected 35 to 55-year-old demographic

Harnessing millennial spend has been many brands’ digital marketing focus for the past five years. However, are sales – or lack thereof – beginning to suggest this targeting is misguided?

In particular, it seems luxury and designer brands would benefit from re-adjusting their strategies. Burberry’s annual results revealing a 7% profit drop hint its rawer, youth-focused aesthetic has guaranteed a load of social buzz, but poor return.

Meanwhile, the declining number of Chinese travellers – a demographic luxury has long relied upon – has only added to sector anxieties. In short? It needs to woo a new audience that can afford its products.

However if millennials are the wrong target, to where should its gaze shift? A new media brand launching this week, The Midult, believes it has the answer: the neglected 35- to 55-year-old female demographic, AKA the Midults.

They are successful, digitally-literate Generation X-ers who are bored by Agas, obsessed with Instagram and boast a large disposable income. Crucially, their motivations and desires are misunderstood or completely ignored by many of the brands they naturally gravitate to.

The Midult – which is part-community, part LOLs games and content – was founded by journalists Annabel Rivkin and Emilie McMeekan. They started their company after realising they sat somewhere in between Refinery 29, Mumsnet and The Lad Bible. And that this is something of a digital abyss.

The Midult co-founders Annabel Rivkin and Emilie McMeekan
Explaining the spending power of The Midult demographic, co-founder Rivkin says: “Identifying and targeting the Midult mindset is the way to harness the attention, spending power and influence of one of the most under-serviced – yet financially and digitally confident – groups in the world.”

McMeekan iterates: “From financial services to travel – not to mention cars and healthcare – it is Midults who hold the majority decision-making power over many individuals in the boomer, millennial and teen generations.”

So, who is the demographic and what do you need to know? These key four points are a start…

1. Proportionately, there are more Midults than millennials online every day according to the Office of National Statistics. 84% of 35- to 44-year-olds and 76% of 45- to 54-year-olds are daily internet users, primarily on mobile. Meanwhile 82% of millennials are daily browsers.

2.They are just as likely as millennials to share content created by brands and publishers on social. In addition, 72% use the internet primarily for social media, researchers at ONS discovered.

3.They are a shortcut to both boomers and Generation Z. Why? Because 47% of this demographic are financially responsible for either a parent or a child, according to Pew Research Center. One in seven are financially responsible for both.

4.They are driven by research. Want to sell Midults your product? Give them proof of its greatness. Or make sure it’s on the first page of Google – Gen X are likely to search for peer opinions, reviews and research online before buying in.

SOURCE: https://www.wgsn.com/blogs/millennials-marketing-new-demographic-the-midult/

 

[whitewine82]

So, they found out, they are selling things to the wrong people.

I always thought this "Millennium" talk very suspicious. Of course there is so much more rich kids than before but they can sustain the role luxury market? I don't think so.
All they got was the attention of the teenagers of the world that can't afford this kinda of shopping yet.

Now I have hope that someday we will get over this "InstaFashion" moment.

 

[squilliam]

I always thought that it was weird to target people under 30 years old, I mean yea there are rich kids from rich families...but aren't the richest people usually older adults? I suppose younger people are more impulsive and will blindly follow hype, but it's the older people who have most of the money. Like, why target rich kids? Which seems like such a small demographic, especially when compared to rich adults

 

[whitewine82]

I always thought that it was weird to target people under 30 years old, I mean yea there are rich kids from rich families...but aren't the richest people usually older adults? I suppose younger people are more impulsive and will blindly follow hype, but it's the older people who have most of the money. Like, why target rich kids? Which seems like such a small demographic, especially when compared to rich adults

Exactly! And the money that these rich kids spend is not their own money, it's from their parents most of time, so we are still talking about "adults money".

 

[dodencebt]

If this is true, I think it would explain the success of Celine, The Row and Valentino. These are brands that cater to the 30-50 year old woman who is trendy, but doesn't fall for hype; buys elevated basics; understands sustainability and fabric quality and leads a lifestyle that requires chic practicality.

 

[Deleted member 130879]

So, they found out, they are selling things to the wrong people.

I always thought this "Millennium" talk very suspicious. Of course there is so much more rich kids than before but they can sustain the role luxury market? I don't think so.
All they got was the attention of the teenagers of the world that can't afford this kinda of shopping yet.

Now I have hope that someday we will get over this "InstaFashion" moment.

The Millennials are probably the ones that buy most magazines. I have friends buying 3/4 magazines per month. And they are the ones using instagram the most. And, believe it or not, many "midults" are still trapped in this "I don't wanna grow up" road and still look up for brands that look "younger". Women above their 40s are the ones looking for sober and classy clothing (that said, I'm 26 and if I could I would dress in Valentino and Celine every day ).

 

[youarearockstar]

You're telling me that just now people have realized that 'they're' targeting to a demographic that has no individual buying capital of their own?

I'm all for the idea of early brand awareness, but someone along the way forgot how quickly tastes and opinions change as teenagers, and missed actually marketing luxury goods as aspirational, and to those that have the resources with which to procure them.

 

[softgrey]

well- i looked at the site and it seems like a nauseating extension of everything that one loathes about 'sex and the city'...

so...
while i agree that there is definitely room for an online platform that speaks to style savvy adults, this isn't gonna do it for me (or anyone i know)...
and i am definitely their target audience...

...

it's also very british......

 

[ultramarine]

Isnt it like WAY too soon to discuss this?

I mean, I love being ahead of the curve, but look at the amount of followers and numbers ... they've JUST started.

That said, I relate, and pretty much all of my (girl) friends would ...

 

[fashionista-ta]

The company I work for has invested heavily in branding that they believe appeals to a millennial audience ... their reasoning is that they need to lock them in now because they're the customer of the future.

I do feel that my market segment is seriously neglected, so I'm glad to see this being publicized in any way at all. Please give us something that's not Not Your Daughter's Jeans Now that Alber is no longer at Lanvin, I don't see a lot of options for someone who's not into minimalism.

 

[tangerine]

... their reasoning is that they need to lock them in now because they're the customer of the future.

This thinking by businesses amuses me. How many working adults are still loyal to brands that they wore as teenagers? In many cases, the brands sink without a trace; in others, they keep serving the same demographic, and who wants to still look like a trendy teenager when you're trying to brand yourself as a serious business person in your own right?

I'm generalizing in saying teenagers, of course, but when I look back to brands I liked when I wasn't earning my own money, or much money, most have disappeared, most of the rest are considered "kid's clothes" or are just tacky (says something about my tastes, I'm sure ).

To the topic, I guess I'm arguing in favor of the Midult, but their site is definitely not for me. I do like the antagonistic "divide and conquer" tone of the quoted article, though, makes it seem like Mean Girls.

 

[fashionista-ta]

wikipedia

I work for a major telecom company rather than a clothing brand.

Millennials (also known as the Millennial Generation[1] or Generation Y, abbreviated to Gen Y) are the demographic cohort between Generation X and Generation Z. There are no precise dates for when the generation starts and ends. Demographers and researchers typically use the early 1980s as starting birth years and use the mid 1990s to the early 2000s as final birth years for the Millennial Generation.

So this generation is right behind 'midult,' topping out at age 35 if you take 1981 as a starting point.

 

[ultramarine]

The company I work for has invested heavily in branding that they believe appeals to a millennial audience ... their reasoning is that they need to lock them in now because they're the customer of the future.

I do feel that my market segment is seriously neglected, so I'm glad to see this being publicized in any way at all. Please give us something that's not Not Your Daughter's Jeans Now that Alber is no longer at Lanvin, I don't see a lot of options for someone who's not into minimalism.

They ARE the market of the future and they ARE neglected.

They have heavy impact on some international brands, the matter is the market is quite different from what it used to be and Gen X shop VERY differently from Gen Y (Millennials). In my region, millennials are married with kids AT 22!! That is the average age at which they get married, so of course fashion is not a priority on their budget ... still, to figure them out is hard because they are full of contradictions ... but that they shop, they *do* shop (in here, they have absolutelly no brand loyalty and LOVE to no end the shopping "experience")

 

[fashionista-ta]

Speaking as Gen X, I had less brand loyalty when I was younger ... I don't have time to wander around endlessly these days, nor the patience for it. I think this is something that perhaps will never change as people become more mature adults ... you do figure out what works for you as you get older, and then you want to stick with what works.

But there are always opportunities, of course, as well as open categories where I'm not brand loyal. I love loyalty programs and brand benefits (Origins being an example), and my increasing loyalty to the brand has a direct relationship to the increasing benefits of doing so.