The World according to Grey

I belong to a cool tech association out of Kitchener-Waterloo, the beating heart of Ontario’s Technology Triangle. As is usual, they send out e-newsletters, and these link to a blog. There I came across a recent posting from a lady with Grey Advertising.

As I like people in advertising, indeed I was one for a short time myself, I check the writer out - ‘accrediting’ you might call it. I need first to decide whether to take her seriously. For me LinkedIn is the best quick fix on the professional in a ‘person of interest’ (as they say in law enforcement circles). Sure enough, there she is. She has a financial and IT marketing background and is a mid-lifer in her Forties. She is definitely to be taken seriously.

Part of her piece is titled ‘The Demographic Divide’. I learn that in her world the target, consumers, divide down the middle. It's all quite black-and-white. They are either Gen X and above, or they are Gen Y and below. The ‘Gen X and above’ are aging so what matters to them is good looks and health. The younger lot are tech-oriented so in promoting to them one must be ‘short and impactful’. It seems that is really all one needs to know. The pictured representative of the aging demographic is somewhat stout, and in a wide suit. The other one is cool and casual, and looks remarkably like my son-in-law.

I find I'm confused. No point in covering health-and-beauty aids as the first guy doesn’t look like he's really into them (i.e. he's probably just kidding), but my my son-in-law won't read my postings because I don't do short-and-impactful. It's aggravating, this grey world we live in!