Mandarin Oriental’s ‘Selfie in Paris’ package offers a private tour of the city’s scenic hotspots
If you look at the list of the 1,000 favourite artists for 60-year-olds and the 1,000 favourite artists for 13-year-olds, there’s a 40 per cent overlap expanding consumer markets, widespread adoption of digital technologies and increasing socio-cultural diversity.
WHY THE CHANGE? Four powerful forces are driving the shift towards post-demographic consumerism: the global brain, the decline of old social norms, increased product and service choice, and new ways of accruing and displaying status. The emergence of an online global brain is seeing consumers from all walks of life buying and using services from the same top brands: think Facebook, Apple, Amazon and more. The worldwide reach of information has caused the emergence of a global shared consciousness and left consumers from Seattle to Shanghai ISSUE 1 2015 © cybertrek 2015
lusting after the same sneakers, smartphones and sushi. Meanwhile, urbanisation has shattered traditional social structures and values/norms such as the family unit and gender roles, giving consumers permission to live the lives they choose rather than those determined for them by age, gender, location and other traditional demographic labels. According to JWT Intelligence, 87 per cent of BRIC millennials believe the freedom and exposure of living in the city has widened their world view. The choice and freedom found in cities gives these individuals more opportunities to construct their own identities outside of the traditions of their specific demographic, and this group has become more accepting of alternative
and non-mainstream lifestyles. A greater variety in product choice and an international expansion of the global class has allowed people to personalise and express themselves through their consumptions at a greater degree than ever before. All demographics are using social media to relate and associate themselves with brands – even if they don’t necessarily use or buy the product or service. Consumers are ignoring demographic convictions and are picking – as well as identifying with – a wide range of brands. They’re frequently stepping across demographic boundaries. As BBC Radio 1’s head of music George Ergatoudis observes: “If you look at the list of the 1,000 favourite artists for 60-year-olds and the 1,000 favourite artists for 13-year-olds, there’s a 40 per cent overlap.” Yes, younger consumers are still the most frequent first adopters of new and compelling inventions. They’re more open, more experimental and have fewer commitments. However,
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