What does the government do with all that census data?
Advertising Age’s own Bradley Johnson recently released information about what the census means to marketers. Johnson states, “The 2010 Census is expected to find that 309 million people live in the United States. But one person will be missing: the average American.”
He explains that the ‘average American’ is increasing “multi-dimensional,” making it more and more challenging to adapt to shifting and often difficult to contain consumer wants and needs.
Peter Francese, demographic trends analyst at WPP’s Ogilvy & Mather, predicts three major findings. He suggests only 22% of Americans live in an “iconic American household” consisting of a married couple with children. This slipped behind the now popular Dinks (Double Income; No Kids). Two incomes and no kids makes for a very attractive consumer. The Cleaver’s are even a distant third behind single-person households.
Secondly, he describes, “minorities are the new majority,” emphasizing the expanding diversities of our nation. Finally, Francese describes how “our nation will be older and more diverse, and consumer markets more complex.” So what does all of this mean for marketers? Understanding and adapting to these changes and consumers is necessary when considering where the consumer marketplace is moving and how we must adjust when targeting our growing country.
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