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Warning: Major Disposable Income Shift Coming Says Doberman Dan

by Jason_V
10 replies
According to Doberman Dan:

By 2017… a mere 3 years and 8 months from today…Baby Boomers and “Sexy Seniors” will make up more than 50% of the U.S. population. More important to us marketers, they will control 70% of all disposable income in the country.

Yeah… 70%!

He also goes on to talk about how a lot of the companies try to target the "Millennials" As he wrote: "The proper name for this demographic is the “Millennials” (the 80 million Americans born between 1980 and 2000."

Yet, they will only control 30% of the disposable income.

J.C. Penney - The bigger they are, the dumber they are

I was also reading an interesting article about what social media is doing to the "Millennials" It basically said that social media is enabling and amplifying narcissism.

For example here's a good excerpt:

Elias Aboujaoude, a professor of psychiatry at Stanford, notes that our ability tailor the Internet experience to our every need is making us more narcissistic. He observes, "This shift from e- to i- in prefixing Internet URLs and naming electronic gadgets and apps parallels the rise of the self-absorbed online Narcissus." He goes on to state that, "As we get accustomed to having even our most minor needs ... accommodated to this degree, we are growing more needy and more entitled. In other words, more narcissistic."

The Internet 'Narcissism Epidemic' - Bill Davidow - The Atlantic

I couldn't help but mentally tie these articles together. How your write your copy and market your products/services is going to be even more important within the coming years, if Doberman Dan's research is accurate.

Obviously, good copy is good copy, however, if you're writing for the "Millenials" now more than ever you need to understand they don't and won't have a lot of disposable income. Also, because of their rampant narcissism, thanks to social media, you really have to lay on the "what's in it for me" copy super thick.

On the flip side, if you want to target those with the most disposable income in the coming years, you're going to have to gear your copy more towards the seniors and baby boomers.

What do you guys think?

Will this change how you write copy?

Will this change how you market products?

For those of you who create products, will this change how you create them?
#coming #dan #disposable #doberman #income #major #shift #warning
  • Profile picture of the author bluecoyotemedia
    This type of exchange is good for one thing

    conversation you know like politics you can get all heated up on political topics when in the end its all just mental masturbation.

    your speaking at such a high altitude level that it's even silly to say you will adjust your marketing to accommodate these changes

    unless of course your a very large company that deals with this type of information.

    we as internet marketers usually are focused on specific niches instead of general markets.. "usually" and even then only testing will reveal truths.

    as you start zooming in from that high altitude and you start focusing on your specific target market you can then begin to ask some better intelligent questions pertaining to your specific market.


    for example when your in the offline space- your dealing with offline business owners desire to get more customers- period.. that will never change.

    so your copy will not really reflect these future observations

    compare to a kindle publisher.. do you really think purchasing a $2.99 kindle book will be affected whatever demographics changes???

    if your in retail.. and again it depends what niche your in and at what point on the sales process your in.

    so again all of this sounds interesting and is good conversation but it's just conversation.

    now when the Dollar collapse occurs then things will change drastically lol

    Eddie

    ps. don't misunderstand me.. if your researching a potential market that you want to try and penetrate its good to first see a topical view before you start to drill down.. and then drilling down to your niche you begin to test the potential and viability of the market
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    • Profile picture of the author Jason_V
      Originally Posted by bluecoyotemedia View Post

      This type of exchange is good for one thing

      conversation you know like politics you can get all heated up on political topics when in the end its all just mental masturbation.

      your speaking at such a high altitude level that it's even silly to say you will adjust your marketing to accommodate these changes

      unless of course your a very large company that deals with this type of information.

      we as internet marketers usually are focused on specific niches instead of general markets.. "usually" and even then only testing will reveal truths.

      as you start zooming in from that high altitude and you start focusing on your specific target market you can then begin to ask some better intelligent questions pertaining to your specific market.


      for example when your in the offline space- your dealing with offline business owners desire to get more customers- period.. that will never change.

      so your copy will not really reflect these future observations

      compare to a kindle publisher.. do you really think purchasing a $2.99 kindle book will be affected whatever demographics changes???

      if your in retail.. and again it depends what niche your in and at what point on the sales process your in.

      so again all of this sounds interesting and is good conversation but it's just conversation.

      now when the Dollar collapse occurs then things will change drastically lol

      Eddie

      ps. don't misunderstand me.. if your researching a potential market that you want to try and penetrate its good to first see a topical view before you start to drill down.. and then drilling down to your niche you begin to test the potential and viability of the market
      Eddie,

      My whole point of starting this thread was just to have an open conversation. Throw ideas, thoughts, observations, around. As you said, really nothing more than mental masturbation.

      The reason why I like these kinds of threads is because no matter what, I usually always come away with some sort of new thought, insight, or observation and best of all something I can use as actionable.
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  • Profile picture of the author bhuff85
    In my opinion, I don't think it's going to change much (as far how you market your products).

    For example, if I have a product that is aimed at men in between the ages of 18 and 25, changing my marketing to attract another age group would most likely put me in a losing position, regardless of how much disposable income they have.

    One thing I can agree on is the rampant narcissism. Social media has definitely made it more prevalent. On my personal Facebook feed alone, I always see one of two things: self-centered, "play by the minute" life updates or constant complaining.

    You can learn a lot about a person by what they post on Facebook (sometimes much more than you want to know).
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  • Profile picture of the author bluecoyotemedia
    JasonV

    good point

    btw that Doberman Dan is one of the best copywriters living today. it has been a pleasure to actually call him a friend

    Eddie
    Signature

    Skunkworks: noun. informal.

    A clandestine group operating without any external intervention or oversight. Such groups achieve significant breakthroughs rarely discussed in public because they operate "outside the box".
    https://short-stuff.com/-Mjk0fDExOA==

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  • Profile picture of the author TaraCarson
    Originally Posted by Jason_V View Post

    According to Doberman Dan:

    By 2017... a mere 3 years and 8 months from today...Baby Boomers and "Sexy Seniors" will make up more than 50% of the U.S. population. More important to us marketers, they will control 70% of all disposable income in the country.

    Yeah... 70%!

    He also goes on to talk about how a lot of the companies try to target the "Millennials" As he wrote: "The proper name for this demographic is the "Millennials" (the 80 million Americans born between 1980 and 2000."

    Yet, they will only control 30% of the disposable income.

    J.C. Penney - The bigger they are, the dumber they are

    I was also reading an interesting article about what social media is doing to the "Millennials" It basically said that social media is enabling and amplifying narcissism.

    For example here's a good excerpt:

    Elias Aboujaoude, a professor of psychiatry at Stanford, notes that our ability tailor the Internet experience to our every need is making us more narcissistic. He observes, "This shift from e- to i- in prefixing Internet URLs and naming electronic gadgets and apps parallels the rise of the self-absorbed online Narcissus." He goes on to state that, "As we get accustomed to having even our most minor needs ... accommodated to this degree, we are growing more needy and more entitled. In other words, more narcissistic."

    The Internet 'Narcissism Epidemic' - Bill Davidow - The Atlantic

    I couldn't help but mentally tie these articles together. How your write your copy and market your products/services is going to be even more important within the coming years, if Doberman Dan's research is accurate.

    Obviously, good copy is good copy, however, if you're writing for the "Millenials" now more than ever you need to understand they don't and won't have a lot of disposable income. Also, because of their rampant narcissism, thanks to social media, you really have to lay on the "what's in it for me" copy super thick.

    On the flip side, if you want to target those with the most disposable income in the coming years, you're going to have to gear your copy more towards the seniors and baby boomers.

    What do you guys think?

    Will this change how you write copy?

    Will this change how you market products?

    For those of you who create products, will this change how you create them?
    I think this is total crap.

    Not you, I mean the general fearful attitude. Have you seen the crap broke people waste their money on? They constantly buy things they don't need, with money they don't have, and making money off of them is easier than making money off of the "seasoned citizens" who are wiser with their dollars.
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  • Profile picture of the author bluecoyotemedia
    Tara Carson

    boy you sure are a cutie oops!! sorry about that

    but your right.. !! selling to the masses is easier..

    have you seen the crap movies that hollywood keeps coming out with??
    Signature

    Skunkworks: noun. informal.

    A clandestine group operating without any external intervention or oversight. Such groups achieve significant breakthroughs rarely discussed in public because they operate "outside the box".
    https://short-stuff.com/-Mjk0fDExOA==

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  • Profile picture of the author TaraCarson
    Superman and Star Trek look like they'll be good.

    A friend and I did an experiment last year to test a theory about price-value perception. We created a "high end designer sunglasses" brand out of thin air, decorating the site with lifestyle shots of people kayaking and climbing rocks and stuff. Most of them weren't even wearing sunglasses. We took some decent looking dollar store sunglasses, got some great photos (proper lightbox, etc.), wrote excellent descriptions, and put them on our newly invented fake brand website at $599.00 per pair.

    Then we hit up a local bar (younger crowd, mostly under 30) and asked some of the patrons if anyone wanted to buy our "designer knockoffs". We told people they weren't genuine/authentic versions of [our made up brand] but they were the closest replicas we had come across and no one would ever be able to tell the difference between these and the real thing. We let them check out what we had, and pulled up the site on the tablet so they could see.

    Now keep in mind the pictures on the site with the $599 price tag are the exact SAME dollar store sunglasses they were looking at. And we would watch them study the sunglasses in their hand, then look at the site, comparing them feature for feature. When people would ask how much we wanted, we just said "I don't know, I don't have much in them, make me an offer.".

    We got offers ranging from $40 to $250.

    Not one person said "I've never heard of that brand" or "Who's dumb enough to pay $599 for sunglasses?" or "I could get these at the dollar store." They either weren't interested in the STYLES or they made an offer. And those who bought presumably went home and told their friends what a great deal they got, or said they were authentic. lol. And no, I didn't take the guy's money who offered $250, I'm not that mean. But I could have.

    People my age are dumb. If you have something to sell, they'll buy it, you have nothing to worry about.
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    • Profile picture of the author Jason_V
      Originally Posted by TaraCarson View Post

      I think this is total crap.

      Not you, I mean the general fearful attitude. Have you seen the crap broke people waste their money on? They constantly buy things they don't need, with money they don't have, and making money off of them is easier than making money off of the "seasoned citizens" who are wiser with their dollars.
      Not necessarily. This is why they are constantly telling Senior Citizens to be wary. Senior Citizens are easy marks.

      Top 10 Scams Targeting Seniors

      http://www.fbi.gov/scams-safety/fraud/seniors

      If they're vulnerable to flat out scams, it just shows that well written copy for legitimate products/services can still get their money.

      That first link tells you what topics senior citizens are most susceptible to scams.

      There's a lesson right there, it shows you what topics are important to seniors.

      Use those topics as inspiration, write some good copy and represent a legitimate product/service and you could probably make millions.

      Of course, because those are known scam topics, you will have to do a ton in the copy to prove the product or service is completely on the up and up and 100% credible.

      Originally Posted by TaraCarson View Post

      Superman and Star Trek look like they'll be good.

      A friend and I did an experiment last year to test a theory about price-value perception [content cut for brevity] People my age are dumb. If you have something to sell, they'll buy it, you have nothing to worry about.
      It's true most broke people do spend the little amount of disposable income they have on "crap" as you put it.

      However, your example only further proved the assertion that "millennials" are more narcissistic.

      They wanted to have "high end designer" sunglasses (even if they were the "knockoff.)

      What do you think the motivation behind that was?
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      • Profile picture of the author TaraCarson
        Originally Posted by Jason_V View Post

        However, your example only further proved the assertion that "millennials" are more narcissistic.

        They wanted to have "high end designer" sunglasses (even if they were the "knockoff.)

        What do you think the motivation behind that was?
        Probably the same reason you drive through the ghetto and see 10 year old cars with $5,000 paint jobs and $1,200 rims. We're smack in the middle of "generation dot me".

        I wasn't a bit surprised that people would want the deal, I see guys with fake Rolex watches and girls in Wal-Mart clothes and flipflops carrying fake Coach and Fendi purses all the time. What surprised me was that not one person said they'd never heard of the brand. We had a great back story about "the designer" that we never even got to use, lol. I'm guessing they just didn't want to admit they hadn't heard of it. We chose that location because it was a pretty trendy crowd in a college town, so automatically a very image conscious group. They are easy prey. If it will help their perception of their own self-image, they'll buy it. Internet marketing products are an even easier sale for this group, they're in debt up to their eyeballs and anything that will help them make a couple extra bucks to continue to perpetuate the image they want to convey is an easy close.

        Anyway, my point is I wouldn't worry about disposable income or retirees, there is plenty to be made with Generation dot me. People will find the money for what they want, it all comes down to finding the right product for the audience.
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  • Profile picture of the author ParkerArrow
    ^ That is gold! I would love to have used it in one of my marketing classes.


    What if I like learning about what other people like learning about too?

    I don't want to live in a box of my own design, thanks User-Targeting.

    Perhaps digital marketing will follow in the footsteps of MTV: co-opting discoveries before they are made and creating culture around a sub-culture before it can become a subculture. Spoon-feeding "discovery" to the human mind. All pre-analyzed and pre-digested in nice digestible morsels that make us all warm and sleepy. Telling us who we are and what we like.
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