The article contends increase in American population will make it difficult to use one marketing strategy to reach the target market. This will be due to the segmentation of the market by different nationality and spending behaviors. In the future, alternative communities are likely to share common values and passions.
The projected increase in the population of Hispanics implies that the niche market will become a mass market. There are possibilities of shortage of resources since the increased population will stretch the natural resources. There are expectations of companies shifting their attention from the 18 to 34 demographics in the next 25 years (Wellner, 2004). A company like Pepsi believes that the target market is not made up of youths only but it is multigenerational.
The article reveals that people over 50 are never old as had been the notion. This implies that people between the age of 50 and 74 will dominate the market; however, the American companies will still consider the 18 to 34 demographics. Companies, therefore, have to strategize on how to reach this group of people in the next 25 years. In addition, the expected decrease in the White population makes companies to reorganize their potential target market.
It means that firms that already targeting the nonwhites will gain competitive advantage in the future. Evidently, the changes in the demographic trends are likely to come from the increased number of the old generation and the reduced number of white Hispanics. Companies that had been targeting the white consumer market will have to change their market focus.
The market will be composed of multigenerational demographic hence forcing firms to create ageless multigenerational brands. Companies are also facing major challenges of producing products that target specific races or producing multiracial products. Since one racial group no longer controls the American market, companies will have to grasp and understand matters of cultural identity through ethnography.
Demographic trends analyze the alterations that can transpire in a demographic population over a given time (Kerin, Hartley & Rudelius, 2012). Demography is the scientific study of variations of the human population in terms of size and structure.
Some of the parameters that alter the size and structure of a population include migration rates, death rate, and birth rate. Demographic trends focus on why there are emigrations, geographical mobility, and immigration. In marketing, the entire concept touches on the characteristics of the entire human population, which include the employment status, level of income, age, and disability.
Demographics offer adequate information about members of a given group hence assisting marketers to understand the traits of the hypothetical collective. After visualizing the characteristics of a specific group, marketers then develop effective marketing strategies that center on the demographic. Notably, marketers try to view and understand the tastes of a consumer group towards a certain product.
Companies will have to change their marketing strategies that have been focusing on the youthful generation since in the next 25 years, generation X and Y will be in their late 30s and 50s. The demographic profile has proved that in the next 25 years, people who will be in their 50s will not be as old as the present population who are in their 50s.
In addition, the expected decline in the numbers of white consumers and increase in the numbers of the Black Hispanics will make companies that have been tailoring their products towards the two races to re-strategize their market plans (Hobbs & Stoops, 2002). For example, a company whose large customer base is the white population will have to divert its focus to the Black population in order to maintain or increase their sales in the future market.
On the other aspect, a firm that has been focusing on the Black population will have to increase their production levels in the future to accommodate the increased population. Lastly, the expected multigenerational market will make firms to re-modify their marketing strategies in order to appeal to all the generations. Clearly, these demographic trends have great effects on the marketing strategies of the firms.
The United States Postal Service is also planning how to adjust its marketing strategies. The main demographic trend is the populations’ change in marital status. Clearly, generation X and Y will already have families in the next 25 years and the company will have to contend with the decreased population of youths who had been using their services.
However, couples will still require direct mails services like post cards services for sending the tangible presents to their partners. Moreover, the present groups will have experienced changes in their income levels and with the increased technology, the Postal Service have to re-strategize its marketing plans given the decrease in populations’ use of their services.
Apart from age, race, and household income, geographical information is also a demographic trend that can alter a company’s marketing strategy. For instance, if a population relocates to anew area, companies that had relied on that population will have to re-strategize on how to capture the remaining market or move to the new location. The company may have to produce products that fit the remaining population or pump more funds to the marketing department to reach the old population in their new location.
References
Hobbs, F., & Stoops, N. (2002). Demographic trends in the 20th century. Washington, D.C.: U.S. Census Bureau.
Kerin, R. A., Hartley, S. W., & Rudelius, W. (2012). Marketing (11th ed.). Boston: McGraw-Hill/Irwin.
Wellner, A. S. (2004). The Next 25 Years. classes.bus.oregonstate.edu. Retrieved from classes.bus.oregonstate.edu/Fall- 10/ba499/elton/Articles/the%20next%2025%20years.pdf