Whatever happened to American Demographics?

A frequent question to Jim Madden and myself, both of whom worked at American Demographics, is whatever happened to the magazine. The short answer is that it was sold to Advertising Age and is now incorporated into that magazine and its website.

For those not in the know, American Demographics magazine was founded in 1979 by Peter Francese, to help planners and marketers better understand the U.S. Census that would be taken in 1980 and to use the data from it in their work. This was an era when massive changes in technology were making it easier to analyze and use data and to make it available much more quickly.

The magazine at first had the feel of an academic journal, but under the guidance of Bryant Robey, the first editor, it quickly turned into a readable monthly loaded with what we used to call "distant early warnings" about trends. One loyal reader told me just a year or so ago how much he missed the magazine. "With every issue, I'd be wandering into other people's offices and saying, 'Did you know this?' It was a wonderful compendium of data and insights."

For many years it boasted signature covers illustrated by Tom Parker. Readers often requested copies of the covers for their offices.

The magazine was purchased by Dow Jones, Inc. in 1981 and sold several times before being acquired by Crain's Advertising Age in the first part of this decade.

Several former staffers remain in the Ithaca area and in publishing. Penelope Wickham who was the marketing director founded New Strategist Publications, which publishes reference books based primarily on government and other survey data, including the U.S. Census. The books are ably edited by Cheryl Russell. We have commended their American Consumer newsletter to you before and continue to do so.

Jim Madden and I founded Paramount Market Publishing, Inc. in 1999 to carry on the magazine's book publishing program. I was publisher of the magazine from 1988 to 1990, after having been an editor. Jim was associate publisher in charge of the book publishing program.

Others still in the area and working in research, writing, or publishing include Diane Crispell, Martha Farnsworth Riche, Brad Edmondson, Carol Terrizzi, and Caroline Arthur.

What? An ad agency doesn't want my business?

Chuck Nyren is a savvy copywriter who believes that many advertising agencies are missing the boat by not employing baby boomer copywriters and designers at their agencies. However, he also lays some of the onus for making sure that advertisements are age-appropriate at the doorstep of the client. While he encourages clients to consider the services of small-to-medium-sized agencies, he says there are some reasons why these agencies may not accept a client. These are just some of the insights you will find in Chuck's book, Advertising to Baby Boomers.

In most cases, small-to-medium-sized advertising agencies want you as a client. Some good reasons why they may not accept you:

• If a conflict of interest exists, (an account with a product or
service similar to yours) an ethical agency will not handle
you. However, because they are small or mid-sized, the
chance of this is slim.

• In good times, some smaller agencies overextend themselves.
Rarely do they turn away business, but it does happen.

• Some agencies do not like to handle products they believe
to be harmful. A few might not handle liquor, wine, or
beer. Others are environmentally conscious.

• Agencies often turn down political campaigns for (you
guessed it) political reasons, or because they do not want to
alienate their clients. (If you were a Republican, would you
be thrilled about your agency handling a Democratic
campaign? And vice-versa.)

• More often than not, small to mid-sized agency owners are
very involved with their clients. Some only want to handle
a manageable number of accounts. Give them credit for
honesty and integrity.

• A few agencies think of themselves as specialists. For
example, some agencies specialize in the health industry.
They may handle a few non-health, but related products and
services (for example, insurance). But if you walk in with a
revolutionary new egg beater or a reversible, edible necktie,
they might just tell you,“We don’t really know much about
this type of product, don’t know how to advertise and brand
it, so you would be better off with another agency.” Again,
give them credit for honesty and integrity.

Two queasy reasons why they may not want you for a client:

• An agency might consider your company or product or
service unworthy to be in their stable. Every industry has
snooty companies.

• Related to the above, they may not want to handle a specific target market
because they believe it will reflect poorly on their agency.
Along with Baby Boomers and their elders, some agencies do not want to target ethnic groups, religious groups, or certain economic groups.

2050 is already here

We just came back from a Hispanic marketing conference in Los Angeles. Most the attendees were seasoned Hispanic marketers and it was amazing to hear them say that many firms still don't have their act together when it comes to marketing to Hispanics, let alone other ethnic groups. One of the chairpersons, Armando Martin, pointed out that in the top 20 markets in the United States, all are already 50 percent or more ethnic, meaning that more than 50 percent of their residents are Hispanic, Black, or Asian. Yet most retailers in these markets, which probably account for more than 50 percent of their sales, are still targeting "white guys" as their main audience.

Many marketers think that they don't have to worry about targeting Hispanics, Blacks, or Asians until at least 2050 when these groups are projected to be a larger share of the population. But in the largest markets in the United States, 2050 is already here. If you aren't looking at your markets city by city, you should be. One excellent source is available from Paramount. It's called U.S. Diversity Markets Report, 2006. It is released every two years, so the next edition will be available early in 2008. But if the top 20 markets are important to you, don't wait.

One PMP author, Isabel Valdes, previewed her new book, which will be out in early October. In this new volume, Ms. Valdes takes a detailed look at Hispanics by generation and length of time in the United States. To learn more about What's New in Marketing, Sign up for our Email Newsletter and you will receive updates on new books, release dates, and special pricing.

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Confusion about Baby Boomers

A total of 76 million Baby Boomers were born between 1946 and 1964. The peak of births was in 1957, hence the news that there is one person in the U.S. turning 50 every 8 seconds. That is true for 2007, but it won't go on forever. And we are hearing a lot of misinformation these days about the baby boom.

Cheryl Russell, editorial director of New Strategist Publications and considered the guru of data about the baby boom generation, says that the baby boom peaked with 78 million people in 2005, having added 2 million people plus from immigration. Since most people immigrate when they are in their twenties and thirties, the baby boom was gaining about 200,000 people a year during the 1980s and 1990s. Now that boomers are aged 43 to 61, there are fewer immigrants in their age group to add to their numbers. Add to that the fact that there are about 223,000 deaths among baby boomers each year and rising, the baby boom cohort is beginning to shrink. Expect the number of deaths to grow by about 10 percent a year. In short, Boomers have reached the tipping point in growth and now their cohort is beginning to shrink.

A radio news story the other day said the number of baby boomers is increasing and would shortly reach 80 million. That's just plain wrong. Baby boomers are a strong consumer group for many products and services. But don't let anyone tell you that their numbers are growing stronger.

Believe it or not, some time in the next decade they will be outnumbered by the Millennial Generation as immigrants add to the population in that cohort.