The Aging of A Marketplace and Brand Dementia

In this wonderful world of conventional, mobile, digital and social media, there are few individuals I meet — young and old — who do not know about Biden and the impact of aging.

While EXPERIENCE works a lot with politicians and election branding, this blog will not further populate the editorial perspective of what the White House and the DNC should do or not do.

Part of what we are currently seeing unfolding in the U.S. as well as in Europe is driven in part by generational demographics.

The writing was on the wall that this would happen.

Baby Boomers would eventually face the challenges of aging. They would also eventually face a marketplace that functions beyond their sense of control.

Someone asked me why did the Biden issues not appear earlier in the primaries.

I replied that attentions got diverted to the Israelis and the Palestinians along with Target and its mid-century bell-bottoms and tie-dyed shirts.

Those folks found me to be part nut case!

For many Boomers, the campus protests and those tie-dyes transported the Boomers back into the days of Berkley and the March on Washington.

Social media posts confirmed those times with the old black & white Polaroids posted along with experiential recalls.

Anti-Vietnam “comrades” reconnected.

However as soon as the early spring temps gave way to the 2024 record-breaking heat wave and Target rolled out its summer lines fashioned around Cartoons, the Peace, Love, Harmony retro of the GenZers ceased.

Some sources report that GenZers have a higher level of A.D.D.

That late-June evening when I watched the debate, I realized I was witnessing a Mega-Trend that would deliver Future Shock like few other events I had seen since 9–11.

The media was stunned — rightly or wrongly — with limited perspective reported on in the past.

The DNC experienced a reality shock of something they had hoped was under management control.

The GOP also was surprised and quickly told their candidate to lay low.

As Geriatric academics have provided commentary, the early phases of dementia marry together denial, focus on the past and shut-downs of information flow.

What is happening is not just in Washington.

Its happening everywhere from Wall Street to Madison Avenue to the Silicon Valley to the Corporate Board Rooms.

Biden was born in 1942.

A tidal wave of branding and marketing took place when Biden hit his early teens.

McDonald’s opened their first store in 1940.

Dairy Queen premiered in 1940.

Burger King followed 14 years later in 1952.

Color television came out in 1953.

The first Starbucks appeared in 1971.

I entered the University of Georgia in 1976. While securing my undergraduate degree in Journalism, MBAs became hot with marketing focused around building a brand and a brands being driven by their USP… Unique Selling Proposition.

Successful brands back then kept their focus on their key deliverable and brand uniqueness.

Proctor & Gamble took center stage then and today still is featured in tech books. They continue to be a great example of what drives brand success.

Brands like Tide, Crest, Olay, Oral-B, Ariel and Vicks are packaged around close to the same product mix and brand claims today as they made back in the 1970s.

But there are many brands launched and expanded during the times when Biden first got into politics that developed and faced competition.

Fast Food brands. Automotive brands. Retail brands. House & Home brands. Entertainment media brands.

Brands that all of sudden felt a calling to move beyond their brand foundation and USP.

Perhaps the most visible brand shifts took place among the fast food brands.

Your name might have Burger in it, but shoot, why not add tacos to the mix.

Your name might have Chicken it it, but shoot, why not add burgers to the mix.

In my past, I have worked with an array of fast food brands and got paid some sizable compensation levels to construct brand platforms for them that soon were discarded with the next round of menu expansion.

Where we find brands today in 2024 is not radically different from where we find the White House.

Many brands today face denial.

As humans age, they forget and stutter. Focus shifts way more to the past than the future. They become defensive.

We have brands today that mirror this same thing.

Face food chains are bringing back products removed from the menu.

I am not kidding, but must share seeing a billboard for a hospital with the headline, “We Care More.”

I must divert and say that Aldi, a discount grocery retailer is running some great ads right now.

The ads take on their competitors and use humor to showcase just how ridiculous are the competitive brand offerings.

Perhaps the best one attacks Kroger’s launch of a coupon app where users get discounts off the app. The customers have to bring up the app at checkout and have not just the product scanned, but the discount on their iPhone.

Other Kroger customers are posting some strong worded critiques on social media.

The Aldi spot showcases tie-ups and delays getting through the check out line and folks focused on their iPhones while pushing their shopping cart and bumping into other shoppers.

Aldi ends the spot by sharing they don’t have gadgets and apps because they low price everyday.

Its not easy for political parties to look into the mirror. Its not easy for the Peace, Love, Harmony Boomers to do the same thing.

The catalyst of change and the change agents will soon take command of Wall Street, Washington and Main Street.

Some of those change agents will be Millennials. Many of those change agents will be GenZers.

I am writing this blog post at a coffee shop dominated by women University of Georgia students. Women now command the campus and represent two-thirds of enrollees.

Women get passionate about their brands.

I would not be shocked if the DNC gets Biden to step out and they post a new ticket of two women.

What we are seeing in Washington is what we are seeing with brands that have shifted into a similar state.

From one brand merging with the next. Store closures. Product scale-backs. Staff lay-offs.

Its happening right in front of us and there are many in those industries posting a blind stare at the wall not too unlike what Biden did in the debate.

The next chapter of Future Shock is taking place smack in front of us.

Its not driven by high tech nor AI nor virtual reality.

The second largest generation in America is entering into a phase of aging that many denied would take place.

There are brands housed in corporate high-rises and large campuses that will not be here four years from today.

And there are Millennials and GenZers who will take command and bring some cool brand experiences to market.

They will be simple brands and focused brands. Shoot, we may see the launch of a coffee house that just serves great drip coffee.

More of my clients are age 40 or less and the same with my staff.

This is about to be posted online… and my bet is it will be a short period of time afteer than posting that the landscape of the 2024 Presidential election will be transported into a new stage set.