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Ageing, Demographics & Variable Data Printing
October 1, 2007
Have you ever had a bad experience in a certain location and whenever you return to that place those feelings return. I am experiencing those feelings right now as write this on the tarmac at the St. Louis airport. About a year ago to the day, a bunch of us were on a 14 city seminar tour and got stuck in St. Louis airport. There was a big storm the night before and the water was contaminated and the electricity was out at the airport.
Many of us were flying on United which is at the far end of the terminal and the heat was approaching 100 degrees. The fact that we were drenched in sweet and dehydrated may have contributed to these particularly vivid memories. Imagine this, you're sitting in a dark airport terminal, with no air conditioning or drinkable water and people are walking through the terminal using there cell phones as flash lights. It was an ire sight seeing the lights emanating from all these Nokia’s, Treos, Blackberry’s and other phones. Some of the lights were bluish others yellowish. Some shot light for 5 feet or more others 2 feet or less.
The scene was reminiscent of “Die Hard 2-Die Harder” which took place in a Dulles Airport after they lost power). Of course anyone who is a fan of the John McLean series will also be reminded of the latest Die Hard movie with our aging hero triumphing again and offering his infamous one liner “Yippee Co -Yo - x&#$@!”
Maybe this is Freudian or maybe its because I am trying to get to my sisters 60th birthday party in New York City this weekend, but this aging theme has been a recurring theme for me today. I mentioned something about aging in my presentation earlier today entitled “Creating and Mastering Variable Data printing” for the MFSA (Mailing & Fulfillment Service Association). At one point in the presentation I talk about how specific vertical markets are more likely to appreciate the value of variable data printing and are more willing to buy those services.
A good example is the automobile industry. To elaborate on the power of variable date printing in this vertical market I showed a slide with 2, side by side, car ads that are customized to the demographics of two typical recipients. One ad has the minivan which is targeted to the 20-40 year olds who have gaggle of young kids. The other ad has a little, red, 2 seater, sports car … for all the guys like me who are about to become empty nesters and considering a mid-life crisis. As many male empty nesters will begrudgingly admit, coming home to dark and dreary empty house is a strong motivation for a mid life crisis and the obvious cure is a sexy, red, 2 seater convertible.
Oh, just got the announcement from the cockpit of the plane to “turn off all electronic devices, anything with an on – off switch”. Not sure when the airline rules and regs people will realize that all except 1st generation IPods don’t actually have switches anymore. But no time for that now… I gotta put my laptop to sleep.
Next blog I will discuss our latest NAPL research about how digital leaders differ from digital laggards. If this subject interests you, mark your calendar for a webinar on this subject on WhatTheyThink.com on Wednesday, October 10th, from 2:00 to 3:00 pm EDT. Oh no – here goes a angry (and not so young) flight attendant seeing my computer on. Gotta go before I get yelled at and need the second most popular over the counter antidepressant –chocolate!
Posted by Howie Fenton on October 1, 2007 | Comments (1)
