Baby-Boomers Target Audience

After discussing various market segments with Elena, and in addition to researching the optimal target market independently, I am confident in the selection of middle-aged to slightly older professionals as the primary target audience.
Demographics
Generation X is an often overlooked demographic in marketing due to the fact that they lie directly in between two larger segments – the Baby Boomers and the Millennials (Taylor & Gao, 2014). According to Pew’s analysis of the Panel study of Income Dynamics, Generation X currently has the highest income of all age ranges with an overall median family income of $43,096. Additionally, Gen Xers are predominately white, but they are much more diverse than the Baby Boomers (as cited in The Pew Charitable Trusts, 2014)
Geographic
Washington DC boast the densest population of both Millennials and Generation X followed by states such as Georgia, Nevada, and Colorado (Maciag, 2014). While the majority of marketing to Gen Xers will consist of a mix of online ads, video advertisements on T.V. networks and social media sites, along with e-mails, there is still a need for brick and
mortar marketing.
Psychographics
The psychographics of Generation X vary between that of their predecessors and those of the millennials while favoring that of the millennials. They are technologically savvy, however they remember the days before smartphones and even cell phones. While Generation X has previously been given the title of Slackers, they have begun to shed the image associated with the title as the baby boomers leave the workforce leaving many management and leadership positions to the Gen Xers. However, despite the target market’s increased income, Generation X is pessimistic about having enough money to retire (Morin & Fry, 2012). When marketing the Mobile Manufacturing, Inc. (MM) it will be imperative that the value of the new phone is stressed.
Behavioral Characteristics
The target market shares several behavioral characteristics that include seeking product information, independence, and brand loyalty (Williams, n.d.).
MM has a distinct advantage of being the leader in mobile phone sales in 2002. Presumably, Gen Xers played an important role in the company’s success and the nostalgia of returning to the brand that started it all could prove to be an advantage. However, caution should be taken as to not directly target Generation X in advertisements due to their increased need for independence and disdain for stereotypes. Product information will be the biggest obstacle for MM to overcome. Gen Xers are notorious for researching products independently before purchasing and MM will need to be forthcoming with the information they seek (Millennials vs Gen X: How can you adapt to their shopping habbits?,
2016).
Global Market Entry
I am in agreement with Elena’s recommendation to market MM’s new product line internationally. India, for example, recently became the second largest market for smartphones with China being number one (Punit, 2016). With China’s market being oversaturated with Chinese smartphone manufactures, India would be a more viable location to enter the global market (Schmidt, 2016).