The Age of Statistical Irrelevance
55 is the speed limit on many highways. Hideki Matsui of the New York Yankees wears number 55 on his uniform. There's a highway, Interstate 55, in the central US.
Today is my 55th birthday. For much of my business life and professional endeavors I have been involved in studying, attaining, or reporting on demographics. At 55 one enters the world of marketing, and to a certain degree, statistical, irrelevance.
No longer am I anywhere near the so-called youth demos (12-24, 18-34). I didn't mind passsing out of the basic target demo of 18-49. The money demo for radio stations has been 25-54 for ages. But, speaking of ages, I have now aged beyond that demo.
Statistical irrelevance might be defined as when one is no longer a marketing target.
It Must Be True
From years and years of media and demographic studies I am familiar with the trends and habits of people at certain ages. Further, I am pretty well versed in psychographic and consumer activity. Some years back I worked with my friend, mentor and partner Maurie Webster [1] on a project known as The 35-64 Committee. Our job was to present the virtues, economic impact and selling power of a demographic that would extend 25-54 by ten years. It was fun work, we did a ton of research, and worked with all sorts of clients beyond the group of radio stations and networks that had originally engaged us. Ad agencies and media outlets of various sorts wanted information from us, and many asked us to include their research in the area in our findings.
In doing so I became even more aware of the spending habits, media habits and general lifestyle of the 55-64 year old age group.
Guess what? While the majority of my music and entertainment habits reflect a younger demo, my radio listening has begun to reflect the data from those studies. My hair is mostly gray, and when I drive home at night from NYC, often I find myself listening to talk radio. And not just any talk radio, but a fellow who has a program on WOR. New Yorkers will know (well, mostly New Yorkers 50+, anyway) that WOR is the station of old people. And I don't mean just 55-64. WOR is the last bastian of old-style talk radio, much the way it was back when I was a kid. Frankly, I am certainly in the youngest demographic group of their audience composition.
But it must be true. You pass 54, you become irrelevant as a statistic to marketers, you being to listen to WOR.
Then Again . . .
Be all that at as it may . . . next month begins Baseball Season, another run of The Sopranos and Entourage (yeah, at 55 I watch Entourage!), and one of my kids is still in his teens. In addition to this I am involved in any number of exciting projects, some groundbreaking areas, and working in some unchartered territory. This is vital and energizing work. So I may be irrelevant, but I am not yet an old fart.
Now it is time to go out and celebrate my birthday.