I'm a member of Generation X, with a child who's a member of "Generation Z," or the "iGeneration," or whatever you want to call the people born after 2000.
Baby boomer managers still seem to set the tone for many of the financial services marketing campaigns aimed at me and my kid, and those folks tend to love the sugar. They often focus on positive, heartwarming scenes with, possibly, a small touch of concern about what the future might hold. Nothing that would upset anyone too much.
Meanwhile, my kid watches…zombie shows. And Japanese cartoons that usually seem to involve imminent threats of cataclysmic earthquakes, tsunamis, cannibalism, and problems with Japanese government health insurance cost-sharing provisions.
And I truly think that any financial services provider that wants a good shot at selling my kid any relatively high-premium product later needs to be marketing to her now.
Issuers of life, health, disability and long-term insurance products seem to think of consumers in their 30s as nice young prospects. They seem to think of consumers in their 20s as unicorns, who would be wonderful to draw in but must be difficult to convert.
But the consumers with relatively stable full-time jobs who make the most obvious financial services prospects because they are starting to make the choices that will lock in their personal protection and investment allocations, and their standard-of-living expectations, while they are starting to think vague thoughts about getting their first full-time jobs.
It's easy for sales consultants to tell agents and brokers, "Just tell prospects to live in a smaller house, and use the savings to protect their lifestyle and their families," or "Just tell the prospects to use their coffee money to protect their families from catastrophe."
