One of the things brands are moving toward in today’s world is personalized marketing, meaning serving you content, products, and services based on your interests, behavior, and taste. But before you can do any of this personalization, the very first step is to know your audience.
Generational Groups From 1945 Until Now
Generally, the active generational groups have been classified worldwide from 1946 until now. We do have older generations too, but since they’re living out the final years of their lives, they aren’t a target for marketers. In my opinion, these generational groups are a few years off when it comes to Iran, so for inside the country we need to shift each range a few years forward, and the further forward we go, the smaller that gap becomes thanks to the impact of technology.
Boomers (Baby Boomers)
This generation was born between 1946 and 1964, or 1324 to 1342 in the Iranian calendar. This was the period of economic prosperity after World War II. People born in this era usually have grandchildren now and come from a time when becoming a doctor or engineer was the dream, they had good incomes, and they’d tell their kids to study hard so they could become somebody. Some of them might be old bazaar merchants or factory owners who, thanks to the economic boom of that era, probably run large old businesses. For example, Bill Gates and Steve Jobs, or in Iran, Alireza Nabi and Gholamali Soleimani, were born in this period. Those born in the early part of this era, after getting through the 1979 revolution and the Iran-Iraq war, found themselves in a good period of growth in construction and industry, and many of them reached a high economic standing.
Generation X
This generation was born between 1965 and 1980, or 1343 to 1358 in the Iranian calendar. This generation has either retired, is at the end of their working life, or in some cases launched their own business a while back. In Iran, the people of this generation also faced hard events like the revolution and the war right at the peak of their youth, and many of our young martyrs are from this era. They’re now middle-aged moms and dads who usually have a kid born in the 70s or 80s (Iranian calendar). Generation X is pretty much the oldest generation in Iran that’s comfortable with the internet, smartphones, Googling, computers, and technology, and that shops online; you can’t really target the Boomers online.
Generation Y
This generation was born between 1981 and 1996, or 1359 to 1374 in the Iranian calendar. In Iran, this generation is our own 60s kids (Iranian calendar). They’re basically the children of the Baby Boomers, they’re very active on social media, and they’ve tried everything from Yahoo Messenger and Facebook to WhatsApp, Instagram, and Telegram. They’ve usually been through a lot of economic hardship and are very good at saving. A big chunk of this generation has emigrated, and pretty much the best employees and the youngest business owners and managers come from this generation too, and you can usually count on them when it comes to work commitment and professionalism. This generation grew up with dial-up and the dawn of the internet and technology, and they try to keep pace with Gen Z.
Generation Z
This generation was born between 1997 and 2012, or 1375 to 1390 in the Iranian calendar; the famous 80s kids (Iranian calendar) who had a phone in hand from childhood. They’re the children of Generation X. My personal take is that Generation X grew up with a lot of restrictions and lived through events like the revolution and the war during their youth and childhood; conditions were tough, family relationships often weren’t great, and many were children of martyrs. So Generation X did everything they could to make up for those gaps and restrictions for their own kids, Gen Z. But because they lacked parenting skills, in many families Gen Z got ruined. These days in Iran, rather than being seen as tech-obsessed, Gen Z is more associated with negative things like drug use, recklessness, and lack of discipline, and in my view the main reason for this is parents’ lack of parenting skills, society not being ready for technology, and the absence of the necessary education in this area.
Generation Alpha
This generation was born from 2013, or 1391 in the Iranian calendar, onward, and we call them the 90s kids (Iranian calendar). They’re the children of the 60s generation and are pretty much born with a phone in hand. Many of them are pushed into social media by their parents during childhood, who set up accounts and run them themselves, and these kids become famous before they’ve even had a youth, which in my opinion isn’t right at all. This generation doesn’t have its own income or purchasing power yet, and their parents, who are from the 60s generation, are fairly frugal people who will probably pass that mindset on to this generation too. Services like education are probably a good option for this generation, something their parents will pay for, but when it comes to physical goods, this generation will likely only start spending once it has its own income.
Conclusion
You need to segment your products and services, figure out which generation your customers belong to, and then make your offers based on the traits of each generation and what matters to them. For example, the Baby Boomer generation now needs services related to health and a comfortable retirement and isn’t a fan of technology at all, whereas Gen Z is tech-obsessed and, given the current economic situation, is looking for ways to make money. For instance, if you’re a financial institution, for someone from the Baby Boomer generation you should offer a plan where they hand you their money and you pay them monthly returns to spend during retirement, plus some healthcare and recreational services on top. But for an 80s kid or Gen Z, you’d need a plan on how to grow their money tenfold in a year! Maybe that’s exactly why there are so many scammers in the crypto and trading space these days.