Kidnapped, Hijacked or Rescued? Generation Jones Seeks to define those born between 1954 and 1964.
I was commuting to Manhattan on Monday and listening to WCBS talk/news radio when I got the news. Apparently, according to marketing consultant Jonathan Pontell who was being interviewed, the large group of people born between 1954 and 1964 are not, as previously cast Baby Boomers but are an entirely different species known as ( a term he coined) "Jonesers". This is a huge group of people. It is nearly a quarter (53 million) of all adults. This is a group that is too young to truly have embraced he idealism of the 60's and we are the ones who watched our older brothers and sisters sell out to Yuppism during the 80's. Jones has written a book called Generation Jones: Between the Baby Boomers and Generation X.
But before I go on describing why Mr. Pontell might be on to something in further segmenting Boomers, I'd like to explore my feelings. It was not difficult for me to embrace being Black and African-American instead of Negro. I was only ten or eleven years old when I stopped being a Negro and I hadn't really embraced the term or let it define me. But Baby Boomer is different. It seemed to fit separating my ideas from those of my parents and generations before. It had a lot of optimism and swagger. "Jonesers" sound like followers. Pontell describes us as "yearning" and yes also as "jonesing" that is longing and craving. I do see some of that in my peers but I don't like it and I certainly don't want to be defined by it. Pontell goes on to say that Jonesers are busy, practical and media-savvy. He explains that our "hunger" is an active hunger. We are open to switching brands and channels and we have a built in detector that protects us from being manipulated.
As a marketer, I believe the jury is still out on whether there are difference that are significant enough in the younger Boomers to completely separate them from Baby Boomers. But I like the fact that Pontell believes that our best days are ahead of us. "Generation Jones has not yet spoken," he says, "but it's clearing its throat."
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