Are you still targeting demographics? Taylor Swift isn't.

I cannot tell you how many conference rooms and meetings I've been in where senior leaders would get super energized by targeting Gen Z's. When I was in Unilever it was about the Millennials. I still remember holding on to these beautiful one pagers summarizing generational cohorts, alongside their income, ethnicity, and household size. Everyone loved it- it was a handy reference when building consumer targets.

Even today, the industry is so hard-wired to think demographics when we talk about consumer targets. I don't blame them- even media buying will require you to provide a profile on gender, age, even geography of your brand or campaign's target. The system will then spew out their media habits, the magazines they read... (stopping myself mid-sentence here realizing how antiquated the whole thing is).

And there's nothing entirely wrong with that. Except that it's the wrong way to build strategy.

The reason is simple. If I target and design products for Gen Z's, I leave everyone else behind. Including Boomers, whose aggregate net worth is $78.5 Trillion, and spending about $550 Billion annually. Which is not to understate the imminent spending power of Gen Z's, who appear on track to becoming the highest spenders with the fastest growth in spending power in this decade, leading up to 2030.

But therein lies the problem with demographic targeting- which generation, or ethnicity do you serve?

Look no further- Taylor Swift has an answer.

In 2024, it is reported that her Eras Tour has garnered an eye-popping $1.4 Billion in revenue in North America alone, surpassing the highest ever total that the quintessential Elton John had ever made. She drove about $5.7 Billion in the US economy's GDP. "If Taylor Swift were an economy, she'd be bigger than 50 countries combined", said Dan Fleetwood, an industry research and insights leader.

Who attended the concert? You guessed it--everybody. Gen Z's, Milennials, Gen Xers and Boomers. One might easily assume that Taylor was catering to younger people, but her audience actually was also older- nearly half of her millions of fans are likely over the age of 45. The other half, everyone else.

The magic in all of this, was that the Eras Tour, a showcasing of Taylor's music over her decades-long career resonated across all generational cohorts. As it happens, it was never about generational targeting, but how her music hit a nerve across all demographics. Taylor was born in Pennsylvania and initially moved to Tennessee as a country singer. Over time she understood that she wasn't just making country music. She was selling lyricism that's immediate and universal, wrapped in emotive, catchy melodies that are easy to sing along with. I'm a guy in my 40s, and I have both the original recording and "Taylor's version" of 1989. I love that album (and that "Era"), as I know many others do- and they're neither my age, gender or ethnicity. That's me participating in the Tay-tay economy.

The lesson is straightforward and compelling- go beyond demographics (age, ethnicity, gender, etc.) when developing strategy and targeting consumers. Just like Taylor Swift, hit on a nerve that encompasses these lines. Your volume opportunity becomes disproportionately larger. Perhaps it's not that you're going after a Gen Z audience- but that you're building a product for someone who loves to explore. I can guarantee you that an Explorer across all generations will be exponentially bigger as a volume opportunity, than just going after Gen Z's on TikTok.

The more important point here is that brands that connect deeply with consumers hit a "nerve" or "soft spot" which can be found within consumer need states (e.g. I'm not me when I'm "hangry"), or certain clusters defined by motivations towards a category (e.g. being an explorer, a perfectionist or a traditionalist), not because one happens to be 18 or 45. The demographics we are labeled with are simply not great predictors of what deeply resonates with us as human beings. Categories will have a variation of these deeper needs, depending on how your segmentation has clustered and found a solution of commonality among your population. You can then build a brand with a far more thoughtful and intentional target.

This is the gift that you now have-- a powerful way to view the world that will not be defined (and limited) by age, gender, ethnicity, income or geography. Now you can live like Tay-tay, with a brand as powerful as her Eras Tour, and can install in your strategy long-lasting, generational growth.

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NOW WHAT: We can help you build a Demand Landscape that views the world through the lens of these deeper, human needs. This will be one of your most powerful tools in understanding the real opportunities ahead of you, and how you can create real value for your brands today, and in the far future.