Targeting Generational Differences in Functional CPG
While I was doing some market research and strategy recommendations for a client that is launching a functional food that will be positioned for Baby Boomers, I stumbled upon a report that analyzed 500K social and digital posts about nutritional supplements and supplementation interests. The marketing firm, that performed the study, wanted to prove that being everything to everyone is not effective in today’s market, regardless if the product could effectively be used across different generational buying groups.
They proved what most of you that follow me should already know! That is the fact that being everything to everyone, will leave you being nothing to nobody. This makes personalization and segmenting marketing or products the key to success in today’s ultra-competitive CPG/FMCG landscape.
For this article, I thought it would be useful to dig through the report and pull some categories to compare the generational differences related to nutritional supplements and functional food and beverage.
Baby Boomers
Why Are They Important = Boomers represent close to half of all consumer spending
Online Usage = They spend a lot of time researching, shopping and connecting with friends through social media platforms that are usually Facebook or YouTube (close to 70% of Boomers have a Facebook and watch video on YouTube)
Functional CPG Products they Seek = Healthy aging with focus of skin/muscle, joints, eye care, heart health, digestion and brain/memory. They don’t mind traditional categories (caps, powders, and pills) but also enjoy functional foods. Taste isn’t the biggest driver for Baby Boomers
Marketing = They enjoy positive campaigns, information, and do not want to be told they are “old” or need to reverse aging
Influencer Marketing = Boomers like living examples that are same age and present on mass media. They also like the influencer to provide useful information.
Generation X
Why Are They Important = Gen X is usually the forgotten area of products and marketing because they are in between two elusive generations. They also are in the prime of earning potential and raising families of Gen Z kids
Online Usage = they spend more time on social than Baby Boomers but have less screen time than Millennials. They also use more platforms than Baby Boomers and this helps CPG marketers
Functional CPG Products they Seek = Gen X is looking for products that address middle-age maladies like hormone optimzation, stress, and weight management. They treat supplements like food and Plant-based nutrition was seen as a huge trend.
Marketing = They are looking for a focus on convenience, taste, and the ability to use in everyday meals.
Influencer Marketing = They enjoy social media and mass media influencers but prefer them to be informative over entertaining
Millennials
Why Are They Important = This is the target market for most nutritional supplement niches like sports nutrition and functional foods/beverages. Millennials also influence other generations and trends in CPG market
Online Usage = Millennials spend the most on digital and social of generations in study. The “second screen” of mobile is practically the “first screen” now
Functional CPG Products they Seek = They are looking for natural ingredients, clean label products, protein-added and taste is paramount
Marketing = Millennials have a distrust of institutions (legacy brands) that likely stems from the Great Recession. They prefer their marketing to be personalized and digital. They also are positive to sustainable efforts that are authentic to the culture of the brand
Influencer Marketing = They are perfectly fine to promote and sell in exchange for some value set (entertainment mostly)
Conclusion
Functional CPG products are purchased for different reasons by different generational buying groups. Marketing and products need to resonate with, and reflect, audience-specific needs in order to be effective.
