I admit it. Not only have I read all the Twilight books – I’ve read them twice and paid to see the midnight showing of both Twilight and New Moon. As a grown woman sprinting toward 40, I can still find a great deal of pleasure by diving imagination first into a fantasy world of true love, adventure and heartbreak.

But what has surprised me and the rest of the world, is that I am not alone in my Twi-Hard fandom. There were just as many old ladies like myself standing in line anticipating the start of New Moon as there were eager pre-teens and giddy college students. It was a sea of humanity at the AMC 30 at 11:45 that night.

I realized that as much as we like to create labels for generations – Baby Boomers, Gen X, Millennial and such, the lines between categories are blurring. Young people are more media savvy than ever before, and adults in their 30s, 40s and 50s are holding on to youthful ideals longer than ever. The arrival of technology and social media is busting down the barriers between generations or at the very least creating peep holes for clearer observation and understanding.

What does this mean for communication professionals? It means we no longer have clear-cut target audiences. Young adults catch the news on MSN and the Daily Show; 39-year-olds are winding down their day watching Adult Swim on the Cartoon Network while updating their Facebook account.

This change is most evident when creating campaigns for our education industry clients. On average – our client’s audience ranges in age from 16 – 36. In previous eras, this might mean developing separate copy and art to appeal to a youth market and an adult market. With this shift in generational separation, we can create unified campaigns that speak to a broader range of prospective students.

Brighter colors, dynamic graphics and contemporary copy are appreciated by Gen X and Gen Y alike, as well as progressive Baby Boomers. And as we all know, with all the messaging “noise” in the world, marketing activities need to be bolder than ever before to make a dent in awareness.

 

Finding the balance between too young and too stodgy is the guideline for developing creative that influences this new amalgam of generations.

It also means that we have to explore new delivery modes for sharing information. Recruitment activities need to go virtual in support of traditional outreach methods. Online open houses, Facebook posts, YouTube videos, email blasts, Google ad words – all these activities help enhance traditional recruitment activities.

 

These are exciting times. We can be bold. We can dare to be different. We have to, or we become ignored, or worse, irrelevant.