Mayer to Location: Big.

Today I was in a meeting with a number of consultants to a very large technology company. Their job: market research, essentially. They called to ask me my thoughts on the media and technology world, in particular as it might play out in the next five or so years. They were responsible for helping the Fortune 50 company navigate an increasingly complicated world.

I love these kind of free association tasks, because while it's not easy to be right, it's also pretty easy to not be wrong if the questions are smart. I've been a student of technology cycles for a couple of decades, and often times what's directly in front of you is, in fact, the next big thing.

So when I got this question: "What's the next big thing after social?" I didn't lose a beat in answering: "Location."

Now, many, many folks before me have been saying this for years. I'm in no way first. But I'm an early convert, in particular, as it relates to what I call the conversation economy. And the reason is simple: Once someone can declare where they are, they add extraordinary context to both search and social, and to their expectations of what a search or a social connection might yield. For an example, see The Gap Scenario.

In short, location is a key factor in the future of search, social, commerce, and media, among a lot of other things. And that's why the news today that Google's Marissa Mayer, long the VP of Search Products at Google, is taking over responsibilities for the location business, strikes me as a Big Deal.

Some have argued this is a demotion for Mayer, a Google stalwart and press favorite. But if in fact Google is "parking" Mayer in a "non job" due to her status as an early and long standing employee, I can't imagine a more strategic area for her to park. And given Mayer's success and wealth, I can't imagine she'd stay at Google if she weren't committed to a new role that she believes will be game changing. She has way too many other options, including, well, not working for as long as she'd like.

I for one don't think that's what is going on. Local is the most important signal to emerge in the database of intentions since the link. Once a consumer demands that businesses respond to their intent in the context of where they are, right now, well...the first to get that response right, wins.

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Older Internet Users More Savvy Than You May Think

When you read reports about Internet usage, smartphone adoption and technology use in general you are often led to believe that this is a young person’s game. As a recent study covered in an article from AdAge points out, how you define an older Internet user is probably the most important part of understanding just how much they are online and accessible.

Marilynn Mobley has a desktop at work, a laptop at home, a netbook for travel, an Android smartphone and just last week she bought an iPad. She time shifts all her TV viewing using DVRs and enjoys watching Blu-ray movies at home. She’s also 63 years old.

Ms. Mobley is a strategic counselor for Edelman in its Boomer Insights Generation Group.

“It’s actually a myth that baby boomers aren’t into technology. They represent 25% of the population, but they consume 40% [in total dollars spent] of it,” said Patricia McDonough, senior VP-analysis at Nielsen Co.

Those are some heady numbers if you are a marketer. I often find that the way the Boomer Generation is parsed is ridiculously off the mark. The supposed range of birth years for boomers are those that were born from 1946-1964. There is such an incredible gap in that 18 year range with regard to technology interaction and more that this entire demographic area should be redone and defined appropriately.

Here is some evidence for that argument from Forrester

As part of the Young Boomer generation myself I would argue that my Internet ‘savviness” is on par with many people much younger than I am (although Andy would argue that point). As a result, for me to be clumped in with older people and included in their ways and uses of the Internet is a huge mistake for marketers.

Let’s take a look at where the rubber meets the road. Who spends more on tech? “Boomers” do. Maybe it’s because they have more money but whatever the reason the reality is that they spend for tech.

In fact, spending on technology is one area where boomers are ahead of their younger counterparts. The 46 to 64 year-old group now spends more money on technology than any other demographic, according to Forrester Research’s annual benchmark tech study. That includes monthly telecom fees, gadget and device spending, and overall online purchases. They averaged around $650 spent in online shopping vs. Gen X ($581) and Gen Y ($429) over a three-month period.

Honestly, there is a lot of data from the article in AdAge that you s a marketers should take a look at. If you don’t have the time, I’ll sum it up for you. Not all Baby Boomers are even close to being alike in their consumption and use of technology and they need to be broken down into more realistic groups.

Lets just say, if you are stupid enough to consider baby boomers as the current 46-64 year-olds and think that you can categorize people in that age range the same from top to bottom then you are just that: stupid. The variations are just as vast when we, as marketers, like to say that 18-34 year-olds belong in the same demographic category. Maybe when marketing and advertising were in the age of the Mad Men show but today we have to be smarter than that and get much more granular with our determination of what age may represent what behavior.

So be very careful how you treat the older folks in the world of the Internet. If you dismiss them due to a completely inaccurate stereotype you do so at the risk of your bottom line.

How would you break out demographic age groups to more accurately determine how technology is used? Are you OK with 16-18 year groupings that can take a member of that group through several different life changes? How should age be used as a demographic yardstick in the Internet space?

Give us your thoughts.

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