advertising to yuppies--9/23/24
Today's selection-- from Triumph of The Yuppies by Tom McGrath. In the 1980s, “yuppies,” those young, upwardly mobile professionals with such plentiful disposable income, were becoming the most desirable target audience for television advertisers:
“The success of young tech entrepreneurs was a signal of where the broader economy was going—the ideas industry was growing; manufacturing was not. Their rise was emblematic of something else, too. Like so many of their Boomer counterparts, the tech execs had a deep belief not just in themselves, and not just in business, but in the intersection of the two: They were what they did. And that made being successful all the more crucial.
“Perhaps an even greater sign of the shift that was now taking place was the way so many elements of the country were pivoting to appeal to, and align with, Yuppies and Yuppieness. There was a growing feeling that, no matter what sort of organization you ran or activity you were involved in, success in America in 1984—and likely beyond—meant catering to this smart, educated cohort with its upgraded tastes, fast-track values, and growing incomes.
“One place you saw the impact clearly, as Yuppie fever spread around America, was in advertising and marketing. In some instances, the appeal to Yuppies was comically superficial, as small businesses across the country slapped the term on anything and everything that might be of interest to the young professional set. A Delaware bar advertised ‘Yuppie cocktails.’ An investment firm in Boston created the ‘Yuppie portfolio.’ A New Jersey bank marketed a ‘Yuppie mortgage.’
“But in corporate America and on Madison Avenue, where there was a deepening understanding that Yuppies were the key demographic you needed to target (a conclusion reached, in part, because many of the decision-makers were themselves Yuppies), the approach was more sophisticated. It wasn't just a matter of placing a trendy word on a product or service; it was about telegraphing to young professionals that you understood their lives, their priorities, their needs.
“A telling example was the strategy adopted in 1984 by the iconic American brand Alka-Selrzer, The product—a fizzy concoction designed to deal with indigestion or a Sunday morning hangover-had been part of American life for fifty years, and its marketing had always reflected the times. In the '50s, the company had introduced TV viewers to Speedy, a wholesome, animated 3D character who sang the Alka-Seltzer jingle (‘Plop plop fizz fizz oh, what a relief it is’) while promising a quick reprieve from what ailed you. In the '70s, the brand had created a hugely popular campaign featuring a series of comic middle-aged characters who overindulged in one thing or another and uttered a series of catchphrases—from ‘Try it, you'll like it’ to ‘I can't believe I ate the whole thing’—that made their way into pop culture.
“By the early '80s, though, that approach had grown tired, and AlkaSeltzer, thanks to heightened competition from other antacid products,was struggling. The solution landed on by its new ad agency, McCann Erickson? To position the product as one meant not for schlubby middle-aged gluttons, but for the growing number of ambitious young professionals.
“In a series of slick TV commercials that it rolled out in the second half of 1984, Alka-Seltzer unveiled its new slogan: ‘For the symptoms of stress that can come with success.’ One fast-moving spot paid homage to an array of ambitious business types: The young executive gunning to become vice president by the end of the fiscal year. The vice president intent on being a senior vice president by age thirty-nine. The high-powered board chairman working hard to appease company shareholders. The campaign was perfectly reflective of a new national vibe and perfectly pitched to the young professionals who saw themselves as different—more ambitious, more sophisticated, healthier—than those who'd come before them. ‘The executive lunch that begins with two martinis is as much a relic as the weekly hangover,’ an Alka-Seltzer marketing executive explained as the campaign debuted. ‘Many business people don't even order wine at lunch anymore—it's spritzers and Perrier.’
“Another brand anxious to tap into the shifting zeitgeist was Michelob. The beer had always been more of a premium product than its AnheuserBusch stablemate, Budweiser, and in the '70s it had built its identity around the idea that it wasn't an everyday beer (‘Weekends were made for Michelob’ was the ubiquitous jingle). But now, as the economy continued rebounding from the recession and journalists cranked out stories about Yuppies, the brand's ad agency, Ted Bath Worldwide, positioned Michelob as a beer not for special occasions, but for special people. ‘Where you're going, it's Michelob’ was the new slogan, and the brand's new campaign reflected upwardly mobile ambitions and sensibilities to a tee. In one quick-cutting TV ad, a young professional was seen driving his sports car (European, of course), working the phones in his busy office, then hustling through the airport, where he would eventually hop on ... the supersonic, superluxury Concorde. The ad finished with our hardworking Yuppie hero walking on a tropical beach alongside a beautiful young woman as a song played underneath:
“There's a style in your life no one could ever deny You're moving up, moving up
You're always the one, the one who's eager to try You're on your way to the top
Where you're going, it's Miehelob
“The National Coffee Association, the trade group promoting coffee, not only published a booklet titled The Achiever's Handbook (which noted, miraculously, that most of the ‘achievers’ surveyed by the association started their day with a cup of joe); it also hired a young psychologist to tour the country and advise students and young corporate employees on career success. She no doubt knew what she was talking about: She was a thirty-one-year-old Yale PhD who'd published three books on the topic.
“Then there was American Express. As the credit card of choice for young professionals, Amex had been on a phenomenal tear; in 1983 alone, the number of American Express cardholders increased by more than 20 percent over the previous year, in part because of Amex's success in marketing its cards to women and new college graduates. But the company wasn't content to stand still as it did battle with competitors Visa and MasterCard. In the mid-'60s, Amex had created the Gold Card for its highest-spending customers; nearly two decades later, it decided that gold was no longer rich enough. In the spring of 1984, the company debuted the American Express Platinum Card, inviting the top 5 percent of its cardholders to pay $250 per year for the uber-exclusive new card. Platinum did come with some extra benefits—it got you into various private clubs around the country if you were traveling—but American Express understood that the real point of having a Platinum card was that, well, so many people did not. ‘We're not just offering a piece of plastic,’ an Amex executive said. ‘We're offering an identity.’”
COMMENTS (0)
Notice: Trying to access array offset on value of type bool in /home/customer/www/delanceyplace.com/public_html/cmsAdmin/plugins/websiteComments/websiteComments.php on line 279