There is an online survey I occasionally get asked to fill in.  It begins with two simple questions.  The first asks gender (with a picture – there is a boy in blue and a girl in yellow – I normally get that one right).  The second question asks your age bracket with more little pictures to help you decide.  As the picture for the over 40 year old bracket shows a little grey haired woman I rarely get past question two as I feel militant on behalf of the millions of women in this age bracket (without a hint of grey). (On the other hand at least the picture depicts long hair… the male picture 40 plus is greying and bald!).  I wonder if the survey designers ever note a lack of respondents from the forty plus sector or indeed if they care ?

Today Sylvia Auton, CEO of  IPC media, announced a new generational category designed to dispel the old and rather redundant clichés about the generation of women aged between 40 and 60.  Welcome “Generation Ynot! “

Rather than traditional housewives slaving over a hot stove, or scrubbing the kitchen floor,  imagine instead dynamic sports car driving credit card flashing women on their way to the champagne bar at Westfield.

More information is at http://www.generationynot.co.uk/

Although several spontaneously come to my mind I will leave it to you to think of the right name of the equivalent male generation aged between 40 and 60!

As a Guatemalan proverb states: “Everyone is the age of their heart”.

Thanks to Andy Walsh for forwarding me this Tweet.  Interesting isn’t it?

It reminds me of The 4891 Theory (the inverse of 1984).

In Orwell’s dystopian masterpiece the general public was constantly watched by Big Brother and nothing went unremarked or unpunished. 

In reality it is the great and the famous people of the world who are constantly under scrutiny from the general public.  The famous now can’t escape punishment for unacceptable behaviour whether it is inappropriate remarks from politicians (http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/2012/jan/05/diane-abbott-twitter-row-racism) or goings on by prominent footballers (http://www.telegraph.co.uk/technology/twitter/8531175/Ryan-Giggs-named-as-Premier-League-footballer-in-gagging-order-row.html).

And how world leaders are allowed to keep talking with their mics still attached escapes me.  That’s like media buyers overhearing what media owners say about them in the pub after the negotiation. (http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2058966/Nicolas-Sarkozy-called-Israeli-Prime-Minister-Benjamin-Netanyahu-liar-Obama.html).

So the bigger a star you are the more careful you need to be about your reputation. 

Exactly true for a brand too.

The more famous and esteemed your brand reputation is the greater the need to tell the truth.

http://tellthetruthbook.com/

Which wagon now you’re asking yourself.  The truth wagon.  Martin Lindstrom, author of Brandwashed and Buyology, says that telling the truth to the consumer is the only real way forward in the current age.

I of course agree with him in this respect (Tell the Truth – Honesty is your most powerful marketing tool is my book with co-author marketing consultant Jonathan Salem Baskin out this spring http://www.amazon.com/Tell-Truth-Honesty-Powerful-Marketing/dp/1936661462/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1328610166&sr=8-1)

Lindstrom was speaking to Charlie Crowe CEO of C-Squared.  He was on a panel earlier this month with MediaCom’s  Head of Strategy and Freshness EMEA, Matthew Mee and Tiffany Bissey, Head of Global Digital and Emerging Media at Dell.

You can watch them debate at http://www.mediacom.com/en/news–insights/the-insider/webcast/live-stream.aspx.

The panel urged marketers and their agencies to take action now to ensure that their communication strategies acknowledge that the consumer is more connected than ever – to each other, to sources of information and expertise, and of course to price comparisons.

With rumours abounding that some retailers are proposing blocking mobile signals inside their own stores in order to suppress the ability of consumers to check relative prices using their mobiles, it is increasingly clear that in this time of the empowered consumer if you don’t have a plan to deal with the new realities then you don’t have a plan.