How to Sell to Generation X (and Not Get Cancelled)

Summary

Brain Driven Brands - Episode Summary: "How to Sell to Generation X (and Not Get Cancelled)"

Release Date: March 27, 2025
Host: Sarah Levinger
Co-Host: Nate the Kid

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Introduction to Marketing to Generation X

In this compelling episode of Brain Driven Brands, host Sarah Levinger and co-host Nate the Kid delve into the nuanced strategies required to effectively market to Generation X (Gen X) without falling into the pitfalls of cultural missteps that could lead to being "canceled." The discussion highlights Gen X's unique position in the consumer landscape, emphasizing their significant purchasing power and distinct behavioral traits.

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Understanding Generation X

Demographics and Characteristics
Generation X encompasses individuals born between 1965 and 1980, currently aged 45 to 60. Sarah Levinger points out that Gen Xers are often overlooked in marketing strategies, despite their substantial generational wealth and stable purchasing power.

Sarah Levinger [02:03]: "Gen Xers are, like, one and done, guys. Like, if you ever cross me, that's the end of it. That's all I have for you."

Behavioral Insights
Gen Xers are described as skeptical, less brand loyal than millennials, and more financially secure. They value authenticity and practicality in their interactions with brands, preferring straightforward messaging without unnecessary embellishments.

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Buying Behaviors and Brand Loyalty

Skepticism and Loyalty
Unlike millennials, who may fluctuate in brand loyalty, Gen Xers tend to stick with brands they trust unless significantly disappointed. However, as Nate the Kid shares through his experience with OG, Gen Xers may still diversify their purchases across multiple brands within a category.

Nate the Kid [05:08]: "They're not. We hear a lot about people with like large watch collections and like they'll have seven watches from seven different brands."

Value and Price Sensitivity
Gen Xers prioritize value for money and are highly price-sensitive, a trait rooted in their experiences during economic fluctuations such as the dot-com boom and bust.

Sarah Levinger [04:17]: "The Gen Xers actually have more generational wealth to spend than the millennials do."

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The Power of Nostalgia in Marketing

Leveraging Nostalgic Elements
One of the most effective strategies for engaging Gen X consumers is tapping into nostalgia. Sarah emphasizes that Gen Xers fondly remember a time before digital saturation, valuing simpler, more tangible experiences.

Sarah Levinger [06:03]: "Gen Xers remember a time where the Internet wasn't a thing, cell phones weren't a thing... things were simple, things were easy."

Case Study: Dairy Queen's Cookie Dipcone
A prime example discussed is Dairy Queen's Crunchin Cookie Dipcone, which became a viral sensation by evoking childhood memories associated with Cookie Monster. This campaign successfully resonated with Gen Xers' nostalgic sentiments, leading to increased sales and brand engagement.

Sarah Levinger [09:35]: "If you can tap into 90s re-releases or you can somehow do what Dairy Queen did, which is like revamp it into your current... it works almost every time."

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Making Purchasing Easy and Frictionless

Simplified Buying Processes
Gen Xers prefer straightforward purchasing experiences without excessive complexity. Marketers are advised to streamline the buying process, incorporate subscription models, and offer automatic repurchasing options to cater to this preference.

Sarah Levinger [15:44]: "God after nostalgia. To sell to a Gen Xer, make it stupid, easy to buy."

Value-Driven Transactions
While price sensitivity is high, Gen Xers are willing to spend on quality goods that meet their expectations without overhyping the product. Ensuring that the value matches the price is crucial.

Nate the Kid [17:40]: "Are they price sensitive in the way that like they won't spend money on quality goods or they just want to make sure the value matches the price they're paying."

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Avoiding Over-Hyped Marketing and Being Direct

Clear and Honest Messaging
Gen Xers disdain over-the-top marketing tactics and prefer honest, direct communication from brands. Avoiding unnecessary fluff and focusing on the product's actual benefits resonate more effectively with this demographic.

Sarah Levinger [20:14]: "They don't want to hear it. They don't want some fast moving Mr. B style edited video. That's like, there's only seven watches left."

Practicality Over Hype
Brands like Trader Joe's exemplify effective communication with Gen Xers by maintaining clear, practical messaging without resorting to urgent sales tactics.

Sarah Levinger [19:56]: "Trader Joe's is really clear on their messaging towards a specific type of customer."

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Strategic Brand Collaborations and Nostalgia Integration

Aligning with 90s Icons
Collaborations with brands that hold nostalgic value for Gen X can enhance appeal. Nate discusses potential partnerships with iconic 90s brands like Tommy Hilfiger, Ralph Lauren, and Starter Jackets, which could evoke positive memories and strengthen brand affinity.

Nate the Kid [13:08]: "We primarily think about what brands are hot today... but with the Jack Daniels collab that we did a year ago... a lot of people tie it back to that simple, carefree time of living."

Subtle Nostalgic References
Integrating nostalgic elements subtly into products or marketing materials can create a deeper connection without appearing gimmicky.

Sarah Levinger [15:24]: "There are other ones like Oakley, Levi's, Tommy Hilfiger, Nautica. That was like big in high school."

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Conclusion and Key Takeaways

Marketing to Generation X requires a deep understanding of their values, behaviors, and historical context. By leveraging nostalgia, ensuring straightforward purchasing processes, and maintaining clear, honest communication, brands can effectively engage this influential demographic without missteps that could lead to backlash.

Key Strategies:

1. Tap into Nostalgia: Utilize elements from the 80s and 90s that resonate with Gen Xers' formative years.
2. Simplify Purchases: Make buying processes easy and frictionless, offering subscriptions or automatic repurchasing options.
3. Be Direct and Honest: Avoid overhyping products; focus on clear, value-driven messaging.
4. Strategic Collaborations: Partner with brands that hold nostalgic value to strengthen brand affinity.

By implementing these strategies, marketers can not only capture the attention of Gen Xers but also foster lasting loyalty and engagement.

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Notable Quotes:

• Sarah Levinger [06:03]: "Gen Xers remember a time where the Internet wasn't a thing, cell phones weren't a thing... things were simple, things were easy."
• Nate the Kid [05:08]: "They're not. We hear a lot about people with like large watch collections and like they'll have seven watches from seven different brands."
• Sarah Levinger [15:44]: "God after nostalgia. To sell to a Gen Xer, make it stupid, easy to buy."

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For more insights and strategies on neuromarketing and consumer behavior, tune into Brain Driven Brands and stay ahead in the ever-evolving landscape of e-commerce marketing.

Transcript

[Nate the Kid]

Welcome back to Brain Driven Brands.

[Sarah Levinger]

You got it before me.

[Nate the Kid]

Hosted by Sarah Levinger and Nate the Kid. Legos.

[Sarah Levinger]

What is that? I thought you were the marketer. Nate, you already have a trope. You already have a trope. Take it that and just change your identity in the middle. You can't do that.

[Nate the Kid]

Justin.

[Sarah Levinger]

I'm gonna go here. Nice to see you.

[Nate the Kid]

Good stuff.

[Sarah Levinger]

Welcome back. Did you have a good birthday? We already talked about this on the episode, but I'm gonna ask again.

[Nate the Kid]

Yeah, birthday was good. Drank some whiskey, ate some steak. On your typical weekend. No ducks yet, but we're doing work this weekend to get ready for animals, so.

[Sarah Levinger]

Oh, what kind of animals again?

[Nate the Kid]

I think goats and chickens are gonna be up first.

[Sarah Levinger]

I have always wanted goats. Goats are, like, the coolest farm animal. If you're gonna get livestock goats, you guys should 100 do yoga. Goat yoga on your property.

[Nate the Kid]

That's not what I'm doing with my goats, but thanks.

[Sarah Levinger]

Do some goat yoga. You could make a lot of money doing that, just so you know.

[Nate the Kid]

Really?

[Sarah Levinger]

That's like, a big deal in Colorado.

[Nate the Kid]

There's, like, you can rent out goats for, like, goats to let them eat stuff.

[Sarah Levinger]

Oh, that's not what we do. Honestly, livestock is dead stock, Scotty. Oh, no.

[Nate the Kid]

Just for everyone listening, 30 seconds before we recorded, we pledged to keep this episode tight and on topic.

[Sarah Levinger]

It's not happening already.

[Nate the Kid]

I'm a goats already. But let's not talk about goats. Let's talk about. Or Gen X.

[Sarah Levinger]

Hey. Oh, we're gonna do a Gen X episode. This is a part of our series that we're going through that's gonna teach you how to market to each generation. In particular, today, we are gonna talk about how to market to Gen X without getting canceled, which is really funny, because canceled is not a Gen X word. That's actually a millennial word. But the Gen Xers actually cancel a lot more than I think most people realize. If the Gen Xers don't like you, you're dead to them forever. Yeah, millennials kind of ebb and flow a little bit, but Gen Xers are, like, one and done, guys. Like, if you ever cross me, that's the end of it. That's all I have for you.

[Nate the Kid]

And Gen X, just to be clear, is like, 45 to 60, right? That's who we're looking at right now. So for everyone listening to this, that those are the people that we call boomers who are. All right, that's.

[Sarah Levinger]

That's actually what you call them is like, many boomers yeah.

[Nate the Kid]

Anyone older than me to you?

[Sarah Levinger]

Okay, all right. I'm actually not a Gen Xer, but I act like a Gen Xer. We can talk about that too. There's basically, like, split. There's. There's these, like, crack generations where you'll act like the generation above you, but you'll technically be a part of the generation below you. I'm an 88 baby, so I act like a Gen Xer. Like the thought process, how I go about life, what I view is, like, success, whatever. I act like a Gen Xers, but I'm technically a millennial. You're what?

[Nate the Kid]

Gen Z. I am the last year of millennials.

[Sarah Levinger]

You're the last? Yep. Coughing Fascinating. You're technically a Gen Z. Or then you kind of act like.

[Nate the Kid]

I don't like that.

[Sarah Levinger]

All right, let's get into this.

[Nate the Kid]

So make me mad.

[Sarah Levinger]

I think I'm gonna make you mad. God. All right. You're always harping on me about my age. It's time for me to, like, repeat me the favor. Millennials get all the attention, I think, and boomers get all the blame. What do the Gen Xers get, do you think?

[Nate the Kid]

Ignored.

[Sarah Levinger]

They kind of do. I feel bad in marketing. You poor Gen Xers actually just don't get anything. We kind of just ignore you as a consumer group. But Gen Xers are interesting because they are.

[Nate the Kid]

Gen X is big for us, by the way.

[Sarah Levinger]

Are they really?

[Nate the Kid]

Yeah, like, that's like a core demo for us.

[Sarah Levinger]

Interesting.

[Nate the Kid]

Yeah.

[Sarah Levinger]

Gen Xers are quietly making all the money, which I find fascinating.

[Nate the Kid]

The boomers and certainly aren't.

[Sarah Levinger]

You know, we're poor out here. Those poor millennials. Excuse me. Oh, I'm dying still. So the millennials are interesting because they have no money, but they're kind of more like into high quality experiences. They're really careful with what they buy just because they have no money. But brands, I think, often get them a little bit more than they get the Gen Xers. But the Gen Xers actually have more generational wealth to spend than the millennials do. Sorry. Goodness. So I'm wondering why the marketers ignore them so much. Because they are about to inherit all of the wealth of their boomer parents.

[Nate the Kid]

Yeah, Literally all of it.

[Sarah Levinger]

Yeah. Some of the millennials will inherit what their boomer parents have, but it's only if you're an old millennial. Right. Because a younger millennial is currently being parented or was parented by a Gen Xer. So the Gen Xers are about to be, like, bequeathed a large portion of the wealth in this country because the boomers are like, we don't want these businesses anymore. Going to go live on an island in Florida. Here's our business. Gen Xer, Good luck. Gen xers born between 1965 and 1980. This is kind of their peak earning years. And I want to kind of talk about this a little bit more deeply because they are very skeptical and they're less brand loyal than millennials are. Mostly because they don't feel the need to bounce brands. So I'm interested to hear your experience with this. You said you have a little bit of a subsection of Gen Xers. What is their current buyer behavior look like for OG when they come into the brand? Are they pretty loyal for you guys or they skip out a lot?

[Nate the Kid]

They're not. We hear a lot about people with like large watch collections and like they'll have seven watches from seven different brands.

[Scotty]

Whoa.

[Nate the Kid]

Which is really interesting to me. And like I've, I've had a conversation with one who told us, you know, he might be right on the edge of this demo line. He might be mad that I'm throwing 45 at him, but said like OG for him is like the Rolex of wood watches. But he has other wood watches.

[Sarah Levinger]

Whoa. Oh, I know there was other wood watches. I thought it was.

[Nate the Kid]

Yeah, there's a couple other hobby brands out there that I'm sure the money. But yeah, like it's not like we get them once and they're in. Um, we'll get them once for a gift and it's hard to get them back.

[Sarah Levinger]

Yeah. Interesting. Well, and especially because in my experience for Gen Xers, typically when they find a brand that they love, they love it for life. It's like this is the only brand I'm going to go after until they have enough experiences with a higher quality brand or a brand that's just more reliable in general.

[Nate the Kid]

Interesting.

[Sarah Levinger]

Then they will switch. But it's pretty. It's hard to get a Gen Xer to switch to things because typically they just sit down and that's their brand. So I have kind of a lazy way to sell to a Gen Xer. Yours might be a different than this strategy because your current Gen X or group doesn't adhere to like the reliable like brand loyal, which now I need to know why is that happening? But in general, first thing you want to do when you're, when you're selling to any sort of Gen Xer is tap into that nostalgia. Gen Xers are really weird about nostalgia. They are. They were Born in that weird crack right before kind of dot com boom, right? So they remember a time period where the Internet wasn't a thing, cell phones weren't a thing, like nobody was connected. They remember riding their bikes to and from school by themselves every day. They remember staying out until the streetlight came on. Right? Millennials didn't really have that experience. Gen zers will never have that experience. So Gen Xers remember a time where things were simple, things were easy, things were like it was a happier time, an easier time, even though it 100% was not. But this nostalgia is really interesting because this is where brands like Nike and Levi were born. Nike was born in the 80s and the 90s, right. They started to kind of grow in this time period where the Gen Xers remember, storied based brands, the big, big brands were kind of born and cultivated in this. So this 90s rerelease idea works really frickin well for this particular customer. Also, you can tap into things inside their childhood that they loved and then build it into your brand later. You can do exactly what Dairy Queen just did. I don't know if you saw this tweet. The entire state of Colorado is out of Oreos right now. Did you know that?

[Nate the Kid]

No.

[Sarah Levinger]

Out of Oreos now.

[Nate the Kid]

That sucks. You guys should get out of there.

[Sarah Levinger]

Not in the grocery stores, but every Dairy Queen in the state has no Oreos.

[Nate the Kid]

Oh, it sounds like a Dairy Queen problem, by the way. Let's play a quick game. I know we're supposed to keep this episode tight. When do you think the last time I went to Dairy Queen was?

[Sarah Levinger]

Yesterday?

[Nate the Kid]

Yeah. What, 16 hours ago?

[Sarah Levinger]

Let me just tell you. I freaking love Dairy Queen. There's something about a Dairy Queen that's like. It hits different than like a cold stone or something.

[Nate the Kid]

Yeah.

[Sarah Levinger]

Shout out. Shout out.

[Nate the Kid]

Shout out. This episode. I don't care. Sponsored by Dairy Queen. Specifically. Specifically one blizzard. The one I got last night. The Reese's Fluffernutter Blizzard. Unbelievable.

[Sarah Levinger]

Was it good?

[Nate the Kid]

Go check it out. Yeah, use code Nate at the drive thru.

[Sarah Levinger]

Jesus Christ. We kid. We kid. Dairy Queen. Please sponsor us though. 100%. I'll come eat ice cream at your place every day. Okay. Have you ever checked out the clientele that's at a Dairy Queen? What's the. What's the average age that you notice?

[Nate the Kid]

The only people I ever see at Dairy Queen are families taking their kids there after Little League games. That's what I see.

[Sarah Levinger]

Queen, Old millennials, Gen Xers, sometimes boomers. I see a lot of boomers. There too, who are like, I just need my ice cream. But typically it's a Gen Xer that's not a Dairy Queen. All the millennials tend to go to like Cold Stone Creamery or like, you know, other places. Dairy Queen, not so much. But the reason I'm getting back to my story, the reason that Dairy Queen is currently out of Oreos is because they launched something Crunchin Cookie Dipco. Let me show you what this thing looks like because it is the weirdest thing.

[Unknown]

Today I'm at Dairy Queen trying out this new crunchy cookie dip cone ice cream. I get that subtle chocolate flavor all throughout to the shell and as well as the Oreo pieces inside. The shell exterior is pretty crunchy and I get that creamy texture of that vanilla soft serve ice cream.

[Sarah Levinger]

8 out of 10 is a blue dipped cone. So you know you can get a Dairy Queen the chocolate ones, right? You can get a cherry dipped cone. Now you can get a blue dipped cone that has like Oreo chunks inside of it. So it looks exactly like Cookie Monster. Now this is funny because they didn't call it a Cookie Monster cone. They didn't actually use that phrase.

[Nate the Kid]

Yeah, they looked at the licensing cost and we're like, I don't think we need that.

[Sarah Levinger]

I think we need that. They were like, absolutely not. I don't know if you guys know, but like to license anything with Sesame street is hella expensive. It's really hard to license things with Sesame street, mostly because it's a really good brand. But we can talk about that later. This one went viral on TikTok from one specific creator who was. I can't remember his. I'll put it in the show notes. It was like at Snackerator or something, this guy who is a Gen Xer was eating this ice cream cone, talking about. All he does is review like snacks and treats and all kinds of things across the Internet. Reviewed it, it got like a decent amount of views. I don't know, probably like three, 400,000 reviews. And this went frickin viral. So viral that every single Dairy Queen in Colorado and across the nation is out of Oreos because they're making so many of these crunch and cookie dip cones now. Funny. The Gen Xers are serious about their nostalgia. Yeah, very serious. One person who said, this reminds me of my childhood and I loved Cookie Monster and now I can have Cookie Monster in ice cream format. That went freaking viral on TikTok over the last like couple weeks to a month. And now not only Dairy Queen is benefiting from this, but Oreo as well. Two brands are benefiting from nostalgic need from a very, very intense customer type. Don't mess around with Gen Xers in their nostalgia. That's all I'm trying to say. Okay, that's.

[Nate the Kid]

That's so interesting to me because even if you're the biggest Cookie Monster fan, like by age 6 or 7, you're. You're graduated from that.

[Sarah Levinger]

Yeah. You're kind of.

[Nate the Kid]

This is like early, early childhood stuff. They're still resonating with super hard. Huh.

[Sarah Levinger]

We could also probably do an entire episode on advertising and permanence. Children.

[Nate the Kid]

Yeah.

[Sarah Levinger]

There. It's an intense. If you were. If you were a what is called Power Rangers fan as a child, there's a very, very clear line of the product.

[Nate the Kid]

You probably have a criminal record. Oh, sorry.

[Sarah Levinger]

I mean, you possibly could have a criminal record, but in general you could. I mean that you can directly attribute some of the purchases you make now as an adult back to what you saw as a kid. It's very intense. This is the reason why they're very serious about limiting what children see in the EU and other countries. Not so much in America. We don't really care if our kids see advertisements.

[Nate the Kid]

But Freedom Ring. Not for my kids. My kids are going to be on lockdown.

[Sarah Levinger]

But that's what I'm saying, though. This is what it causes. The Gen Xers are serious about their nostalgia. If you can tap into 90s re releases or you can somehow do what Dairy Queen did, which is like revamp it into your current, like group fan freaking tastic. It works almost every time. Every brand I've ever seen that has tried this, it worked for. So revamp.

[Nate the Kid]

So I'm gonna make this about original grand quick.

[Sarah Levinger]

Poor Scotty, he's like, every single episode is original.

[Nate the Kid]

What's interesting for us is, like, we obviously do a lot of brand collabs. Yeah, we do. We do. We primarily think about what brands are. Are hot today.

[Sarah Levinger]

Oh.

[Nate the Kid]

But with the Jack Daniels collab that we did a, a year ago and for the next couple of years.

[Sarah Levinger]

Yep.

[Nate the Kid]

We've got a lot of comments and feedback about like, that was the first thing I drank. That's what I drank in high school. That's what I drank in college. And we can't, we can't legally promote that like, this is your high school drink. But like, a lot of people tie it back to that simple, carefree time of living.

[Sarah Levinger]

Yeah.

[Nate the Kid]

That they don't have anymore because now they're adults with kids and jobs and they Might not be pounding Jack Daniels every weekend like they used to, but that's still connected to a good time in their life.

[Sarah Levinger]

Yes. I'd be interested to see what other brands you can attach to that that were born in the 90s in particular.

[Nate the Kid]

So that's what I'm thinking about now. Like, what are super hot in the 90s that all of us missed? Because all the guys at OG are younger than you.

[Sarah Levinger]

Jesus.

[Nate the Kid]

They're like. We didn't really.

[Sarah Levinger]

Are they really that sad?

[Nate the Kid]

I think. I think Ryan's 35.

[Sarah Levinger]

Okay, he's my age then. I'm 36. Come on now. I'm not that old. All right, we can ask. Chat. Tommy Hilfiger, Ralph Lauren, Jinko Jeans. Oh, my God. Do you not. You don't know what JNKO jeans are? Kill me. Kill me. All right. Jesus. Nike, Adidas, Reebok, Fila. Yeah. Starter jacket. Dang.

[Nate the Kid]

Starter jackets came back for a minute.

[Sarah Levinger]

Yes. And that was like, a big deal.

[Nate the Kid]

So did Champion, and I think Champion was like.

[Sarah Levinger]

Reebok was big for a minute.

[Nate the Kid]

Yeah.

[Scotty]

This is really funny, producer Scotty here. I'm 55. I grew. Grew up in the 90s. They could have just asked me, but no.

[Sarah Levinger]

Okay. I can't. Yes. Okay. Thank you. I was like, please tell me you remember Zerg.

[Nate the Kid]

Yeah.

[Sarah Levinger]

Dunkaroos. Oh, this is a great list.

[Nate the Kid]

Yeah.

[Sarah Levinger]

Furbies, Power Rangers, WWF Action Figures, MTV Blockbuster. No Fear W. Frank.

[Nate the Kid]

WF could actually be cool. I'm sure we could get some canvas from the ring or something.

[Sarah Levinger]

Ah, that would be interesting because that. Your audience probably is slightly into that. Possibly. That might be a little bit of a sister industry for you.

[Nate the Kid]

Yeah. There could be some. Some overlap to wrap this up. Nostalgia for Gen X can range anywhere from early childhood into young adulthood.

[Sarah Levinger]

Right.

[Nate the Kid]

Like, there's no limit on it. Anything from 0 to 25 is probably a good thing to try to.

[Sarah Levinger]

I mean, I don't think I would do a Cookie Monster watch.

[Nate the Kid]

No. Yeah. Definitely not.

[Sarah Levinger]

Bundling together dad son watches. Now that would be interesting. Try that. Try that. Try it. Test it. Okay, on to number two. Holy graduation.

[Nate the Kid]

Dads and grads. Bundle Grads.

[Sarah Levinger]

Okay, try it. Step two. God after nostalgia. To sell to a Gen Xer, make it stupid, easy to buy. Gen Xers are not the type that they want to, like, interact and be involved. I mean, for the most part, they're very, very simplified consumer group. Right. So they default to the brands that they trust. Which is the reason why I asked you that at the very beginning. Like, how's your behavior in there example of this, right? This is the reason why subscription models worked so well specifically for early age cell phone like T mobile. Right? Soon as this came out for the Gen Xers, it was a dumb decision. Easy for them, it was just like, come on. Like this is so simple. They are the type that really, really loves to be treated as smart as they actually are. And that sounds terrible. Not like we're treating the other generations like they're idiots, but the other generations really enjoy the process of being involved in the experience. Gen X is like, give me the freaking details. Stop beefing it up with stuff that I don't need to know about. Just give it to me straight and I will decide if I need it or not. So tactics for this make repurchasing automatic if you can. Meaning set up subscriptions, set up bundles for them. Make it a part of the experience of like, hey, this is just another way for you to just get more of what you want and then offer those price guarantees or loyalty perks. This demo really hates overpaying. They're very frugal because they grew up in a time period in the 90s where there wasn't a lot of economic wealth to be had by some of these families. Now they also grew up in the Clinton era so like it was doing pretty well for the entire country. But they also remember the dot com boom and the crash. So they're sensitive to Price and then.08 right after that. Yes. So this particular consumer group, man, there, it's no joke. Price is very, very, very important to them. So yes, stupid easy. Make it like the easiest decision ever. And do not over fluff marketers. Take all the fluff off it. Stop that. Simplified.

[Nate the Kid]

Are they price sensitive in the way that like they won't spend money on quality goods or they just want to make sure the value matches the price they're paying.

[Sarah Levinger]

They want that value. They don't mind spending big on stuff if they really want it. But they do not want something where it's like you overhyped this for sure. It's not a good product. Like I thought it was going to be great, but you oversold this. They hate that.

[Nate the Kid]

Which we talked about how everyone's gotten into the habit of over promising in their ads because we have to keep raising the bar and like there's something so nice about buying something you thought was simple and then it's 5% better than you thought it was and you're like, oh wow, like what a great buy.

[Sarah Levinger]

Yes, exactly. They don't even need much like, you don't have to surprise these people. X, like exponentially. It could just be something very simple of like, hey, you bought a watch.

[Nate the Kid]

Here's something.

[Sarah Levinger]

Yeah.

[Nate the Kid]

The one thing from scrolling Facebook comments tells me, yeah, people in that age group love this box.

[Sarah Levinger]

Oh, okay. So your wood box.

[Nate the Kid]

Yeah, the watch comes in, it's got her logo engraved in it.

[Sarah Levinger]

Your watch boxes are nice though.

[Nate the Kid]

Like, yeah, like they're solid and like there's a picture of them on the product page. But it's not a selling point for us.

[Sarah Levinger]

Yeah, but they appreciate it.

[Nate the Kid]

But it's a nice little like, yeah, soft surprise. People like, oh, that's nice.

[Sarah Levinger]

It's a nice gesture that I find interesting. They Gen Xers really like it when you think about them. I feel bad but like they're a crack generation. They're just in this weird, like, we're not boomers. People don't think about us that much. We're not millennials. People don't care about what we feel about. So they feel kind of overlooked. They really do. So it helps a lot when you can just. We thought about you like we care about you as a customer and as a person, they're like, thank you.

[Nate the Kid]

Which is a good strategy for all of you, by the way.

[Sarah Levinger]

100%.

[Nate the Kid]

But maybe you care.

[Sarah Levinger]

Okay, last one. These guys really, really, really hate marketing. Speak. Trader Joe's is one of the biggest, what would you call it, brands that cater to the Gen Xers. I don't know if you know that, but Trader Joe's has a lot of. But they, they just, they skip all the discounts. Trader Joe's, they only focus on product value. They don't run a whole lot of deep, deep sales like Walmart does. Right?

[Nate the Kid]

Yeah.

[Sarah Levinger]

Trader Joe's is really clear on their messaging towards a specific type of customer. And Gen X's are really sensitive to their messaging. So they're very clear, practical. They don't fake urgency. At Trader Joe's, you actually go there because you don't want any kind of hyped up products. Yeah, yeah. Hype is not about it.

[Nate the Kid]

So this is where. Yeah, this where like I push back a bunch of the like UGC and like direct response.

[Sarah Levinger]

Yeah.

[Nate the Kid]

Advertising, that's all too common in our industry because like, hey, that might work on Tick tock. That might work to sell to a certain group of people, but for our 45, six year old customers, they don't want to hear it.

[Sarah Levinger]

They don't want it.

[Nate the Kid]

They don't want some fast moving Mr. B style edited video. That's like, there's only seven watches left.

[Sarah Levinger]

Yep, yep, yep.

[Nate the Kid]

No, they just want to buy something that matches the price they're paying for 100%.

[Sarah Levinger]

So if you want to sell to a Gen Xer very first thing, you should do exactly what nature said. Audit your messaging, be more direct. Just be like, here's what it is. We're not trying to sell you on it. This is just how awesome it actually is. Number two, go frictionless, right? Like, please, please, please just make your purchasing options easy. If they want a subscription, offer a frickin subscription, right? Or do some sort of price matching or do auto replenish. Whatever you gotta do. I don't care what it is. Just make sure it's frictionless and easy for them to get into. And then the last thing, test that nostalgia. Like, get into these brands. I'm so glad you're doing Timberland, because that could work. Really?

[Nate the Kid]

It's not officially when, when I say it's on the list, it's on an internal list that we're like, that'd be cool one day.

[Sarah Levinger]

Well, there are other ones like Oakley, Levi's, Tommy Hilfiger, Nautica. That was like big in high school.

[Nate the Kid]

Was Nautica, Levi's and Timberlands will be sick.

[Sarah Levinger]

Yes, Patagonia in high school. Gee, shock. God, these are old brands. Okay, I digress. Where can people find you? They want to see what you're doing.

[Nate the Kid]

With OG at Nate Legos on Twitter. Or you could listen to the Tactical and Practical podcast. It's nice and short. 10 minute episodes. One tactic per episode. God, I keep it super tight over there. You don't get announced. My personality just. Just good old fashioned raw tactics.

[Sarah Levinger]

You save it for over here. All your personality gets saved for like right here. That's hilarious. Yeah.

[Nate the Kid]

Alone and acted the way I do.

[Sarah Levinger]

I do this alone. Have you ever seen any of my. You don't watch the episode? No, I don't listen the solo episodes.

[Nate the Kid]

I don't listen to marketing podcasts. They're all boring. I'm sorry, I don't like them.

[Sarah Levinger]

Even ours. Okay, don't say that.

[Nate the Kid]

I'm here for ours. This is fun. I don't even listen to mine. I just have my editor edit them and then I post them without listening to them.

[Sarah Levinger]

I listen to some of mine just because I want to see what sound effects Scotty puts in. Like, he puts in a lot of work to make these like interesting lessons too. And I'm like, scotty, these looks sound so good. Okay, you can find Sarah at Sarah Lavender everywhere you consume content. It's a Friday. I'm exhausted.

[Nate the Kid]

TetherInsights IO for all your consumer insight needs.

[Sarah Levinger]

You want to learn exactly what your customers need to hear, specifically if they're Gen Xers and how to get them to not ignore your brand anymore. Very, very important you get consumer insights, emotional, psychographic, behavioral insights that are going to help you grow your brand as quickly as OG is growing. Because apparently you're a genius and you don't even need me because half of this you already do.

[Nate the Kid]

So, yeah, this should I do. After a podcast with you twice a.

[Sarah Levinger]

Week for a year, it's like, let's go grow some more. Woo. All right. Great episode. Thanks for chat.

[Scotty]

Brain Driven Brands is part of the Learn and Laugh series on the Quickfire Podcast Network and is presented by Tether Insights. For more information, go to tetherinsights IO.

[Nate the Kid]

Nice. Killed it.

[Sarah Levinger]

Was that an outro I did?

[Nate the Kid]

Yeah. Yeah, that was an outro. That was about as clean as an outro as we can. I.