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Comment by X-Istence | Hacker News Reader

My local Apple store has a bunch of older people working in the store. They are often just as knowledgeable as the younger kids running around, and have all kinds of cool stories to tell about how things "used to be done".

I actually prefer to work with one of the older people when making my purchase because I don't feel nearly as rushed and it seems to me to be a lot more personal...

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Marketers have been falling over themselves to get a piece of the 14-24yo market.

Um, hello... the biggest market with the most disposable income (and growing bigger every year) is in the >45 segment.

Companies that don't refocus their efforts on this segment won't survive the next 5-10yrs IMHO.

To play devil's advocate, the difference between these two groups is not just their disposable income, it is their buying habits. The habits of 14-24 year olds are far less set than those of the older generations.

If you look at life time value, hooking a 14 year old on your brand (of soda, chips, shampoo, whatever) has high LTV, whereas a 45 year old will just plain buy less X.

Of course it does depend on your market. I bet the luxury car market ignores the 14-24 year olds.

Sure, back when industries weren't on an endless cycle of cost cutting and when consumers (esp. 14-24yo) actually had an attention span, LTV was something marketers could rely on. Today the younger the consumer, the more fickle which equates to no loyalty and endless churn.

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