The Generations of Baby Boomer to Generation Z As Defined in Consumer Culture
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The Generations of Baby Boomer to Generation Z as Defined in Consumer Culture by Elizabeth Ciechanowski B.A. in Art History, January 2010, Temple University A Thesis submitted to The Faculty of The Columbian College of Arts and Sciences of The George Washington University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Art May 15, 2015 Thesis directed by Clare Brown Program Head in the GW Corcoran School of the Arts and Design Assistant Professor of Art and Design Nigel Briggs Professor of Exhibition Design Cory Bernat Professor of Exhibition Design © Copyright 2015 by Elizabeth Ciechanowski All rights reserved ii Dedications I would like to dedicate this thesis to my family for all the support they have given, and continue to give me. To my thesis mentor John Alviti, and to the thesis advisors; Clare Brown, Cory Bernat, and Nigel Briggs for all of their guidance. iii Abstract The Generations of Baby Boomer to Generation Z As Defined in Consumer Culture. Exhibition Title: Marketing History: Baby Boomer to Generation Z This proposed exhibition, Marketing History: Baby Boomer to Generation Z brings together the sights, sounds, and voices of generations through the medium of advertising and consumer products. Beginning in the 1950s, this exhibition will follow the generations of Baby Boomer, Generation Jones, Generation X, the Millennials, and Generation Z from their coming of age. The exhibition will juxtapose the history and consumer culture of each era with the advertisements, slogans, commercials, and products of the time in an immersive and interactive game-like environment. Precedents include museum exhibitions, retail spaces, radio programming, trade shows, festivals, and world expositions. The target audience of families, especially multi-generational families was chosen in hopes of the exhibition beginning a dialogue between family members. This exhibition strays from the traditional museum exhibition space with a subject neutral venue proposed to be in the Fisher Pavilion at the Seattle Center in Washington. This exhibition will look towards a more modern model of an exhibition along with the use of the positive aspects of sponsorship, extended hours, and public programming. iv Table of Contents Dedications 3 Abstract of Thesis 4 List of Figures 6 Introduction 7 Approach 10 Challenges 14 Precedents 16 Site and Exhibition Space 20 Audience 22 Content Overview 25 Design Narrative 29 Conclusion 31 Works Cited 32 Appendices 35 v List of Figures Figure 1 11 Figure 2 12 Figure 3 16 Figure 4 18 Figure 5 19 Figure 6 20 Figure 7 20 Figure 8 25 Figure 9 26 Figure 10 28 Figure 11 29 Figure 12 30 Figure 13 30 Figure 14 32 Figure 15 33 Figure 17 36 Figure 18 38 Figure 19 47 vi Introduction How do marketers see you? How do you see yourself? Do these two views agree or disagree? These will be some of the questions posed to visitors in this exhibition; Marketing History: From Baby Boomer to Generation Z. Located in the Fisher Pavilion at Seattle Center, Seattle, Washington; the exhibition will showcase how marketing has changed and evolved from the Baby Boomer Generation (1946- 1965) through to Generation Z (1996-Present), and what we can learn about ourselves through our buying habits. Generations such as Baby Boomers and Millennials have been in the news frequently as of late and featured in recent exhibits such as The Newseum’s “The Boomer List”, along with a series on National Public Radio called “The New Boom.”1 This series discusses Millennials in depth, along with some mentions of the current generation that is coming of age, Generation Z, in podcasts from their radio programming, videos, and articles on their website. This exhibit content is relevant because the ways advertisements are presented now are not the way they used to be presented. From print to radio to TV, and now to websites, smartphones, and tablets, bloggers, and vloggers, there are constant re-designs, updates, and improvements in attempts to reach consumers. Brands also want to take control of their own products and image and have shifted from showcasing the next innovation or newest product at a world’s fair or expo to announcing new products themselves, or unveiling them at tradeshows such as the Consumer Electronic Show, or at festivals such as South By Southwest Interactive. 1 Raphelson, “From GIs To Gen Z (Or Is It iGen?)” The medium of advertisement has also changed to grab the attention of Millennials and Generation Z by looking towards mobile or in app ads, ads on social sites such as Facebook and Instagram, or on YouTube. Some brands have even gone so far as to pay singers and DJs to wear their product in their music videos such as Beats By Dre, who have used the artists’ music videos like one long commercial for their product2 From the Baby Boomers to Generation Z there will be important moments captured in this exhibition to get the essence of each generation. The exhibition will capture themes from the generations of Baby Boomer, Generation Jones, Generation X, Millennial, and Generation Z through iconic images, advertisements, products, and vignettes. This exhibition will provide an immersive experience for visitors, and will be approachable, inviting, and make it feel as if the family of that era just left. Visitors will be able to walk into each vignette and experience the moments through sound, smell, or touch. The exhibition will include interactive areas to engage children and adults alike and will provide an opportunity for families to begin a dialogue with one another. The usage of color coded RFID bands most commonly used within theme parks and festivals will be utilized as another interactive point for visitors. These bands will coincide with each generation’s gallery and will be based on shades from Pantone’s 50 Years of Color.3 There will be scanning points throughout the exhibition with answers that will correlate to specific generations, along with an interactive area in a space separate from the exhibition which will allow all visitors to see the results of each question asked. 2 “40 Music Videos With Blatant Beats by Dre Product Placement.” 3 Pantone, 50 Years In Color http://www.pantone.com/pages/pantone.aspx?pg=21111&ca=90 2 In terms of precedents, many areas of design and demographics were looked into for this topic. For content; exhibits covering generations, consumers, and advertising were researched along with radio programming, and demographic findings. For design ideas for this exhibition historic house, architectural elements such as the use of windows in homes, retail shop front windows, and advertisements were researched. For interactive, technology, and audience trade shows, festivals, and world fairs were researched. 3 Approach The research for this exhibition began with an interest in world fairs and the excitement and awe they brought to its visitors, the technology and innovations that were showcased, and the grand way in which companies showcased their products. The exhibition topic began as Technology and Innovations at the World’s Fairs and was re-worked into the current topic, still including the main factors of the marketer and the consumer. The exhibition is planned to have a historical side so visitors can get the chance to understand the various “voices” of the advertisements, through products, vignettes, and interactives. The research on the current topic has been varied given the span of generations. Research areas have been mainly in books and databases for research into the Baby Boomer I and II generations. For Generation X it has mainly been newspaper articles and online sources. For Millennial and Generation Z, which are both ongoing, research has been through online news sites such as Huffington Post, CNN, National Public Radio, and Pew Research. Prior to beginning thesis I worked on projects covering World’s Fairs, along with Levittown and the Baby Boomers during internships at the Franklin Institute and the National Building Museum. Other sources that were focused on more in depth was working with my thesis mentor at the Franklin Institute. The research first began by delving into each generation and finding out what defined them, what activities they enjoyed, how they grew up, what influenced them. A time line was written out from 1946- the present (fig. 1) with the five generations that would be included, along with information about each. Research was done that 4 looked into the marketing of each era, or generation, to get a sense of how each generation was being portrayed in advertisements, who advertisers were trying to reach, and what the common theme of the time was. The goal was to find out more about the constant relationship between each generation and marketing and consumer habits. Fig. 1 Ciechanowski, Written timeline covering Baby Boomer to Generation Z. October, 2014 Next in the process, a bubble diagram (fig 2.) of sorts was created to categorize the five generations in order to show important events, products, or technology of the time. Overlapping areas were used as transition points between the generations and questions were posed for some of the generations such as: How are the halves of the Baby Boomer Generation alike? How are they different? How has the shift from print media changed marketing? and What’s next? How will marketing change with the children of Millennials? What mediums will be used to grab their attention? 5 Fig. 2 Ciechanowski, Bubble diagram-content. November 2013. Some of these questions do not have a clear answer yet as it is still an ever evolving area. Questions could be posed at the end of this exhibition for visitors to answer, or programming could be made based on some of these questions for lectures, or question and answer panels.