Media generation gap widens during lockdown | WARC | The Feed

Media generation gap widens during lockdown

There was a significant drop in the correlation between how the younger and older generations spent their time with commercial media during lockdown 2020, a new IPA report finds. 

 Why it matters 

 As in so many other areas, lockdown has accelerated trends already under way, namely the diversification of media habits between the generations. The report, Making sense. The commercial media landscape*, highlights the need to deploy diverse media plans.

 By the numbers 

•  There was only an 8% similarity between 16-34-year-olds and 55+ in how they spent their commercial media time during lockdown 2020. This was down from a 21% similarity between the generations in pre-lockdown 2020.
• For 16-34s, 79% of their total commercial media time was spent on digital channels during lockdown 2020 (up from 76% pre-lockdown 2020).
• For all adults, 48% of their total commercial media time was spent on digital channels during lockdown 2020 (down from 51% pre-lockdown 2020).

Key quote

 “[A] greater fragmentation of the landscape means the ability for a single commercial channel to deliver comprehensive reach to all adults has significantly diminished. A ‘one size fits all’ media approach is likely to be less effective than it was previously – with a mix of both digital and non-digital required for ultimate brand-building success” – Simon Frazier, Senior Research and Marketing Manager, IPA.

 *Making sense. The commercial media landscape is available as a free digital download and flipbook and  the data is available as a free download in Excel format from the IPA website.

Sourced from Institute of Practitioners in Advertising