Honda Snubs Baby Boomers for Gen Xers

Auto advertising seems to be aimed at one of two groups: baby boomers trying to recapture their youth or "Gen Y," the twenty-somethings Scion was shooting for-- and missed. Honda has decided to split the difference and target Generation X to reinvigorate sales of their [new] Accord. Advertising Age [sub] reports Honda wants to lower the median age of Accord buyers from its current 54 to somewhere between 30 and 44-years. Only Gen X buyers arent as "inspired" to own a Honda because they perceive the brands current products to be too fuddy duddy. So Hondas largest ever ad spend on a single model will tempt Gen X buyers with ads embodying a more "emotional appeal." Whether Hondas PC patrol-- which nixed the marketing departments idea to sell the Accord hybrid as a performance car-- will loosen-up sufficiently to let the ad guys draw on Hondas Hooners and Tunerz heritage remains to be seen. 

11-09-2007 18:32:53 | The Truth About Cars