Business opinion
From Fairtrade to the Third Way – discover the ideals of Generation Jones
KEEPING UP WITH THE JONESES
TAPPING INTO THE COPY-CAT GENERATION IS BECOMING A MANIA FOR BUSINESS – NOT TO MENTION A BIG MONEY EARNER, SAYS MARTIN RAYMOND
NUMBERING 53 million in the US and 9.9 million in the UK (almost afifth of the population), Jonesers are the next big trend being watched by social forecasters. ‘Jonesin’ is slang for yearning and also a term that denotes anonymity. This is one of the key attributes of the Joneser mindset: their invisibility and the fact that they slip between generations. Even Gordon Brown calls them the lost or ‘sandwich’ generation.
Born between 1954 and 1965, they are neither Baby Boomers nor Generation X, but a hybrid group who share characteristics common to both tribes yet are tinged with an increasingly conservative mindset. If X-ers are all about irony and societal distrust, Jonesers getfired up at the thought of community, values and social involvement. If Boomers are committed to Margaret Thatcher’s philosophy that “there is no such thing as society”, Jonesers – who include Bono and Sir Bob Geldof – are committed to the notion that society is all about the individual and well worth investing in.
They earn 30% more than their fellow 40-somethings, are occasional Guardian, Telegraph and Sunday Times readers, and are environmentalists, keen on organic foods and ethically sourced products. Plus, our research shows they use their credit cards – especially their Amex Red – as ballot cards. In short, they buy brands that ape their values and stay away from those that do not.
Waitrose is their natural habitat – Fairtrade products their way of demonstrating their sense of social values. They can also be seen driving a Toyota Prius with Fresh and Wild bags in the back, or like Joneser poster boy David Cameron, donning safety helmet and taking to the nation’s growing number of cycle lanes.
Jonesers, however, are a tricky and quixotic lot. Products of the designer 1980s (you could say they invented the lifestyle along with huge shoulder pads, big hair and shiny suits), they are surprisingly cynical about brands, and now buy into experiences, products or services that resonate emotionally with them.
Mention carbon neutrality, authenticity, seasonality and sustainability in the same breath and you’ll have found a friend. Values matter more than value.
Having given us free market economics and globalisation, Jonesers now want to give us civic-minded communities and a “glocal” (as in globalisation with an emphasis on local matters) rather than global market. But they also want to give us a new understanding of middle age, or “middlescence” as some prefer to call it.
“They’re rewriting the rules of what it means to be an adult,” says Phil Teer, joint MD of London advertising agency St Luke’s. “They’re extending their youth but also asking the big questions: ‘who am I and how do I make the most of life?’”
They are also recalibrating social, personal and business agendas with phrases like “Third Way” and “consensus”, and are increasingly keen on brands, businesses and people that take a stand.
Thus, the three Ts have become their mantra: truth, transparency and trust — the very ideals, many would argue, that Jonesers got rid of during their Masters of the Universe years in the 1980s.
