Madeline Johnson

CEO

The Market Council

Madeline Johnson is the visionary principal behind extremely creative and successful marketing and public relation campaigns for the company’s clients in the natural beauty, spa, travel and health industries. Featured on NBC’s Today Show as a leading beauty and health PR expert, Johnson and her team have also represented non-profit organizations, like Businesses for Social Responsibility and The Council on Economic Priorities.

Madeline’s day-to-day responsibilities include strategizing  with clients, forecasting industry trends, prioritizing her team’s ongoing activities, developing  stories with editors, freelancers and producers from the national and regional media, planning special events and meeting desk-side with writers, correspondents and directors.

As the world population continues to increase, marketing tactics need to change to reach consumers of a different demographic. Given shifts in gender, age, income, and other demographics, opportunities will shift depending on the products or services rendered. Smart companies will adapt to these changing demographics by looking more closely at the potential markets and who fits those product needs. In the second half of the twentieth century, the marketing demographic was increasingly youth-orientated in response to the post-war baby boom population; however, since the millennium, a decrease in birth rate and an increase in the aging population have created new challenges. As noted in an SRI research paper by Dexia Asset Management, “Employment and skill gaps will become more evident across a wide range of sectors, with subsequent decreases in economic growth and productivity.” Education programs, consultancy, outsourcing and automation may solve skill shortages in developed countries, but lack of educational resources make this difficult for developing countries to keep up. Global technology may unify the younger population, but there is huge untapped market of aging individuals in developed countries with money to spend that are less likely to be influenced by marketing fads. Older consumers tend to be more diverse and distinctive in their characteristics and may respond better to a more meaningful kind of marketing. As much of the population growth is occurring in the developing countries, basic things that developed nations take for granted like food, water, healthcare and medication will become scarcer. Many of these countries still lack basic sanitation to provide clean drinking water. Another market with huge potential is telecommunication. The SRI research paper noted, “Only 21% of the population in developing countries is online.” Mobile technology seems to be the most available and affordable option. Business solutions to demography challenges vary according to the level of economic development of each country, but companies will have to change their marketing tactics if they expect to profit from these predicted changes in population demographics. To turn these trends into an advantage for your business, consider the following. Demographic trends can help spark smart products and services. Ignore demographic trends at your peril. The largest demographic is not always the best market. Seek the right combination of market demographic factors. Lastly, do not let going global keep you from a great market.