The rise of Individualism

Have you noticed that there is a dramatic shift going on in society?

Have you noticed how much more alone we are these days?

The size of households has changed significantly - in the 1960s the majority of homes contained three or more people. Today, two-thirds contain only one or two.

A third of all food purchased in stores is consumed by one person. In fact, almost half of all meals are now eaten alone due to divorce, later marriage and an ageing population.

And talking about the ageing population, 3.5 million people in the UK aged 65+ live alone and by 2030, two million pensioners in Britain will have no adult children to look after them.

Even if we live within families, we are more likely spend time on our own due to our love of our personal technology – with kids watching videos on their mobile in their rooms while Mum is on her ipad and Dad is watching tv.

And then add the 1 and half hours each day we spend on social networks, the popularity of user-generated content such as “selfies” and increasing intolerance of service failure and delayed gratification.

Society is becoming more individualistic.

As marketeers that is quite tough. We have been used to generational cohesion. We like the comfort of thinking about the Baby Boomers and the millennials. Of the need for intergenerational financial planning.

So what the implications marketing financial services? Is it about demonstrating you are a purpose driven organisation with shared values with their customers or rather, that you a brand that is committed to hyper personalisation, sharing personalized content in the context of a customer’s needs and location? And where are you on that spectrum?

I’ll leave you alone to decide.