The retail reckoning could be coming.

With student loan payments returning this fall, retailers have told investors that sales are likely to face headwinds in the coming months as Americans put more money into chipping away at their combined $1.75 trillion of educational debt.

On the flip side:

Bloomberg columnist Leticia Miranda posited that consumers aren’t necessarily pinched, they’re just bored with material goods.

Either way, you know retailers are wishing these weren’t resuming until after the holiday shopping and return season.

Older Adults Make Up Just 4% Of People Featured In Ads

That age group [60+] represents 16% of the U.S. population alone.

The 60-plus demographic has a higher disposable income than younger generations, and represents 25% of global spending power, yet only 3% of digital media budgets are allocated to ads featuring this audience

Our culture is youth obsessed, but that doesn’t mean your marketing should be.

Speak to your customer—whether their situation or their aspiration—in the language (including visuals) they use.

Part of why I think podcast ads are highly underutilized currently.

Nearly 90% of comedy podcast listeners have a parasocial relationship with their hosts

The team over at Conversion Rate Experts published a list of 11 effective strategies for selling commodities. Here are the ones I like the most:

• Create a unique offer so it can’t be compared with competitors.
• Market your product for a particular audience niche.
• Give reasons why customers shouldn’t shop just on price. (Or, as I might say, tell your story!)
• Reframe your commodity as a solution. (story!)
• Be top of mind when it matters.

Yesterday was about making sure you had a hateable brand, but it's not truly that extreme. You just need to be clear about who you're for.

Or, who you aren't for.

From Corey at Swipe Files:

Illustrating who it's not for creates scarcity, exclusivity, and FOMO.

Or, as Hamilton says:

If you stand for nothing, what’ll you fall for?

Talk to a specific audience. Make it blatant.

Bonus points if you can make it fun.

...

Guess I need to schedule something with a doctor...

The 90s / early 00s are the trend du jour, which is fine. But I take issue with this:

the current craze around everything ’90s and early aughts, a trend that reflects how Gen Z has matured into young adults now pining for their childhoods.

The most specific birthdate range I’ve found for Gen Z is 1997–2012. That means at least 1/2 of Gen Z wasn’t even alive for the period fueling this craze!

I get that nostalgia is fueled by the period prior to the one that shaped you (like the 80s & millennials), but this is some mix of “Gen Z” becoming the new synonym for “youths” and clickbait.

College dorms are big business.

college students are expected to spend $20B more than last year, reaching around $94B

Back-to-college spending has near doubled since 2019 & consumers are projected to spend an avg of $1,366.95 / person

This extends beyond dorm decorating:

you just want to either match or beat what you’ve seen in the past. It just ups the expectation these students have of their spaces. … This concept of aspirational lifestyle and making it actually attainable is something that Dormify embodies and helps them create.

That’s human behavior & branding 101

3 things all brands should keep in mind:

• Don’t mistake interest for trust.

• If you promise to deliver a certain product, deliver it.

• It’s about making people feel heard and supported.

The importance of building consumer trust

And my inflation-fighting interest rate concerns might be materializing:

more worrying is defaults spiking to levels similar to 2008, given the US economy is doing pretty well in other areas, e.g. with unemployment sitting at historic lows.

Cars And Big Houses Are Becoming Unbuyable