In the Demo

We've been having a great time for 30+ episodes complaining about bad research, reporting, and punditry (and book-writing) about generational narratives. Who doesn't love-to-hate a good "Millennials killed some industry" story? But there are real stakes here, for how companies hire employees, invest resources, and plan marketing campaigns; for politicians and policy makers about who they want to serve or punish, and how they want to build their coalitions; and for journalists and commentators who can popularize and spread these narratives in ways that permeate the public consciousness. These things matter - they affect how we see ourselves in the world, and that affects how we behave... and that affects everything else.In this episode we get back to basics -- why we make this show, what we think the stakes are, and who we think should care.Mentioned ResourcesThe Fourth Turning: An American Prophecy by Neil Howe and William StraussBacklash: The Undeclared War Against American Women by Susan Faludi: "The 67-Hour Rule" by Derek Thompson in The AtlanticGenerations by Jean TwengeYour HostsFarrah Bostic is the founder and Head of Research & Strategy at The Difference Engine, a strategic insights consultancy. With over 20 years of experience turning audience insights into effective strategies for B2B and B2C companies, Farrah helps business leaders make big decisions across various industries. Learn more at thedifferenceengine.co and connect with Farrah on LinkedIn.Adam Pierno is an author, strategist, and managing director of brand strategy at Arizona State University. He is also the founder of Specific Branding and Research, where he helps brands understand customer habits and create effective growth strategies. With 25 years of experience, Adam has written two books on marketing. Discover more at adampierno.com and find Adam on LinkedIn.Stay ConnectedWebsite: inthedemopodcast.comLinkedIn: In the Demo PodcastNewsletter: inthedemo.substack.comSign up for our newsletter to receive exclusive content, episode highlights, and behind-the-scenes insights delivered to your inbox.

Social media and smartphones are causing an epidemic of mental illness and anxiety among Gen Z, according to some prominent thinkers - but are these sweeping claims backed by evidence? Maybe the answer is: it's complicated, and jumping to simplistic conclusions is at best useless and at worst, dangerous.In this episode, we talk about recent discussions about the work of psychologist Jonathan Haidt (often in collaboration with generational researcher Jean Twenge), who argue tech is wreaking havoc on young people. We talk about flaws in the arguments, discuss other factors that contribute to these trends, and try to reckon with the reality that in fact all of us have a lot to be anxious and depressed about. It's the phones; but also, it's really not.ResourcesThe Anxious Generation: How the Great Rewiring of Childhood is Causing an Epidemic of Mental Illness by Jonathan Haidt"The great rewiring: is social media really behind an epidemic of teenage mental illness?" in Nature by Candice Odgers"Inside the debate over The Anxious Generation" in Platformer by Zoë SchifferThe Ideas Industry by Dan DreznerDon't Think of an Elephant by George LakoffYour HostsFarrah Bostic is the founder and Head of Research & Strategy at The Difference Engine, a strategic insights consultancy. With over 20 years of experience turning audience insights into effective strategies for B2B and B2C companies, Farrah helps business leaders make big decisions across various industries. Learn more at thedifferenceengine.co and connect with Farrah on LinkedIn.Adam Pierno is an author, strategist, and managing director of brand strategy at Arizona State University. He is also the founder of Specific Branding and Research, where he helps brands understand customer habits and create effective growth strategies. With 25 years of experience, Adam has written two books on marketing. Discover more at adampierno.com and find Adam on LinkedIn.Stay ConnectedWebsite: inthedemopodcast.comLinkedIn: In the Demo PodcastNewsletter: inthedemo.substack.comSign up for our newsletter to receive exclusive content, episode highlights, and behind-the-scenes insights delivered to your inbox.

Millennials are reframing their generational identity as they enter homeownership and parenthood, but broken systems remain. Nostalgia for a pre-internet era offers an escape, and reflects a yearning for IRL experiences and human connection in an automated and mediated world.Anne Helen Petersen, author and cultural critic, joins host Farrah Bostic to discuss the evolving narratives surrounding millennials and Gen Z. They explore how the optimism of the 90s and early 2000s has given way to disillusionment, the impact of political polarization on younger generations, and the collective burnout experienced by a society that glorifies productivity over rest.ResourcesThe Coddling of the American Mind by Greg Lukianoff and Jonathan Haidt"How the Stanley Cup Went Viral" by Kyle Chayka in The New Yorker"It's Just a Water Bottle" by Amanda Mull in The AtlanticVox's "Today, Explained" episode, "The kids are all home"Our GuestA former senior culture writer for BuzzFeed, Anne Helen Petersen now writes her newsletter, Culture Study, as a full-time venture on Substack. Petersen received her PhD at the University of Texas at Austin, where she focused on the history of celebrity gossip. Her previous books, Too Fat, Too Slutty, Too Loud and Scandals of Classic Hollywood, were featured in NPR, Elle, and the Atlantic. She lives in Missoula, Montana.Your HostsFarrah Bostic is the founder and Head of Research & Strategy at The Difference Engine, a strategic insights consultancy. With over 20 years of experience turning audience insights into effective strategies for B2B and B2C companies, Farrah helps business leaders make big decisions.Adam Pierno is an author, strategist, and managing director of brand strategy at Arizona State University, and founder of Specific Branding and Research, where he helps brands understand customer habits and create effective growth strategies. Stay ConnectedWebsiteLinkedInNewsletterSign up for our newsletter to receive exclusive content, episode highlights, and behind-the-scenes insights delivered to your inbox.

The nostalgia and ownership that younger generations feel toward the music and culture of the 90s is fascinating. In this episode of In The Demo, Farrah and her guest Rob Harvilla, host of the 60 Songs that Explain the '90s podcast, explore why the decade holds such a powerful allure for those who never experienced it firsthand.They discuss what accounts for this cross-generational appeal, from the mythologizing of the 90s in media to the enduring impact of the era's defining genres and artists. And they discuss how technology and cultural shifts of the past 30 years shaped the way listeners discover, consume, and connect with music, and what this tells us about the nostalgia and identity in the digital age.Resources60 Songs that Explain the '90sNew York Times “Grunge: A Success Story”BandsplainThe Oregon TrailOur GuestRob Harvilla is the host of the podcast 60 Songs That Explain the '90s and a senior staff writer at The Ringer; he's been a professional rock critic for 20-plus years with stops at the Village Voice, SPIN, Deadspin, and other alt-weeklies.Your HostsFarrah Bostic is the founder and Head of Research & Strategy at The Difference Engine, a strategic insights consultancy. With over 20 years of experience turning audience insights into effective strategies for B2B and B2C companies, Farrah helps business leaders make big decisions across various industries. Learn more at thedifferenceengine.co and connect with Farrah on LinkedIn.Adam Pierno is an author, strategist, and managing director of brand strategy at Arizona State University. He is also the founder of Specific Branding and Research, where he helps brands understand customer habits and create effective growth strategies. With 25 years of experience, Adam has written two books on marketing. Discover more at adampierno.com and find Adam on LinkedIn.Stay ConnectedWebsite: inthedemopodcast.comLinkedIn: In the Demo PodcastNewsletter: inthedemo.substack.comSign up for our newsletter to receive exclusive content, episode highlights, and behind-the-scenes insights delivered to your inbox.

Growing impatience with generational stereotyping has sparked a critical reexamination of how we categorize and analyze age cohorts. Despite Generation Alpha still being born, that won't stop consultants and pundits from making sweeping predictions about who they will be and laying out dubious prescriptions for how they should be raised. By scrutinizing the motives behind labeling Generation Alpha, the absurdity of predicting the traits of a generation that hasn't fully arrived becomes apparent.Farrah and Adam discuss the cyclical nature of generational myths, the societal anxieties they reveal, and the problematic values emerging from Gen Alpha's parents. The episode uncovers the financial and economic drivers behind generational analysis, challenging assumptions and highlighting the importance of a more nuanced understanding of the forces shaping our youth.Resources"The ABC of XYZ" by Mark McCrindleBusiness Insider: The oldest Gen Alphas can almost drive: Here's how millennials' kids will shop, work, and liveMorning Consult: A Brand's Guide to Gen AlphaYour HostsFarrah Bostic is the founder and Head of Research & Strategy at The Difference Engine, a strategic insights consultancy. With over 20 years of experience turning audience insights into effective strategies for B2B and B2C companies, Farrah helps business leaders make big decisions across various industries. Learn more at thedifferenceengine.co and connect with Farrah on LinkedIn.Adam Pierno is an author, strategist, and managing director of brand strategy at Arizona State University. He is also the founder of Specific Branding and Research, where he helps brands understand customer habits and create effective growth strategies. With 25 years of experience, Adam has written two books on marketing. Discover more at adampierno.com and find Adam on LinkedIn.Stay ConnectedWebsite: inthedemopodcast.comLinkedIn: In the Demo PodcastNewsletter: inthedemo.substack.comSign up for our newsletter to receive exclusive content, episode highlights, and behind-the-scenes insights delivered to your inbox.

The demographic cliff - a controversial idea that declining population growth will trigger economic disaster. But is it real or just sensationalized clickbait pushed by those with an agenda?Investment advisor Harry Dent popularized demographic cliff fears in the mid-2000s to sell his financial advice (and a book, of course). From there, it became a favored trope in education, where school administrators - from K-12 to college - worried about not having enough enrolled students. Recently, concerns have shifted to plummeting birth rates in South Korea, China, and Canada. But throughout history, similar narratives have repeatedly stoked moral panic about changing demographics - from Gen X’s alleged lack of work ethic to Millennials' supposed disinterest in homeownership and parenthood. Cutting through the hype, Farrah and Adam expose who gains from pushing demographic doomsday myths and why resisting these misleading narratives matters.Mentioned Resources:Harry Dent's book "The Demographic Cliff": https://www.amazon.com/Demographic-Cliff-Survive-Prosper-Deflation/dp/1591847273New York Times article on China's demographic challenges: https://www.nytimes.com/2023/01/16/business/china-birth-rate.htmlWhy Pew Research Center is no longer reporting on generations: https://www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2023/05/22/how-pew-research-center-will-report-on-generations-moving-forward/New York Times Op Ed on the population of school-aged children dropping: https://www.nytimes.com/2023/06/14/opinion/declining-enrollment.htmlNational Post article on the Canadian birth rate drop off: https://nationalpost.com/opinion/canadas-birth-rate-has-dropped-off-a-cliff-and-its-because-nobody-can-afford-housingFind us at www.inthedemopodcast.com where you can also sign up for our newsletter.You can also find us on twitter or instagram at @inthedemopod for updates and clips, and on LinkedIn.

When the Millennials came of age to enter the workforce (which took nearly 15 years) the media was awash in headlines about how to cater to this powerful new generation. Today, the headlines have turned to Gen Z. Farrah and Adam go deeper than the headlines to reveal that the story is still about Millennials. Reminiscent of the treatment of Gen X, Gen Z is constantly compared to their elders, but worse, many writers and researchers are lumping Millennials and Gen Z together. Mentioned Resources: Email-gated landing page: https://www.deloitte.com/global/en/issues/work/content/genzmillennialsurvey.htmlResultant PDF: https://app.box.com/s/cl1f3v6tabsudujm6ej1ois9svuaxttyConnect with us!Our website: https://inthedemopodcast.com/On X: https://twitter.com/IntheDemoPodOn LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/showcase/in-the-demo-podcast/Our substack: https://inthedemo.substack.com/Rate & Review In the Demo on Your Favorite Podcast Platform:Apple PodcastsSpotifyYouTubeiHeartCohosted by Farrah Bostic and Adam Pierno. Edited by Allison Preisinger and AMP Studio, and produced by Ashley Derrington. Music by 0megaMan under the Creative Commons license. Our intro is voiced by Eliza, a robot created by Murf.ai.Why stories about groups matter.

In this episode, Farrah and Adam discuss the role and effectiveness of strategy in advertising, including how connected it needs to be to cultural trends, consumer insights, and business realities. And then - they take a deep dive into an article by Richard Huntington in WARC, "The Future of Strategy 2023: Marketing is in desperate need of a reality check" in which he agrees with our premise that generational segments are astrology for marketers - but uses this as a cudgel against all segmentations, which we don't care for, frankly.Also mentioned, Farrah's piece, "There's no such thing as insights".Connect with us!At our websiteOn ugh twitterOn LinkedInSubscribe to our newsletterRate & Review on Your Favorite Podcast Platform:Apple PodcastsSpotifyYouTubeiHeartCohosted by Farrah Bostic and Adam Pierno. Edited by Allison Preisinger and AMP Studio. Music by 0megaMan under the Creative Commons license. Our intro is voiced by Eliza, a robot created by Murf.ai.Why stories about groups matter.