Reaching "Young" Adults

On a flight earlier this week, I sat next to a lady who offered to share with me one of her recently purchased fashion magazines - a genre of publication I don't usually find worthwhile to read. However, I accepted her offer, and spent part of our time airborne browsing through photos of overpriced clothing, interviews with up-and-coming celebrities, and reviews of new television shows, movies and books.

One of these reviews provided some interesting commentary on 21st-century American culture. It discussed a new reality show - one of several, I know - about a few sets of young married couples. These particular couples use expletives to show affection for their newborns, are more likely to play video games than watch the news, and, at thirty years old, exhibit parenting styles closer to those they watch now on Teen Mom than to those they grew up watching on Full House.

The show reflects - albeit in a somewhat extreme fashion - a cultural shift toward lingering "youthfulness" into a person's twenties and thirties.

In the mid-20th century, western society perceived a young person as an "adult" when he or she graduated high school (and usually entered the full-time workforce, got married, and started a family) around age 18.

In the early-21st century, this transition to adulthood has been delayed. Young people now tend to report that they don't feel like "adults" until age 25 or 26. Studies indicate that contributing factors include the proclivity of Generations X and Y to pursue college and graduate school; to switch career paths early; and to get married later.

(For more on this phenomenon, see studies such as these.)

So, how do marketers respond to this emerging set of "early adults" (as distinct from adolescents and full adults) and the tendency even of middle-aged adults to continue to enjoy youthful activities?

A few have opted to appeal to the fun, youthful side of our adults, while recognizing and applauding their adult responsibilites, such as...

...raising a family...

(see more on the Toyota Sienna at youtube.com/sienna)

...and maintaining digestive health.

(see more on FiberOne's "magic" brownies at fiberone.com/magicbrownie)

Has your organization adopted any means of simultaneously appealing to the youthfulness and the responsibility of 21st-century adults?