We Are All the Same Age Now: Valuegraphics, The End of Demographic Stereotypes

by David Allison

Never before has mankind changed so much so fast—but we still rely on outdated demographic stereotypes to understand groups of people and target audiences. Now there’s a better way to discover what matters to the people you are trying to motivate: a brand-new big-data tool that will change audience profiling for everything—forever.

In We Are All the Same Age Now, David Allison, creator of Valuegraphics, explains how you can increase efficiency, create strategies that are eight times more effective, decrease internal politics around decisions, and be better equipped for disruption. He explains what Valuegraphics can do and offers the data samples and tools you need to get started using Valuegraphics immediately. He also shares how to make powerful values-based decisions throughout your organization and how to take your insights further.

It's time to change the way you see the world—and motivate more people more often—by embracing the power of Valuegraphics.

Genres: Nonfiction, Professional Development

228 pages, Kindle Edition

Published October 9, 2018

About the author

I launched the Valuegraphics Project in 2015 to create a worldwide map of core human values. Today, global brands and organizations from PayPal to Lululemon use valuegraphics to understand how groups of people make decisions—about anything, anywhere on Earth—and activate their target audiences eight times more powerfully than ever before.

Reviews

[Dave Schoettinger · Rating 2 out of 5]

In 1991 William Strauss and Neil Howe published a book called "Generations" in which they attributed certain generalized characteristics to people of similar ages. They also set dates for various generations and attempted to standardize the usage of names such as Greatest Generation and Millennial Generation. Many of their ideas caught the imagination of pop culture devotees and made everyone aware of their generation and the baggage that came with it. Since our society always includes those adept at turning any popular idea into an income stream, marketing of many products was often turned towards particular generations. This age-specific advertising was not new. I can remember Joanie Sommers telling me that Pepsi was for those who think young. Since I was an adolescent at the time, I took it for granted that I was thinking young, although it did not seem to make Pepsi any more or less appealing to me. (In spite of my 13-year-old self having kind of a thing for Joanie.)

However by the 90s, knowledge of generational differences had become, with the help of Strauss and Howe, widespread. At about this time, David Allison began a successful career as a marketer. He noted that for many of the products with which he was involved, age differences did not necessarily determine who was and was not attracted to the product. Eventually he figured out that knowing the customers' general worldview (which he shorthands as values) was much more helpful in guiding a successful sales pitch. He therefore hired a sociologist to design and ask probing questions of 75,000 random people on the internet to determine what values people had that could serve as an entry way into their preferences and wallets. This books gives you the results of this value quest and serves as an extended sales brochure for readers who want to sell their stuff with the help of the author's consulting business.

Some of the descriptions of the values categories into which the population falls are clever, but most make the inhabitants of those categories appear to be some combination of superficial and dumb. Knowing that Allison considers me to fall into one of those categories was less than flattering.

[Erica Basnicki · Rating 3 out of 5]

Don’t get me wrong, the ideas in this book are absolutely spot on. As a copywriter, demographics have always been useless to me. My job as a writer is to elicit an emotional reaction that triggers an action. How do you trigger an emotional reaction in a 47-year-old human of a certain gender? You don’t. That’s just not enough information.

So why 3 stars? First, because I can’t do 3.5 stars. Second, because I don’t need to be convinced of the idea, but I >do< need to convince some stuffy senior managers of the idea. So I want more specifics, and more statistics.

And that’s impossible to put in a book. Allison doesn’t hide that fact, but I still think the book would benefit from some more substantial case studies. Both the idea and his company are new so maybe that will come later.

For now, I’m just grateful someone has finally written a book that actually makes sense to read if you, too, are in the business of eliciting an emotional response for money.

[Courtney · Rating 5 out of 5]

Any good Marketer understands that motivation is what drives conversion. "We are all the same. Age Now" explores archetypes, and which motivations drive certain personality types. I had a great time categorizing myself, friends, and my own product line audience. Valuable exercise to help make better marketing decisions.

[Jesse Prent · Rating 4 out of 5]

Seems obvious when you're reading it, but really challenges the traditional demographics mindset of marketing. Super quick read and I suspect I'll return to segments/profiles for work-related insights.

[Shane Gibson · Rating 5 out of 5]

David Allison takes a data driven look at what really makes people tick. Dispelling the myths of Boomers, Millenials, Gen X market segmentation and providing a real road-map to engage market segments based upon their true values and motivators. Must read if you are in marketing or leadership roles.

[L · Rating 3 out of 5]

I always enjoy frameworks that examine and group traits such as the Valugraphics in this book. Makes one think about society and its various sectors. Useful marketing and "know your audience" tool. It seemed a bit a little like someone's thesis research turned into a book.

[Sara · Rating 4 out of 5]

Super interesting. Felt a little bit like an advertisement at the end.

[Nikola Cavic · Rating 3 out of 5]

The main premise of the book is good. However, the book feels like a pitch for their services. It only scratches the surface of the main topic. Hence 3/5 rating.

[A Winans · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent paradigm backed by analytics

The treatment of this topic was interesting, innovative, and neuro-intuitive. I highly recommend this book to anyone who is weary of age-based pseudo-science related to generational groupings. As an X-Boomerennial, I find myself identifying with values cutting across the typical stereotypical labels. This book creates a convincing case for focusing on values, not birth year grouping, to better understand clusters of traits.

[Kimberly · Rating 2 out of 5]

Good concept, but the book doesn't deliver the actionable tools that it promised. The archetypes all have the same top values, which makes it impractical to differentiate how to reach one over another. The archetype descriptions also all seem either very millennial/hipster or judgy of older/traditional people.