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Rocket your D&D 5E and Level Up: Advanced 5E games into space! Alpha Star Magazine Is Launching... Right Now!

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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Samothdm" data-source="post: 1525206" data-attributes="member: 5473">Younger demographics are usually the "holy grail" of most products that are advertised.  While the gray generation does tend to have more disposable income for things like luxury cars and such, most cars aren't really marketed to them.  Look at Cadillac's recent advertising, using Led Zeppelin music to target a slightly younger demographic (at least, younger for Cadillac).  The idea here is to have your consumers grow with your product over time so that they have a special connection to it.  You want people buying Fords when they're in their 20s, because ideally you'd like them to have such a good experience that they'll continue to buy Fords into their 30s, 40s, and 50s.  (Let's not discuss the merits of Fords or else this thread will get derailed).  Very young children don't have a lot of disposable income.  But, most college aged "kids" between 18-24 have a lot more disposable income than we give them credit for. They're usually working while going to school and a lot of their income goes to "entertainment" like CDs, video games, DVDs, movies, and eating out.  So, D&D fits in their pretty naturally.  I think 3rd edition did this pretty well when they announced the new edition in Maxim magazine.  I heard from quite a few friends who hadn't been involved in the hobby in years who were interested in picking up the Player's Handbook just because they saw that particular ad.  It was targeted at "older" players in their mid-20s to early-30s who had played when they were younger but had dropped out of the hobby.  Those special edition type books will appeal to the serious "collector" who does have a lot more disposable income, but not necessarily to gamers in general.  Younger gamers, especially, I wouldn't think would be very interested in the 30th Anniversary book, whereas someone like me or maybe Diaglo might be.  Whether or not games are too expensive is probably a topic for a different thread.  I wouldn't say it's a good thing necessarily.  In general, for the hobby to stay vibrant, it needs to add new players.  Some of those might be older people in their 30s, sure.  But, I think you're missing a key component: time.  Yes, people in their 30s have more disposable income to spend on games.  They also have things like significant others, children, house-work, full-time jobs that often require travel during the week and potential weekend hours, visiting parents and in-laws (who, as they get older, will need more time commitments), etc. Younger people, especially the "sweet-spot" of young adults between 16-24 tend to have a lot more free time to play games and thus might actually feel that there's a need to buy a lot more accessories and supplements.  They might actually have the time to use all of them.  Adding new people to the hobby in general is a good thing, no matter the age.  To keep the hobby thriving, though, I think that it's necessary to concentrate marketing efforts on the younger demographics and count on word-of-mouth and "nostalgia" to help bring in the older gamers.</blockquote>

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