You've heard, "25-54? That's not a demographic, that's a family reunion!" And it's true.

12+, 18-24, 35-54, 55+ — In the United States we've thought in terms of targeted demographics for so long now and yet, somehow targeted demographics don't seem to be as effective a way to portion out our audiences as they have in the past.

But our American culture is changing. I work all over the world with hugely successful radio stations. One secret to successful stations, they cross demographic lines. Key elements include truth, humor, new information and entertaining personalities that relate to the listener. We may find a huge payoff by redefining what traditional demographics really are.

A couple of thoughts:

1) 55 years old today is NOT what 55 years old has been in the past. People are living longer, larger and healthier lives with a whole lot more income to spend on leisure, travel, health concerns, clothing, cars, housing, top-of- the-line new gadgets, appliances and more.

2) It may be time to re-think traditional demographics and look instead at "life stages" of the listeners.

A 44 year old single female may be living the same lifestyle as a 23-year-old single working woman (both comfortable with "Sex in the City.") While a 43-year-old mother of three may have a nearly identical lifestyle to a 21-year-old with a couple of kids.

The "real" chronological age of the listener doesn't really matter as much as the "lifestyle" of the listener.

Here's why. The lifestyle for a 51-year-old single guy who spends on good clothing, the flashy car, restaurant meals, front row center seats at the basketball game, etc. (whose listening habits might include rock, talk, sports, or personality radio maybe Phil Hendrie, Howard Stern, Mancow or Imus) may be identical to the lifestyle of a 26-year-old single career or working guy, who spends his time and money in roughly the same ways.

LIFE-STAGE CATEGORIES INCLUDE

1) KIDS: 12-18. There are as many kinds of kids, teenagers and young people as there are PEOPLE. This group gets divided into those on an academic fast track ("I want to be a doctor...so I study ALL THE TIME," "I want to play pro-ball, I'm at practice 24/7," to "I have no idea what I want to do with my life, these are my teen years and I want to hang out with my friends at the mall and have a good time NOW, I'll figure it all out later when I really have to.") We all know "perennial kids." This "KIDS" "12-18 "life stage" can go up to 35 years old or beyond! Although this person may be in school or college or even still living at home, he/she is making important independent spending decisions.

2) The next life stage: DECISION PENDING — "I have no idea what I want to do with my life..." At this stage, he/she is still figuring out what to do, who to be and how to live, etc. This person may have a temporary job, dead end job or entry level job at a business he/she is trying on for size.

3) Another life stage occurs when you make a CAREER COMMITMENT — finding what you want to do and putting in a lot of time to make it work.

4) BEFORE YOU BUY A HOUSE: Renters live a hugely different lifestyle than homeowners. People who live alone live a hugely different lifestyle than couples do.

5) AFTER YOU BUY A HOUSE: The lifestyle here changes hugely. You watch those home fix-it shows. You hang out at Home Depot and the hardware store. You spend big-ticket money on things for the house. You stay home more; Go out less frequently.

6) LIVING SINGLE, THE LONER LIFESTYLE: Spend it on YOU, not the house.

7) LIVING AS A COUPLE, COMMITTED RELATIONSHIP (OR MARRIAGE): Married people have very different lives than people who are single.

8) PEOPLE WITH KIDS run the range of every age. At a recent "Mommy-and-Me swimming class, the "mommies ranged in age from 17 to 51, with absolutely identical interests.

9) WITHOUT KIDS: This is pivotal. People without kids lived a very similar lifestyle to one-another at EVERY age!

10) GOOD HEALTH: People in good health enjoy sports, take trips, and partake of the culture.

11) PEOPLE IN ILL HEALTH: This can hit at ANY life stage and again, someone who's 18 or 32 may have an identical two to three year (or longer) lifestyle as someone who's 55 or 85 during a prolonged illness or injury.

12) SPECIAL INTEREST GROUPS: We've already seen this with religious radio, sports radio, Antiques Roadshow, Food Channel, computer enthusiasts, Wall Street players, pet owners etc. People who have passions in life for specific areas of interest cross over every demographic to hang out with one another. Special Interest Groups are a demographic, NO MATTER WHAT THEIR AGES!

INCOME, EDUCATION PLAY A HUGE ROLE

We've also been fooled defining listeners by race or "income levels." It's much more defined by education and "class" than income. Take a lesson from NPR: A listener may be dirt poor, but educated, the guy in the next car over may be a billionaire listening to the SAME station.

An upper class or middle class African American or Asian has similar concerns to the upper or middle class Anglo Saxon. Programmers worry too much about "targeting" a racial demographic rather than a life stage or lifestyle one.

A subset of yet another life stage includes people with less (or no) education or with fewer opportunities in the working world who comprise their own demographic regardless of age or race.

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Reprinted with permission, excerpted from CREATING POWERFUL RADIO: GETTING, KEEPING & GROWING AUDIENCES from Focal Press, By Valerie Geller.

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