What a Commercial Says About the Future of Stone

Progressive Insurance has a long running commercial series in which young people buy homes and then find themselves doing the same things they used to make fun of their parents for. The concept is clever and really hits home for a Millennial audience who is (perhaps after an extended adolescence) becoming their parents.

A recent spot in this series featured Dr. Rick – the faux professional who helps these young homeowners – starting a conversation with these new homeowners by inquiring about the virtues of manufactured stone versus travertine for a home project.

My first thought was “Oh go with the natural stone unless you want to replace it in a few years,” so perhaps I need to seek out Dr. Rick’s guidance. But after further thought, this commercial does hint at a couple things that are relevant for those of us in the stone business.

First, the fact that choosing stone is a “boring” topic for the washed up and uncool should make us a bit uncomfortable. Perhaps we have a branding problem, but stone is a classic that defies age, generation, or time. I’m willing to acknowledge some bias here, but how many people of all ages travel for the sole purpose of seeing timeless structures made of stone? From the Parthenon to the Pentagon, Machu Picchu to the Great Wall of China, stone is a defining feature of society’s most important buildings and enduring landmarks.

Proof positive that stone - and the important structures we create out of it - is timeless, not trendy

The other point here that merits mentioning is that we are in the middle of the greatest wealth transfer in human history as Baby Boomers leave their considerable assets to their heirs. Many of Dr. Rick’s new homeowners are purchasing homes thanks to a gift or inheritance from an older relative. Now we’ve got a new generation making new purchasing decisions. Millennials don’t buy like their parents did, and if you’re still targeting a Boomer audience then you’re officially on the clock. This is already playing out in the monument industry as attitudes change and buyers move away from traditional monuments and burial arrangements in favor of cremation.

We as an industry need to figure out how to make stone appealing to a new generation of buyers. If a stone company figures out how to get a stone bench or fountain on Taylor Swift’s Instagram account or gets Mr. Beast to put on some wild stone-related challenge on his YouTube channel, then they’ll have the hottest item for a brand-new audience who previously considered stone something their parents thought about when discussing boring home improvement projects.

I am not the marketing genius to figure out how to make this switch, but someone will figure out how to make their product appeal to a new market in a new way and they’ll make more money than they can count doing so.

If you’re running a stone business, ask the young people in your life for some advice. I have already waved the white flag and self-identified as washed, and I’ve never exactly had my finger on the pulse of what’s cool in any case. Someone will crack this problem and be rewarded with a new generation of fans and loyal buyers.

How -and what - will the next generation choose to build with stone?

And if there’s anyone young reading this – go with the travertine. The classics are a classic for a reason, and some things don’t go out of style.

-Alex