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Buy our book, Boomer Consumer, today |
| Voted "Best of the Best" Business Books in 2007 by CORBIS.
Available and in stock online at Amazon.com, BN.com and at Barnes & Noble stores in major markets.
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| Can't Get Enough of that Baby Boomer Stuff? |
There's more. Oh, yes, there's much more.
On the Web:
Check out the Boomer Project Web site where we archive our published content and tell you how to line up Matt Thornhill and John Martin as speakers. We tweet: Follow us on Twitter.
Visit the Older Dominion Partnership, a Virginia-based consortium of businesses, not-for-profits, universities and government agencies planning 10 to 20 years ahead for the Age Wave of aging Boomers. |
| About Us |
The Boomer Project offers the most thorough and up-to-date portrait of today's Boomer Consumer. How can we help?
We offer consulting to help companies and organizations develop their "50+ plan." If you don't have one, you better. It's the only demographic segment that will increase in size over the next decade, growing some 23% while the 18-49 segment stays stagnant (Census data, baby).
We also conduct on-site programs, where we educate your marketing and/or customer service personnel about how today's Boomer Consumers think, feel and respond to your messages. These day-long sessions include insights obtained from our on-going proprietary national research among Boomers.
Contact us to learn more about all of our services.
Email: info@boomerproject.com
Phone: 804.690.4837
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March 2, 2010
News & Insights from the Boomer Project |
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Dear Matt,
Big week in Boomer land.
Tom Brokaw's new documentary "Boomer$!" hits the airwaves Thursday, March 4th at 9:00 p.m. on CNBC. The promos during Olympic Curling broadcasts over the last two weeks will certainly draw Boomers living in snow-bound states (that means not you, Hawaii -- the rest are game, thanks to this winter of Al Gore's discontent).
In this issue we offer a caution or two about this fascination with Boomers by the media. We have no comment on the weather other than to hope for Spring.
There's also startling info from the Congressional Budget Office about healthcare costs in 2035. Sure, we know you're saying, "Like I care about 25 years in the future." If you want to make money between now and then, you should.
Lastly, there are some good Boomer-focused events in the coming weeks and months. We'll offer perspective on where to go and why.
-- The Editors
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Summing Up a Generation
Tom Brokaw's "Boomer$!"
Like you, we have seen the millions of dollars of promotional commercials for this Thursday's CNBC documentary by the man who named the "Greatest Generation."
Okay, we admit getting drawn in to the seductive web of the curling competition from the Olympic coverage on CNBC. But that was mostly because we tired from watching ice dancing and Bob Costas' fake roaring fire.
We'll be watching Brokaw's nostalgic look back at what made the Boomer generation the Boomer generation. But we'll be watching through the lens of over-simplification and over-generalizations. No generation, not even one as cohesive as Boomers can be summed up in a tidy two-hour documentary. We tried to focus on just how to sell and advertise to Boomers and we needed 224 pages of riveting non-fiction just to put our toe in the water.
Pictures do tell a thousand words and we hope to be delighted by CNBC's piece. Some of the run-up pieces, though, have left us a little wanting.
There is this article offering insight into the different financial mindsets. we'll give it a grade of C because it attempts to divide the cohort into four segments -- the Financial Positives, the Upbeat Enjoyers, the Threatened Actives and the Insecure. We don't know about you, but that pretty much descibes our view of the stock market since September 2008.
More off the mark, there is this piece on the "15 Biggest Boomer Brands" by Judy Pollack of Advertising Age magazine, and posted on both sites. Judge for yourself Ms. Pollack's list, but let us warn you she included Noxema as an iconic Boomer brand, and of course, Facebook (!?!).
Our point of view is that it is pure folly to sum up 76 million Boomers who have shaped American society and culture for the last 40 years with 15 brands. Brave to try, but it simply shouldn't be done.
Read the comments with the AdAge version of the article and see for yourself the lack of agreement with Judy's list.
The Boomer Line: Boomers do have generational traits that connect them. But that doesn't mean there is such a thing as "all Boomers." There are more than twice as many American Boomers as there are Canadians of any age -- and who would say all Canadians are alike? C'mon, almost 10% didn't even watch the Canada-USA gold metal hockey game on Sunday.
Marketers should study Boomers and learn about Boomers, as they remain a market worthy of attention. Just don't assume they are all alike. They are, in fact, all different. |
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The Healthcare Economy The Impact of Boomers on Healthcare Spending
 Thanks to the national debate on healthcare, most of us now know that healthcare spending is "one sixth" of our entire economy.
According to the Congressional Budget Office, it is officially 15.7% of GDP as of 2007, the most current figures available. (Maybe "one-sixth point three six" is more precision than we can take).
Just looking at the rate of cost increases in healthcare and the aging of the Boomer demographic, a recent analysis by the CBO projects healthcare will grow to nearly one- third of our economy in the next 25 years, reaching some 31% of GDP by 2035.
The CBO says that the aging of the Boomer demographic is the primary driver of the increase, for now. Talk about a healthcare economy!
In 2009 total consumer spending per person in the United States was roughly $26,000, of which $6,000 went to healthcare. The CBO projects spending per person to increase by more than $14,000 (in 2009 dollars) by 2035. Sounds great. Unless you stop to consider that more than 80% of that increase will go to healthcare. Put another way, spending on healthcare will triple, while spending on all other goods and services will grow by just 14%.
Click to enlarge
One may be tempted to identify Boomers as a statistical anomaly and plan for a future beyond 2035 when the group begins passing from the scene. But in truth, the longevity dividend means we will be forever facing a generational mix between young and old that is more cylindrical than triangle shaped. More older people are in everyone's future from now on.
The Boomer Line: Political leanings aside, the out-of-control healthcare costs combining with the Boomer age-wave tsunami should be setting off alarms across America, not just in Washington. Let's hope someone some where is paying attention.
For marketers, let's hope they too are paying attention to the enormous opportunity this presents. The future isn't plastics, it's probiotics, or some other healthcare product or service.
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Some enterprising marketers are organizing some events in the coming weeks and months that could prove fruitful to those among you wanting to learn more about today's older Boomer Consumer.
We highly recommend one, think well of another and are skeptical about a third one.
These organizers have not asked for our endorsement, so these comments are worth what you are paying for them.
Our sense is that the best events these days should focus on what works and what doesn't -- as shared by those who have tried things, a la case studies. Events with only talking head "experts" offering rules of the road are valued less by us, and by most attendees.
Given that, here are our thoughts:
We attended last year's initial event, which was well attended, well run and well worth our time. This one day event is packed with content, and for only $195, an incredible value.
We'd pay twice that amount to hear Brent Green or Laurie Orlov, two of their top-notch speakers in an incredible line-up.
This is Mary Furlong's seventh year of putting on this one-day workshop in conjunction with the Aging Society of America's annual aging conference. It's a great place to learn the in's and out's of today's Boomers, and worth a visit if you're new to the segment. At $275, it too is a bargain.
While a great list of speakers (we know and love most of them) and another reasonably priced event ($175 with discounts available), we have been disappointed by prior events organized by this group. There simply aren't any clients sharing real case studies of what worked and why.
As we said, that's our top criteria and this event doens't look like it will deliver much on that front. We hope we are wrong so we can recommend them in the future, but for now, we can only offer caution. Do your homework and decide for yourself.
And if you go and it's great, let us know. We don't mind being wrong every once in a while.
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