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This month we focus on retirement and how Boomers
are thinking, feeling and approaching that stage of
their lives. And what marketers are up to. Be
forewarned. It's a moving target.
In fact, the best comment we've seen so far
comes from Paul Hodge writing in Harvard's
Generations Policy Journal:
"Many of the critical trends we need to
understand...depend on preferences about which
baby boomers have not yet made up their
minds."
Given that, we'll share the good, the bad and the
ugly. The bottom line for most Boomers
on retirement: "You Can't Always Get What You
Want."
Matt Thornhill
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Just My Imagination
You're only as old as you feel
According to the Boomer Project national survey of
Boomers over 50, they "feel" 12 years younger than
they are. On the one hand, that's no surprise. On the
other hand, what does it mean for marketers trying
to connect with this important segment?
[read more...]
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You Can't Always Get What You Want
It's time to retire "retirement"
"Retirement" for Boomers won't be like retirement has
been for the Greatest Generation. First, the majority
of Boomers already admit they aren't likely to stop
working. One survey reports 69% will keep working,
another has 80% still in the salt mines.
Smart marketers are waking up to the fact that
Boomers aren't living linear lives -- you go to college,
get married, have kids, work for 40 years at one
company, retire. Boomers live life in stages, often re-
living the same stage time after time -- how many 50
year olds do you know with two families, on their
second or third career?
If Boomers are already planning to keep on working in
some capacity or another, and their life is a series of
stages, then "retirement" as a concept needs to be
retired. Instead, that stage will be a "re-stage" of life
(not a "rest-age")...
[read more...]
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Time Waits For No One
Especially those who aren't thinking
With some 24 million Boomers already over 50, banks
should be rethinking how they market their products
for those in their golden years. Isn't it time to stop
saying a product is for everyone "50+"?
We're pretty sure a 52-year-old, with two kids in
college, a mortgage, two car leases and a recently
shrunken 401(k) doesn't give a damn about "Crown
Classic Checking" with a "Gold Check Card."
Maybe her mother might be interested...
[read more...]
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