With this week's election results, we're anticipating
an interesting two years. Most interesting tidbit so
far is Wall Street's reaction: most pundits expect the
market to go up. It seems the business world sees
the changes in Washington as indications that
nothing will get done to substantially change things.
So it’s business as usual, or perhaps more
accurately, government as usual.
In this month's newsletter we'll catch you up on the
Boomer Project, report on some Boomer marketing
news and research, and tell you about the in-depth
articles and analysis in the November issue
of "BoomerMarketingNews."
Don’t forget, you can
download the premiere issue
of "BoomerMarketingNews", our new
paid newsletter, for free. Subscribers to Jumpin’
Jack Flash can order 12 monthly issues of the
newsletter for only $180 for the first year, a savings
of $60 off of the standard rate of $240 Just use the
coupon code “bab00m” when you sign up here.
Beyond the Boomers Conference
Along with other Boomer experts, the Boomer Project
spoke recently at the Beyond the Boomers
Conference in Chicago.
Here are some highlights:
- Maryellen Molyneuax of the
Natural Marketing Institute shared some findings
from
their studies of Boomers and health and fitness. She
reported that today's Boomer Consumer has several
unmet needs that should create opportunities for
smart marketers. The needs include helping Boomers
maintain/manage their mental and brain health,
managing stress, maintaining/managing energy levels,
and preventing disease and help with nutrition.
A key stat she shared was that 89% of Boomers
agree that Brain Fitness is very important and 50%
have significant fears about their own brain fitness.
Maybe Nintendo will sell more of those Brain Age
games than we thought.
- Linda Fisher of AARP had the most
compelling observation of the conference: "Making it
better for older consumers makes it better for all
consumers." She’s dead on with that comment (think
Oxo Brand's "Good
Grips" kitchen tools – you've got
one in your kitchen and you probably don’t even
have arthritis), yet few companies want to develop
anything for older consumers.
- Mike Irwin of Focalyst
Research reported from
one of their studies of top CEOs that 92% of them
say they do not have adequate research on today's
Boomer Consumer.
- Vicky Thomas, a consultant in marketing to
seniors for almost 20 years, told us to watch out as
the health and wealth industries converge. Seems
paying for all that expensive healthcare requires
financial planning help. Wonder who will provide it?
- The
Boomer Project’s Matt Thornhill told the
audience that we all need to change the language
we’re using if we want to accelerate Corporate
America's embrace of Boomers. Don’t say "aging
consumers" and "aging Boomers" because that puts
the emphasis on "aging." Instead, say "consumers of
any age" and "today's Boomer Consumer" because
that then places the emphasis on "consumers,"
something valued much more than "aging" in board
rooms across the country.
A Rant on Boomers
Not everyone is a lifelong fan of Baby Boomers. Take
a minute and read (and enjoy) this insightful and
slightly inaccurate rant on Boomers from blogger The Indepundit.
This perspective from a 31-year-old will make you
think. Until you get to the last line, borrowed from
The Who's "My Generation" -- I hope you all die
before you get old.
For fun, then read the apology for the rant
published just the day after John Kerry’s apology last
week.
New Boomer Marketing Book
A new book about marketing to today’s Boomer
Consumer will be hitting the shelves next week.
After Sixty: Marketing to Baby Boomers Reaching
Their BIG Transition Years was edited by Dr.
Leslie Harris and Michelle Edelman, and includes a
chapter about ten industries Boomers will transform
(again) by Matt Thornhill and John Martin of the
Boomer Project.
Order your copy today and save
$10.00
300 Million Reasons
to Address Social
Security?
The Census Bureau’s announcement a few weeks ago
that the U.S. population is at 300 million and
counting, inspired political cartoonist John de Rosier
of the Albany
Times Union. Click the image.
In This Month's BoomerMarketingNews
We feature stories on:
- Segment Schmegment – Is it possible to segment
Boomers in a way that is meaningful to your business
(hint: yes).
- Interview with GRAND
Magazine's Christine Crosby, about an idea and
an audience whose time has come.
- Be Positive – the importance of positive imagery,
concepts and words when targeting messages to
today’s Boomer Consumer, based on research from a
Stanford professor.
- Latest findings from the Boomer Project on
today’s Boomer Healthcare Consumer.
- Commentary on current Boomer-targeted
advertising.
Available only by subscription online here. Remember to use your coupon code
of “bab00m” (that’s the numeral zero for the
two “o’s”).
Home Sweet Home
AARP recently released “ten tips for making your
home safer for aging” as part of their
initiative to help older consumers stay in their
homes. Looking at the list you’ll see what Linda
Fischer meant when she said “make it better for older
consumers makes it better for all consumers.”
AARP also reports that some 90% of older consumers
want to age in their homes and communities
(someone needs to tell Florida the news).
At the same time, Home Depot has released news and
findings that suggest the older consumer might be a
valuable target for them in the coming years.
A few years ago the National Homebuilders
Association started a
"Certified Aging-in Place Specialist" (CAPS)
designation for builders who take courses and learn
about how to build or retrofit a home for older
consumers. Not sure how successful the program has
been for builders, but on the surface it seems like a
good thing for consumers.
We’ve also come across a company putting together
a national home improvement organization,
Packaged Home Solutions.
This is another idea whose time has come, if you’ve
ever had to find, hire, manage and supervise a local
contractor on an improvement job. With time-pressed
Boomers planning to stay in their homes, this new
company, and others like it, should be hugely
successful. We hope Packaged Home Solutions is
watching Home Depot and Lowe’s closely, as they
will be big players in this space, too.
Maybe it's time to change it to Home $weet Home.
The Retirement Train Chugs On
Despite survey after survey suggesting that Boomers
will re-invent retirement and some 80% plan to "work
in retirement" (so let's call it something else), the
financial services industry keeps pushing retirement
tools.
Lincoln Financial's "Retirement
Institute" helps Boomers plan their futures,
based on what it is they want to do (beyond that
work thing). The tool isn’t that cool, but their TV
commercials reflect an understanding of today's
Boomer Consumer that few have grasped.
Nationwide one-ups Lincoln Financial with a "RetirAbility Check" tool
that is way-cool. It delivers a single number that
enables Boomers to gauge their preparedness for
retirement (or whatever). Take the test and see for
yourself. It could get you pumped or put you in the
dumps.
Upcoming Events
The Boomer Project is working on assignments for a
major pharmaceutical company, a media company
with 20+ newspapers and television station
properties, a consumer products company and two
national healthcare industry associations.
We’re also working hard on data collection from two
studies in the field – one on workplace issues and
attitudes by generation, and another on Boomers and
travel trends. We’ll let you know when those findings
are available.
If you know of a group or organization that would
benefit from learning more about how to market to
today’s Boomer Consumer, contact Jocelyn
Tice or call 804-690-4837.
Also, if you have any comments or questions
about any of the information presented here, please
let us know at
comments@boomerproject.com.
Matt Thornhill
The Boomer Project
