Baby Boomer Insights

Is your Boomer marketing boat about to run aground?

Ralph and I were on the boat riding around Lake Sinclair yesterday when I was suddenly reminded of just how marketers find themselves wondering how they "missed the boat" when it comes to Boomers.

We were on a part of the lake we've been to countless times, which just makes this story all the more embarrassing. We saw a cove where four new houses have recently been completed and put up for sale. So we headed toward them full speed ahead. Suddenly, the boat made an awful noise and nearly stopped cold. Turns out we had run up on a sandbar. We managed to get off safely with no major damage, except his bruised ego.

Well, $200 and a few hours later, Ralph had installed a new propeller and had a laugh over how he managed to chew up the other one.

So what's this have to do with marketing to Boomers? Everything. It's easy to run up on a sandbar when you're focusing just on the destination. In a boat, you have to pay attention to the depth finder, which lets you know if the water is deep enough to keep going. If Ralph had been watching the depth finder instead of the houses, he'd have noticed the severe drop in water depth.

That's the equivalent of what marketers often do when it comes to Boomers. They focus so much on the fact that there's a vast pool of 78 million of us, they forget that it's not as easy as just "aim in that direction" and you'll get what you want. Marketing to Boomers goes much deeper than that.

We know from the Edelman/Strategy One Boomer Insights and Implications Study, 2007, that some 28 percent of Boomers don't even identify with the term, so they've already self-selected OUT of the pool of 78 million. They might be the sandbar you run aground on your way to reaching the ones who are really your target.

Finding your brand's "Bull's Eye Boomer" (tm) is critical to ensuring you don't run aground. It takes research and patience, but it's worth doing before investing in a Boomer marketing strategy. It's simply not enough the say, "Our target is women 50+." Really?

Two 50-year-old women could be as different as night and day. I'm a great example of that. I have a twin sister. We're 51 and couldn't be more different. I live in a city, she's in rural Georgia. My kids are 22 and 18, one a college graduate, the other a college sophomore. Her three children are 32, 22, and 21. And she has three grandchildren. She's a nurse. I have no patience for patients. I read all the time, love to blog and have to have the latest gadget. She's prefers to watch TV and is happy with a working cell phone.Get the picture? We're only 15 minutes apart in age (I"m the oldest - she has always told people I got out with the brains and she stayed behind for the looks!) but we clearly have very different lifestyles and interact with brands in very different ways.

On the surface, my sister and I are like those new houses in the distance (well, actually more like worn cottages). It may seem all you have to do is aim for us all standing side by side and call it a day. But let me just caution you that you could also find yourself grinding to a halt before you get to shore if you aren't careful.

Rendering authenticity in boomer marketing

Today at the JWTBoom Livewire: A Summit, I had the great privilege to hear Joseph Pine, author of Authenticity: What Consumers Really Want (2007). He's an energetic speaker who, well,  oozes authenticity.

He offered this definition of authenticity: "conformance to self image." In other words, something is authentic if we see it, interact with it, and can see ourselves as a part of it. He noted that when we encounter something we consider authentic, we respond by saying "I LIKE that." Shortly, we switch to "I like that" (with the emphasis on I.) So there's no such thing as a brand declaring itself as authentic; rather, that's a designation a brand earns because it is awarded by consumers.

Pine said there are three rules to do business by:

If you ARE authentic, you don't have to say you're authentic.
If you SAY you're authentic, you better BE authentic.
It's easier to BE authentic if you don't say you're authentic.

He asked audience members to name brands they connected to because they believed the brands were authentic. Some of the answers: REI, Target, LL Bean, Harley Davidson, Lexus, Ben and Jerry's, Nike, Cheerios, North Face and Birkenstock.

Pine then shared the five genres of authenticity:

Natural -  such as organic food
Original - Apple isn't always the first with an idea, but their design is always original
Exceptional - Ritz Carlton's customer service. They track all your preferences and cater to you.
Referential - taps into shared memories. The Venetian Hotel in Vegas.
Influential - exerts influence: example given was Starbucks telling stories of how it helps farmers

BTW, I especially liked one story he told about the Ritz Carlton. He said that when the Ritz in Naples, FL, switched from door knobs to a plastic card key system, they contacted their regular customers and offered to give them one of the original door knobs in exchange for their going online and sharing a story about their Ritz Carlton experience. What a clever idea!

Pine also shared a quadrant drawing called "Rendering Authenticity." On one axis It showed brands that are what they say they are and those that are not what they say they are... on another axis were brands that are NOT true to themselves and those that ARE true to themselves. This results in four flavors: Real/Fake; Real/Real; Fake/Fake; and Fake/Real.

His point was that it is possible for a brand to move from Fake/Fake to authentic by acknowledging their position and taking corrective action. Best comment: "Fake is what we call something we don't like. If we like it but it's not real, we call it Faux."

There was a lot of discussion around the need for brands to offer experiences to consumers so they can decide for themselves how authentic the brand is.His best examples included the American Girl stores, where the average visit is four hours long and people pay just to experience the brand (and that's before they spend a dime on products). He offered up ING as a brand that offers an especially unique experience: baristas who are also financial planners. Even if it's gimmicky, there's no denying the tactic works. The baristas have been instrumental in getting over $200 million moved into ING accounts in the first year!

He noted The Gap is an example of a company that has great advertising but has failed to translate that into experiences in their stores that make people want to come back over and over.

The overarching point of his entire presentation was that authenticity is what all brands should try to achieve. It's not  always easy, but it is possible. And when your brand achieves it, you'll have a distinct competitive advantage.

Edelman reveals results of Boomer study: Bull's-Eye Boomers rule!

My company, Edelman, will announce tomorrow that it has created a new consultancy called Boomer Insights Generation Group to specialize in communications marketing strategies to reach and activate Boomers. This is probably the most exciting thing that I've been involved with in my 30 years in PR.

We'll be helping companies understand how to build relationsips with self-identified Bomers, whom we call Bull's Eye Boomers (tm). More than one person has asked me "How hard can that be? After all, we already know who the Boomers are - they were all born between 1946 and 1964."

That, my friends, is the the crux of the problem. Too many companies market to Boomers as though we're defined by our age. Yet, one of the key findings of the Strategy One/Edelman Boomer Insights & Implications Study is that a full 28% of Boomers don't see themselves as Boomers as all. Can you imagine spending millions of dollars marketing a car to people who have committed to walk everywhere they go? And yet that's what companies do every day when they crank up their marketing and advertising campaigns and aim them at this massive group called "Boomers."

The Strategy One/Edelman Boomer Insights & Implications Study, which was conducted in July, 2007, included 1,320 adults ages 43-64. Here are some of the highlights you'll be hearing more about over the coming weeks:

> 72% of self-defined Boomers feel mainstream news and media try to appeal to a younger age group.

> 81% of women and 65% of men believe the government has the greatest responsibility to provide affordable medications to adults age 65 and older.

> Women said lack of money was the greatest challenge they faced when trying to maintain or improve overall health and wellness, with 45% of women and 40% of men citing stress as the second greatest challenge or barrier.

> 29% of surveyed women vs 19% of men say they are primarily loyal to one brand. Only 25% of Boomers of both genders is loyal to one brand.

So, as you can see, despite the fact that Boomers are 78 million strong and represent 24% of the U.S. population, they certainly don't always think and act alike. Moreover, brand promoters who don't understand who their Bull's Eye Boomer is stand to waste a lot of money and influence.

Over the past several weeks as we have sliced and diced the research, I've found myself in constant amazement at how often my fellow Boomers have nodded agreement when I mentioned specific findings to them. The conversation almost always turns to a "you won't believe what I got from such-and-such a company," followed by a tale that ended with "What were they thinking?"

Too often "they're" not thinking - marketers who have always targeted generations are going to be left in the dust if they don't quickly shift gears and start aiming toward the bull's eye!

Advertising to Boomers: it's finally catching on!

It has always struck me as a bit ironic that advertisers often ignore the over-50 crowd, since these are exactly the people who grew up on advertising and we have the most money to spend. Well, according to a recent article in Ad Age, advertisers are finally waking up to the fact that we reward companies that make an effort to relate to us.

Somewhere along the line, marketers got the idea that the 18-34-year-olds were the force to be reckoned with; consequently, most advertising has courted that group. The thinking was that the older demographic (gasp! 50+! what could they know!) wasn't worth chasing because we're too set in our ways. Well, guess what. That's just not true. On the contrary, Boomers are not especially brand loyal and we are willing to try new things (including ignoring brands that ignore us!).

Research by Information Resources, Inc., shows that Boomers spend $46 BILLION (yes, that's B, as in big bucks) on packaged goods each year. And Unilever (an Edelman client) recently discovered that 60% of its packaged goods were sold to Boomers, even though we represent only 45% of households.

TV Land is among the first to actively go after Boomers as a targeted group. Seems they've discovered that the 40-somethings and 50-somethings made up a large part of their audience, so rather than rely on classic TV shows, TV Land has begun to create original programming that appeals to them. Turns out their year-to-date ad gains are 9%, nothing to sneeze at, for sure. Coincidence? I don't think so.

Age Lessons, a consultancy focused on the Boomer market, said its research shows that 45% of Boomers feel overlooked by marketers.  More enlightening, though, is that fact that 45% of Boomers also say their brand purchases are influenced by advertising. So... do the math.

Now I'm not recommending you run out and start creating ads aimed at Boomers. That won't work either. We aren't looking for you to wave a flag and declare "Look! Boomers! We're here for you!" Skip the warm-fuzzy nostaligic stuff. And for heaven's sake, don't lump us all in the same category.

Above all, remember that we're looking to the future as much as the generations after us. It's not like we have one foot in the grave (and by the way... even if we did... chances are pretty good we'd opt for cremation and have our ashes spread across the campus of our alma mater... but that's a post for another day).

Selling clothes designed specifically for Boomer women: Will Ann Taylor come to our rescue?

I have never really liked to shop for myself. I usually end up frustrated and tired, so when I do shop, I tend to "power shop," visiting favorite stores and sticking with specific brands. I know that there are certain brands that I can wear without even trying them on, so I tend to gravitate to those first, bypassing everything else. More than half the time, I buy clothes without darkening the doors of the dressing room.

That's why I was thrilled to learn from my friend, Lisa Aldisert, a NY-based trend watcher and futurist/consultant, that Ann Taylor is going after the Boomer market. She sent me this link to a NY Times story that speculates that the Ann Taylor chain will bring to market in late 2008 a new line of stores that specialize in clothes for women over 35.

It's about time, isn't it? I have long been a huge fan of  the Jones New York brand because the quality is good, the clothes are conservative, but practical, and I can buy them off the rack without torturing myself in a dressing room.  If it's true that the new head of the Ann Taylor Boomer line is the former chief merchandising officer of Jones Apparel Group, I predict good times ahead.

It makes sense to go after Boomer women. After all, we have money and tend to like clothes that are fashionable, but not trendy and conservative without being boring. Boomer women have long been ignored by fashion designers, in my opinion. We're expected to adapt to the clothes that are designed for 20 and 30-somethings. Why is that everywhere else in business, the business adapts to the people with the money, rather than the other way around?

Frankly, I'm not interested in trying to look younger by balancing on 4-inch heels and squirming into an outfit that, regardless of its lovely look, is clearly not meant to be worn by someone with my body type. Who am I to give others laugh lines, anyway?

According to the Times, Boomers spend $43 billion a year on apparel. No wonder there appears to be room for a specialty store to serve our needs. I'd offer my friends at Ann Taylor a piece of advice, though: don't lump all Boomer women into the same pile. We vary as much as colors and whites or plaids and stripes. 60-year-old Boomer women and 45-year-old Boomer women don't necessary want the same styles, even though, demographically, we're in the same age group.

Expect to see retailers rush to serve Boomer women now, especially if Ann Taylor is successful. Already,  Gap,  Chicos and Talbots are seen as tough competitors in the casual wear category, but right now, I think it's anyone's game to win. I'll be following this development closely and will keep you posted. Don't look for me in a dressing room though. I'll be the one at the cash register tapping my pen in an effort to get the clerk to move a little quicker so I can get done and move on to the one thing I do like to shop for: ice cream!

Baby Boomers less brand-loyal than previously thought

We Boomers love customized service and will reward companies that provide it by being loyal to them. Forget loyalty to a brand - we're all about "give it to me the way I want it when I want it."

That's the results, in a nutshell, of a new study by Focalyst, a joint venture between AARP and the Kantar Group.  The study was based on the preferences of about 35,000 consumers over the age of 42... often referred to as the "Me Generation."  Turns out that Boomers have a relatively high degree of loyalty for service brands and considerably less loyalty for product-oriented brands.

In other words, we want to interact with brands that provide personalized service and seem to care about us and we'll pay more to do it. Meanwhile, we  don't care as much about the brand of most commoditized products. We're loyal to certain product brands for specific items, but for the most part, we're more willing to try new brands than consumers in other age categories.

Here's what the data revealed about Boomers' loyalty to service brands:

> 72% of Boomers remain loyal to their home or auto insurance company;

> 67% stick with their medical insurance;

> 63% won't switch life insurance companies

> 63% stay with their bank

Compare that to our habits when it comes to specific products:

> 78% switch TV brands regularly;

> 76% are willing to switch computer brands;

> 73% of of the time, we switch among brands when buying clothes;

> 70% of the time Boomers switch brands when buying home appliances.

What does this mean to your company? First, it's no longer safe to assume that a consumer who started using your product early in their lives (18-34) will stay with it; and second, if you want to market specifically to Boomers, find a way to personalize the product or provide some added value.

The good news: it's never to late to create a bond with Boomers. Remember, we're willing to give new/revitalized brands a chance if we believe they connect with us.