Baby Boomer Insights

Is your brand's Bull's Eye Boomer driving up readership of People Magazine?

Don't you love it when you read in a credible source an article that validates what you believed to be true, but had trouble convincing others? That's how I felt when I read an article in the Sunday NY Times about People Magazine.

The article agreed with the results of research Edelman and its marketing research arm, Strategy One, revealed two years ago: Boomer women still read People. Every time we share our research showing what media outlets influence boomers, someone questions whether People really belongs in the same company with the CBS Evening News, Time Magazine and the NBC Nightly News. 

Yet, based on the NYT article, boomers are not only a target, they play a big role in how the publication plans cover stories. The 45 to 59 year-old boomers make up 28 percent of the magazine's readers. Moreover, while other publications that focus on celebrities are seeing a decline in circulation, People's readership is up.

So, how does the boomer demographic actually influence People's coverage? In the first five months of 2009 alone, the magazine has devoted 10 covers to boomers vs. only 11 in the entire year of 2007. Editors consider subjects that can cross generations, such as the weight gain of Kirstie Alley, the deaths of Crocodile Hunter Steve Irwin and Tim Russert, and the inside scoop on the current relationship status of Bristol Palin.

I'm a long-time reader of People and consider it a favorite guilty pleasure. When the magazine arrives on Friday, I immediately put it into my stack of reading material to take to the lake house, where I peruse it over the weekend. It has come in handy, too. Thanks to what I've read between the covers, I've been able to come up with answers to the celebrity trivia category in "Catch Phrase," a favorite game my college daughter, Sydney, and her friends like to play.

So, what's all this mean to you as a marketer? Simply this: don't make assumptions about the media outlets boomers consume. It's important to know who the Bull's Eye Boomer (tm by Edelman) is for your brand and what media outlets they like. With all the changes occurring in the media today, it's critical to stay on top of what's in and what's out with boomers. Know, too, that online outlets are increasingly influential. Today, People is hot. But there's no guarantee is will be weeks, months or even a year from now.

Bodacious blogging boomers influence decision making for peers

According to Forrester Research, the number of boomers who use social networks, including blogs, forums, podcasts, etc., has grown to 60 percent from 40 percent just over the past year alone. At the current pace, boomers will just about be on par with the younger generations within a couple of years.

So, what are they doing? It depends on what life stage they are in. Women are often looking for information about medical conditions, whether for themselves, their spouses, parents or children. As the chief healthcare officer of the family, boomer moms (especially those in the sandwich) are voracious consumers of online tools.

Empty nesters, meanwhile, are often just being curious. They make new friends online, recommend favorite travel spots and look for online courses to take.

Trailing boomers (those between 45 and 50) often still have kids in school and are looking for everything from financial advice to tips on running a booster club.

And guess what? The 45-54 age group is also rocking Twitter. They average higher use than any other age.

What we are seeing is that boomers are increasingly embracing technology to enhance their lives and those of others. Those sandwich moms I mentioned? They're all about sharing what they learn. Give them something of value and they'll tell everyone they know. (If you're a regular reader of this blog, you know I'm in the sandwich and use this blog specifically to share my opinions on all kinds of things.)

Marketers are starting to understand the power bloggers have to influence boomers in their decision making, whether the decision is to make a specific purchase, avoid a particular company, or rally a group of peers. I can tell you as a long-time blogger that in the past six months, I've received more "pitches" from PR firms than in the previous six years combined. Some are are very good and have, in fact, influenced me to write about a particular product or study. Others are completely irrelevant and cause me to roll my eyes and file them in the "never hire this PR person" file.

I'm going to share some insights about blogging boomers in an upcoming webinar that's open to the public, if you'd like to learn more. Go to the International Mature Marketing Network site (disclosure: Edelman is a member of this organization) and sign up to attend. It's one hour on Wednesday, May 20, at 11:00 eastern. If you attend, let me know what you think!

Meanwhile, if you have favorite boomer sites that have influenced your decisions, let me know. (But, please, don't promote your own blog here, OK?)

Listen up: Energizer survey reveals boomers risk relationships because of vanity about their hearing

I think I've stumbled upon a good restaurant concept that will ensure boomers come there in droves: DON'T PLAY THE FRIGGIN MUSIC SO LOUD!!!

Last night, Ralph and I went out to dinner with friends to a restaurant we hadn't been to before in East Cobb, just north of Atlanta. It's called The Paper Mill Grill. The food was delicious and the service was outstanding. And who doesn't love those cute little shot glasses of tiny desserts. It would have been a perfect evening except that we spent so much of it yelling across the table at one another.

I'm quite hard of hearing, as is one of our boomer dinner companions, but at least we both wear hearing aids. Still, we couldn't hear one another very well above the noise.  I noticed several boomers around us leaning across tables to talk as well. Odds are, though, they were having a worse time hearing than we were because they refuse to wear hearing aids.

A new "All Ears" Hearing Survey by Energizer reveals that while a whopping 99 percent of boomers wear some kind of corrective eyewear at least for some tasks, only 11 percent wear a hearing aid to correct a hearing problem. And yet, 72 percent said they believe their hearing impairment negatively affects their relationships with their adult children.

One in three gave appearance, discomfort and the sense that hearing aids make them feel old as their excuse not to wear them.

This totally baffles me. Boomers have always been proud of the fact they have great relationships with their children, bragging that they're friends, they vacation together, they hang out, etc. And yet, vanity is keeping some from wearing a hearing aid. The survey asked boomers' adult children if their parents needed help with hearing and 44 percent said yes. Furthermore, almost half reported that a parent's lack of hearing affects their relationship with them.

So, what gives? Boomers are fine with wearing those stupid looking Bluetooth devices on their side of their head. Many think it's cool to walk around with ear buds stuck in their ears. Their vanity has driven some companies to offer hearing aids that actually look like bluetooth devices. Others even offer aids in fashionable colors.

Meanwhile, boomers flock to have our knees replaced, get nipped and tucked, change hair color and drive sports cars all in the name of looking younger. Do you suppose these same people really don't get it that saying, "Can you speak up?" or "I'm sorry. I didn't catch that" or "Excuse me?" is a clue that maybe it's time they wear an aid not for themselves, but for others?

May is Better Hearing and Speech Month. With family vacations coming up, and perhaps even with impending job interviews, perhaps now is the time for boomers to admit that a hearing impairment is no more an age giveaway than glasses are.

Like the Energizer bunny, hearing aids can help you keep going.... and going... and going. And best of all, for those times when you just get tired of listening, you can take them off for instant relief. So when the restaurant won't turn down the music, turn off the restaurant!

Residential builders shift plans for boomers and seniors who now want smaller homes

Atlanta-based home builder John Wieland has been touring a four-state area sleeping on a mattress on the floor of unsold homes for 26 days now. He vows to keep at it until he has sold 101 of the empty houses in his company's inventory. It's an interesting PR gimmick that I hope pays off for him.

Wieland has invested a lot in the Southeast and has built some wonderful homes and communities here over the past 39 years. But like most builders, he finds himself right smack in the middle of a builder's worst nightmare - too many big homes sitting empty and too few people with the credit or courage to buy them.

He says he has learned a lot on his journey, but the most important thing is that future homebuilding has to change in order for his company to survive. Low prices and interest rates aren't enough to move the needle much.

Wieland is one of those builders who is caught in an interesting conundrum. For years his company has been developing subdivisions full of large homes with interesting architectural details, the latest in kitchen appliances and huge media rooms. After all, his company, like so many others, knew boomers weren't necessarily downsizing. Many wanted nice, new homes with all the amenities they couldn't afford when the kids were home.

What a difference a year and a tumbling Dow make!

Now, we're seeing a shift. Boomers and seniors are actually seeking smaller, more efficient homes with open floor plans, according to the National Association of Home Builders. As boomers and seniors sweat over having enough money to live comfortably in retirement, many are choosing to reverse the trend of building lavish homes and now are seeking affordable, energy-efficient ones. In just the past year, the average square footage of new homes has dropped by 250-300 square feet.

This new trend is causing developers like Del Webb and other active adult community developers to rethink their plans. Look for bathtubs to give way to flat-floor showers (and the space used for storage) and dining rooms and media rooms disappear altogether.

Researchers at AARP tell us as many as 80 percent of boomers will choose to age in place, perhaps renovating their homes specifically so they don't have to buy a new one. In fact, just last week, the AARP reported that eight out of 10 adults are cutting back on spending and three out of four are doing so specifically to save for retirement.

Look for this housing trend to have an impact in several other ways. Home technology will continue to get smaller and more efficient; furniture size will likely trend back down after years of going the "bigger is better" route, and even cars will likely shrink not only to be more efficient, but to fit smaller garages.

So, once again, a recession will drive innovation - probably for the better. Meanwhile, maybe those huge expensive vacant homes would be the answer to families that are ready to create multi-generation households that can share in the expense and upkeep.

Boomers and Seniors Online: brands that engage them will profit

I spent a good part of my weekend doing online scrapbooking - arranging dozens of pictures that I - and about six other people - took at my mother's recent 80th birthday gathering. It was great to be able to access everyone's photos within hours after they were taken, thanks to Shutterfly. Magically, the family, spread across GA, SC and NC could independently load pictures, edit them and add captions. That's no small task, considering there are five children, eight grandchildren and three great-grandchildren in the mix.

I can still remember mom's 75th birthday when several of us took pictures. I still haven't seen them all yet. What a difference technology makes! Now we can all make our own albums, choosing what and whom we want to feature. Meanwhile, my mother has enjoyed going online to look at all the photos and relive a great weekend.

My fascination with online services like Shutterfly is not at all unusual for a boomer. The fact is boomers and seniors make up a third of all Internet users and we're the Web's largest constituency. What's more, adults 50+ spend an average of $7 billion online annually. We're voracious researchers, products of the information age, and we love finding new ways to use technology, especially if it makes our lives more convenient or efficient.

Marketers who still think that "online equals young" are really missing the opportunity to tap boomer buying habits. They would be wise to join me at a webinar on March 18 at 11:00 eastern. The International Mature Marketing Network will host a webinar on the online habits of boomers and seniors. (Disclosure: my company, Edelman, is a member of IMMN.)

Sadly, too many marketers dismiss boomers and seniors, assuming we're too set in our ways or not interested in going online to do things we've done offline for years. David Weigelt, partner at Immersion Active, a founding member of IMMN, and co-author of a new book, "Dot Boom: Marketing to Baby Boomers Online Through Meaningful Online Engagement," has studied the online habits of boomers and seniors for years.So he knows that to engage boomers and seniors, you have to take into account everything from where to find them to how to create an online experience that will keep them coming back. But if you do that, you're golden. We love to share what we learn, so if you grab our attention and then provide value, we'll tell everyone - peers, our kids, our parents - you name it. (The fact that you're reading about my online photo sharing experience is proof, isn't it?)

Did you know, by the way, that the Internet is the single most important resource for boomers when we want to make a major purchase? We check everything from web sites to customer reviews to message boards to get the skinny. So if your company wants to grab some of that $7 billion we're spending, you need to be available on our terms.