27 July 2008

Inter-ActiveAge

interactiveage

ActiveAge.org is a virtual think tank and consortium of organizations involved with aging issues in The U.K. - specifically Scotland. 

My book Advertising to Baby Boomers has been selected as a reference.  It's in heady company.

Read about ActiveAge - and it's connection to the work and philosophy of Dr. Joseph Coughlin.

While much of the content is password protected, click around the site.  There are a dozen or so PDFs available to the public.

And minutes after I post the above - a fun, fascinating interview with Dr. Coughlin pops up on The Boston Globe web site:

Answers on Aging

coughlin2

15 July 2008

Too busy to blog.

And I will be for a week or two.  So read some other blogs:

REI Brent Green screams about small fonts and even smaller minds at REI.

I like this post by Mark Miller because I talk about the same stuff in my presentations:

What’s interesting here is that most traditional media continues to run away from valuable older audiences.

I likewise talk about what Carol Orsborn is ranting about:

carolorsborn I wonder how many marketers get lost in the forest of the 50+ wilderness of nuances and terminologies, decide that these demographics don’t respond to advertising and decide to target their efforts to younger consumers?

Dick Stroud is fiddling with Google Ad Planner.  I signed up - but don't have the patience.

Jane Sarasohn-Kahn starts off talking about the Ad Age piece by Peter Francese - and ends up talking about my book.

Carol at MarketingHerbs likes the first four chapters of my book.  I warn her to stop reading.

Matt Thornhill will rag on me if I don't link to him.

ObsessiveBRandingDisorder and ...

Lucas Conley says he's sending me a copy of his book.  Do you think I'll like it?

11 July 2008

The Silver Market Phenomenon Set For September Release

springerThe Silver Market Phenomenon
Business Opportunities in an Era of Demographic Change

smp The current shift in demographics – aging and shrinking populations – in many countries around the world presents a major challenge to companies and societies alike. One particularly essential implication is the emergence and constant growth of the so called "Silver market", the market segment more or less broadly defined as those people aged 55 and older. Increasing in number and share of the total population while at the same time being relatively well-off, this market segment can be seen as very attractive and promising, although still very underdeveloped in terms of product and service offerings.

I contributed a chapter to the book.

To support the release, there will be an International Symposium in Tokyo:

This first-ever global forum unlocks the secrets of the silver market phenomenon and focuses on innovation, product and service development, technology management, marketing and business models for the 50+ market.

09 July 2008

Generation BUY

You probably should skim a recent Viacom press release.  There's not much new there - and what made me chuckle was that they admit that there's not much new.  Nothing like a press release about nothing new:

viacom

Breadwinning Boomers Responsible for Multi-Generational Brand Decisions, TV Land's 'Generation BUY' Study Finds

It's all tied to a new survey commissioned by TV Land.  They learned that there's nothing new.  So, I guess that's new.

Mostly it's stuff I've been saying for years (as have others).  I did choke over their slicing and dicing of Boomer cohorts:

Study Reveals Three Boomer Spending Traits: "Promiscuous Purchasers," "Free Agent Shoppers" and "Savvy Switchers".

Reminding me of this old, moldy post of mine:

It seems that every time a marketing firm decides to specialize in Baby Boomers, we get more "strange tribal groups." It's quite an odd phenomenon. With tongue firmly in cheek, I warned about this in my book - predicting that eventually they'd come up with 76 million cohorts.

ladyTV And their old, new survey reminded me of this new, old survey.

I guess it's like the old saying, "If you don't have anything new to say, say it over and over again." 

08 July 2008

A Baby Boomer Model & Actor

(email)

Dotsie BregelChuck,

My friend Dotsie Bregel, Founder of The National Association of Baby Boomer Women, emailed me your Advertising to Baby Boomers URL.

I, too, have a great interest in the Baby Boomer world. I am a Baby Boomer model & actor. In 2005, I began my 'new career' after coming to grips with an empty nest! Ha! How do I say....'Life' intervened with marriage, my graduating college, my dietetics career, raising 2 sons, and following my husband's career which included living in Russia 3 years. So I brushed up my resume, my headshot, began acting classes and discovered ... I was in demand.

Connie MaynordIn 2006 I posed for MORE magazine - a product ad which was published in two issues. I just wrapped a featured character in a film in Austin, TX. I now reside in Nashville and look forward working here.

So happy to know WE are being promoted!!! Thank you for all your work and support.

Connie Maynord
cbmaynord (at) hotmail (dot) com

07 July 2008

Television programmers take note of the Silver Tsunami

Mark Dawidziak of The Plain Dealer put together a trenchant piece recently:

mark_dawidziak Television programmers take note of the 'Silver Tsunami' as viewers age
America's over-50 population has more than tripled since 1945, jumping from 30 million to 94 million. And here is what's grabbing some marketers' attention: according to AARP, they spend $17 trillion (that's trillion) annually ... "The irony is that the networks are chasing an audience that is abandoning television," Donnellan said. "Younger people are on line. Americans 50-plus watch 30 to 40 percent more television than Americans under 50. They tend to be not only wealthier, but better educated. They're hungry for quality programming." ...

Not much of this is particularly eye-opening info for the handful of marketing/advertising/media folks who focus on this issue - but it's always good to see the subject vetted in the mainstream press.

I've been talking about it for years - in my book, this blog, my articles on the web, in trade mags. And in all those interviews (search the left column here and click a few links under IN THE MEDIA).

A few blog posts over the years:

The steady glow of the Boom tube

Study: TV's youth obsession backfiring

CNBC, Hampton, Jerry and Me

The Search For Mr. Adequate

Mr. Dawidziak's piece also touches on the real issue - and hints at a solution:

clevelandWhile advertising strategies for 50-plus viewers would be challenging, they'd also be economically rewarding ... "There's this huge bucket of money out there called over-50," Schofield said. "But we're not peer-driven and we're hard to track as a demographic because we're not homogeneous. Our diversity is really confusing the advertisers and marketers. But we have the money and we're willing to spend it."

Only the basis of my book, this blog, and everything else I'm always prattling on about. If I pointed you to every post in this blog that touches on these subjects I'd link to almost all 350+ of them.

But as I've said numerous times - if you don't believe me, believe Rance Crain:

rcrain Calcified Advertising Agencies

Rance Crain Makes Perfect Sense Yet Again

Another good piece in Variety:

TV viewers' average age hits 50
By MICHAEL SCHNEIDER
variety The broadcast networks have grown older than ever -- if they were a person, they wouldn't even be a part of TV's target demo anymore.

02 July 2008

Demand for older models grows

Monica Corcoran's piece on The L.A. Times web site is worth the clicks:

Demand for older models grows
monicacorcoran The trend is driven by the $2-trillion spending power of baby boomers -- born between 1946 and 1964 -- who make up 26% of the population. After all, what middle-aged woman wants to buy moisturizer from a model who's too young to order a martini?

While More and Oprah mag ads have used older models for years, the layouts often replaced young models with mature ones - with no real understanding of the target market. That's beginning to change:

"The aspiration in these ads has shifted to having a full, rich life. Open up any Vogue and you'll see models over 35," says John Caplan, president of Ford Models. "In the Rolex ad, you have Carmen Dell'Orefice, and she's in her 70s."

Of course, it's only my dedication to and professional interest in advertising to baby boomers that has me panting, champing at the bit, awaiting this:

PiaGronning In September, J.Crew will introduce an online section within its Web catalog that features 58-year-old Los Angeles model Pia Gronning ... The sundresses will be the same, but the styling will be more age-appropriate and sophisticated.

If I were advising a client about how to position their fashion lines to target/include Baby Boomers, I'd certainly introduce them to Marks & Spencer's campaign in the U.K. An age-neutral approach might work (but not always). Rarely do I see anything like this on our side of the pond: