31 July 2009

Reg Starkey’s IMMN Webinar

image IMMN is sponsoring a webinar on August 19th with iconoclast and creative problem-solver Reg Starkey:

Four out of five mature consumers claimed to have tuned out advertising. Why? 
image Starkey has specialized in the mature markets for over 10 years. He is the author of Samples of One and a contributor to "The Definitive Guide to Mature Advertising and Marketing" and "50+ Marketing." Also the former editor of Circus, Starkey was featured in BBC TV's "Should I worry about ageing?"

I’ve blogged Reg a bunch of times:

image Reg Starkey blogs…

Check out an issue of Circus Magazine (PDF).

It should be a fun webinar. Reserve your virtual seat now.

28 July 2009

Craig Ferguson has figured it out: Why everything sucks.

My sister Jill (who has yet to establish herself in the ether – but her husband Gary has) watched this and called me the next day:

ac

I searched for it, couldn’t find it.  Thanks to The Ad Contrarian, I finally saw it.

And loved it.  Sort of the humorous version of the first chapter of my book.  (If you’d like to take a look, be my guest – I scribd it – but don’t tell my publishers.):

Chapter One

image

27 July 2009

New Advertising Research Study

Another study about advertising and the use of technology:

New Study Shows Consumers' Affinity for Using Technology Increasingly Important in Success of Advertising Campaigns
imageIntegrated Media Measurement Inc. (IMMI), a leading provider of consumer behavior and audience exposure data to media companies and advertisers, today released data showing that there is a rapidly growing subset of the population who are tech savvy regardless of their age … "There are signs that the non-tech Boomers will catch up and embrace new technologies for viewing content, so marketers should time their options and not write them off," said Welsh.

Sounds familiar.  Culled from my book, first published in early 2005:

advbbcover

… This is due to misconceptions about Baby Boomers and our knowledge of technology.
We’re lumbering Luddites, according to conventional wisdom ...

… The computer/internet ethos for most Baby Boomers is that they pick and choose what technology they want to use, buy, or install. Some are all over Skype, video and music uploading and downloading, research, education, travel planning, shopping—while eschewing blogging, communities, and web page design. Or it’s the other way around. Or variations thereof. When it comes to new technology, most Baby Boomers learn only about what interests them, what they believe will be useful. They don’t feel the need to know everything there is to know about technology, computers, and the web.

… It will be the Baby Boomers who will be the first to pick and choose, to ignore or be seduced by leading-edge technology marketing. There’s a simple reason for this. We have the money to buy this stuff. Experts say we’ll continue to have the money for at least the next twenty years. Write us off at your own peril.

I like it when marketing research finally catches up.

20 July 2009

Boomer Diva TV

A bevy of talented, beautiful Boomer Divas is about to have a whole lot of fun:

Boomer Women Prepare to Launch Boomer Diva TV
boomerdivatv The women of Boomer Diva Nation will showcase their expertise in front of an international audience with the debut of their own Internet TV Network …  Each member will be responsible for producing her own video segment, which will be available to the general public.

bev My guess is that the merriment will be laced with priceless advice from resident experts –including Beverly Mahone, founder of Boomer Diva TV and veteran journalist, author, media coach and motivational speaker:

“We have small business owners, entrepreneurs, best-selling authors, virtual assistants, marketing strategists, photographers, life coaches, health and fitness experts and we even have someone who can cook as good as, if not better than, Rachel Ray,” says Mahone.

(Hmmm.  I hope they’re aiming bit higher than that in their culinary studios …)

At the moment, the featured video on Boomer Diva TV cracked me up:

Actress, TV Producer and Boomer Diva Nation member Debbie Zipp explains how she has found a way to "contain" herself with a new product designed for women. Video created by In the Trenches Productions.

More from the Press Release:

BoomerDivaTV.com is going to change the way boomer women are perceived, according to Mahone. “We’re not just a group of older women having a midlife crisis. We are on the move and making a difference.”

17 July 2009

Paramount Market Publishing Summer ‘09 Catalog

My publisher has a new downloadable catalog.

PMPEstablished in 1999, Paramount Market Publishing, Inc. offers a selection of insightful books for marketers, research professionals, and students of marketing.

pmpc

Download The Summer ‘09 Catalog (PDF)

 

My book is in there somewhere:

Advertising to Baby Boomers
advbbcoverThis fun-to-read and eye-opening exposé takes on the excuses large advertising agencies give for not targeting Baby Boomers, and urges companies wanting to attract this formidable market of 76 million people to rethink their approaches.

16 July 2009

Facts

I was about to blog this Harris Poll – but Bob Hoffman did such a good job, why try to top it?

Nasty Little Things Called Facts
acd … The world of marketing has supposedly been changed by...

"...the advent of the ‘conversation’, the freeing of the captive audience, the ouster of persuasion in favour of ‘engagement’, (and) the rather creepy idea of a ‘relationship’...
A Harris Poll released last week shows something very different:
  • Consumers find tv ads more helpful than any other type of commercial message.
  • They find tv spots more helpful than online banner ads in deciding what products or services to purchase by an astounding margin of 37 to 1.
  • They find tv ads more helpful than search engine ads in deciding what products or services to purchase by a margin of almost 3 to 1.

Harris Poll PDF:

Television Ads Considered Most Helpful to Americans
HI So What?
While advertisers scramble to create their ad campaigns, one thing they need to remember is that, even if viewership may be down and even with the increased use of digital video recorders so people can fast forward through commercials, television ads are the most helpful to consumers. Also, while an Internet strategy is essential for a comprehensive ad campaign, Internet banner ads are not considered helpful by few and are ignored the most. People are more likely to ignore ads on their computers but are more likely to pay attention to those on their television.

What have I been saying about Baby Boomers?  For the umpteenth time

The Most Effective Marketing/Advertising Model For Reaching Baby Boomers: What is now called traditional advertising pushing you to an age-friendly, informative product/services web site.

Another recent Harris Poll.

15 July 2009

RIP: TeeBeeDee

tbd Readers have emailed wondering why I haven’t commented on the demise of TeeBeeDee.  It’s because I’ve said everything I have to say about these sites – in numerous posts over the years and in my book.

Some posts:

crystal_ball Sleepy Baby Boomer Internet Villages

Invasion of the Baby Boomer Pod People

Invasion of the Baby Boomer Pod People Returns

Eons: An Almost Obit

In a Wall Street Journal blog the founder of TeeBeeDee is interviewed:

Wolaner added that no other companies have successfully figured out this space.

That’s because there is no space - at least ones that can be monetized.  From my book, originally published in 2005 (now available as an updated paperback):

bookexcerptWeb pundits are drooling over social networking sites. While this business model is successful and will continue to be, I’m not convinced that people over fifty really care about la-de-da virtual socializing. There has to be a reason to join and hang out other than simply being a Baby Boomer. Sites that center around specific interests like gardening, politics, health, travel, dating, food, art, sports, real estate, education, grandparenting, volunteering, mentoring, etc. will attract a 50+ base. But few want or need to simply hop online and proclaim,“Hello! I’m Joe and I’m a Baby Boomer!”

And TeeBeeDee was one of the better ones.

11 July 2009

Advertising to Baby Boomers (Preface & Intro) Free Download

Scribd I tossed up the Preface & Intro to my book on Scribd as a free download:

Advertising to Baby Boomers (Preface & Introduction)

advbbcover It’s culled from the original PDF from Paramount Market Publishing – so it includes the TOC and some blurbs.  (I’m not quite as wonderful as the ‘praise’ page suggests – but most of you know that already …)

The whole thing is easier to read if downloaded.

10 July 2009

Advertising Has Removed Music's Soul

adrants_logo_blue Trenchant post by AdRants’ Steve Hall:

Advertising Has Removed Music's Soul
steve When a musician pours their soul into their work, it has deep meaning and, as a listener, we feel that meaning. When that same music appears in a commercial, it's as if every bit of blood sweat and tears that went into the creation of that music is minimized to a point where the work has almost no meaning at all.

Lots of takes by lots of folks on the same subject:

vwbus Invoking "The Sixties"

Ameriprise vs. Fidelity Financial Redux

More In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida

adapter Boomer Nostalgia

Food fights, Balloons and Dancing Gorillas

07 July 2009

77 Truths About Marketing To The 50+ Consumer

An updated edition of the influential 77 Truths is now available:

KM 77 Truths About Marketing To The 50+ Consumer, 3rd Edition
a brief guide to marketing to baby boomers
migliaccioby Kurt Medina & John Migliaccio
77 Truths shares over 25 years of insight by each of the authors into some of the special views, preferences, likes, and dislikes of the growing 77Truthsmarket of baby boomers.

I haven’t seen this new edition – but I’d better order one soon because my copy is a disheveled mess from frenetic flipping, corner creasing, Jackson Pollock-like coffee spilling, and Picasso-like underlining and scribbling.

Boomers are a once in a lifetime opportunity

ss A piece in the Small Business section of USA Today by Steve Strauss:

Ask an Expert: Boomers are a once in a lifetime opportunity
usatLike it or not, the Boomers have been at the forefront of a variety of important issues and events: Vietnam, the sexual revolution, civil rights, the self-awareness movement of the '70s and the health craze of the '80s, to name a few. These are people who will always see themselves as open-minded and young. Willing to try out new ideas, the Boomers are a creative entrepreneur's dream.

Not much new, but it’s good to know more people are catching on. 

I left a comment: comment

Nice piece. I've been screaming about this for six years - in a book, a blog, press interviews, during speaking and consulting gigs. The real issue: marketing and advertising folks grasping the fact that Boomers are not disengaging - and will be buying non-age related products for the next twenty-odd years. If you target this group for toothpaste, computers, clothes, food, nail polish, sporting equipment, toenail clippers - anything at all (almost), and you do it with respect and finesse, they will appreciate and consider your product.