Diversity = Productivity

I’m reading this piece in the New York Times about advertising to Baby Boomers, and just like everywhere else it's simply the same old, same old. (How many times have I said that lately?) And I just can’t get up the energy to blog it.

Yes, it’s a nice article - with an enjoyable surprise for me: a fascinating and challenging one-day colleague, Dr. Joseph Coughlin, is quoted. If you ever get a chance to see his presentation, it's mind-boggling.

Other than that … Yours Truly and others have said the same things over and over and over for years.

Then a few days later there’s an article/interview in the NYT that really is about marketing and advertising to Baby Boomers – but it sure doesn’t say so:

In Professor’s Model, Diversity = Productivity
By CLAUDIA DREIFUS
... Scott E. Page, a professor of complex systems, political science and economics at the University of Michigan, is a fresh voice... Rather than ponder moral questions like, “Why can’t we all get along?” Dr. Page asks practical ones like, “How can we all be more productive together?” The answer, he suggests, is in messy, creative organizations and environments with individuals from vastly different backgrounds and life experiences.

Yes, I’ve covered the same ground in my book, this blog, during my presentations. And so have others, including Rance Crain of Advertising Age. It’s nothing strikingly new. However, the gist of the article is truly what is needed today in the advertising industry.

Irony: The article with answers to how advertising can reach Baby Boomers doesn’t mention advertising or Baby Boomers, while the article that doesn't really have much to say on the subject is all about subject.

Marks & Spencer Redux

While I rail about the cheesy pandering and cheapening of 60s music in commercials, I don't think it's always ineffective and off-putting. Sometimes it works.

I already blogged about the age-neutral marketing philosophy of Marks & Spencer - but the other day I stumbled upon a few other spots from the campaign - and love them. Music from all generations, all time periods:



I've yet to see a campaign as fun, tongue-in-cheek, classy, and age-neutral on our side of the pond. Just stuff that doesn't quite make the grade.

10 Ways Marketers Should Grow Up in 2008

Here's a great way to start off the New Year: Todd Harff's 10 Ways Marketers Should Grow Up in 2008.

Wise pieces of advice. If you follow some, most, or all of them you'll do just fine this year.

Number eight is my favorite:

8. Resolve to reflect diversity. National Institute on Aging projections tell us that that in 2003, our 65+ population was 83% white. However, by 2030, our older population will be more diverse. 11% will be Hispanic, 10% will be black and 5% will be Asian.

And, with Boomers, diversity is far more than skin deep. The economics and experiences of this enormous group, spanning 18 years, have varied widely. Reflect this increasing diversity in your marketing.

Zip through Todd's Online PowerPoint.

Have a great holiday season.

Blogging again in January.

Green Boomers

An interesting study by Focalyst/AARP has been released. Much is the same old, same old – but some is good, new stuff:

40 Million ‘Green Boomers’ In U.S.
Forty million boomers use their purchasing power to buy environmentally safe brands, according to a survey from AARP Services and Focalyst.

The same old, same old:

Green boomers are more attuned to advertising, both positively and negatively. They pay attention to ads for products they plan to buy, but are more critical and therefore are more likely to believe there is not much truth in advertising. They also wish that advertising included more real product information to help make decisions.

How long have I been saying that? I wrote articles about it four years ago, must have posted about it here twenty times over the last 2½ years, usually spend a good ten minutes on it during my presentations – and this info is in both editions of my book, first published almost three years ago.

Brent Green also has been writing about it for years. (He’s really Mr. “Green Boomer” and knows more about it than I do.)

Green boomers are watching less television, but are spending more time with print media, such as reading newspapers, magazines and books (95 minutes vs. 78 minutes per day).

Again, I’ve talked about this until green in the face. For years. Print is still a powerful media for advertising to Baby Boomers.

But this did surprise me:

Boomers with annual incomes of less than $50,000 are more “green” than boomers with incomes of over $150,000 (57% vs. 50%).

I guess those former yuppies (now called oupies: old urban professionals) do drive around in big SUVs, fill them up with pallets of plastic-bottled water from box stores, and haul them back to their McMansions where the monthly utility bills must be in the low four figures.

Then factor in the tens of millions of Boomers who kept their ideals through the 1960s to the present, eschewed the big bucks, became teachers, employees of government agencies, opened up low-profit socially-conscience businesses, etc. A highly educated bunch.

So it makes sense.