AARP’s 2008 Best Employers For Workers Over 50

The AARP “Best Employers for Workers Over 50” is an annual recognition program that awards companies and organizations whose best practices and policies for addressing the issues affecting our aging labor force create roadmaps for the workplaces of tomorrow.

Highly admirable, AARP.  Thanks. And congrats to all the companies. By keeping and hiring employees over 50 they’re  doing the right thing and the smart thing.

Quiz: How many advertising agencies are on the list? 

Hint: You can count them on the hands of Venus de Milo.

Maybe I’m being a bit rough. After all, many ad agencies are owned by multinationals based outside of the United States – so here is the real AARP award program we should keep our eyes on:

The AARP International Innovative Employer Award is intended to recognize employers who have demonstrated innovative workforce or human resources practices that address issues relevant to the age 50 and older workforce.

Quiz: How many advertising agencies will be on this list? 

Anybody want to make a prediction?

Hint: Use the Venus de Milo to make your calculations.
______

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Deloitte’s State of the Media Democracy Survey

Next month Deloitte will release the State of the Media Democracy Survey, Third Edition.

Along with their teaser presentation, a few nuggets have been rolled out in advance.  Two news articles detailing choice ones:

Deloitte survey shows we’re living in a “media democracy”

Deloitte Study: Millennials, Mobile and More

Smashing open a few nuggets:

Baby Boomers, ages 43 to 61, and the mature generation, ages 62 to 75, continue to read books, magazines, and newspapers. They lag in adopting new technology. The mature generation puts the most importance on television, favors land lines, and is receptive to print ads.

Nothing much new here.  Lagging in adopting new technology isn’t quite the way I’d put it.  From my book:

 
Boomers are also receptive to print ads and television spots.  The 2007 Deloitte State of the Media Democracy Survey found that 67% of boomers visited sites after seeing ads on TV or in print.  My guess for 2009: Nothing much will change.

If you take the population as a whole, television remains the most influential ad medium for 88 percent of respondents. Magazines (49 percent) and online (48 percent) tied for second.

Those percentages are for all age groups – so you can imagine what the numbers would be for Boomers only. 

The willingness to pay for a subscription for ad-free content has declined since last year.

Advertising on the web is becoming accepted, often welcomed. 

Video on the web:

Pre-roll ads were considered more influential than overlay ads.

Most Boomers don’t mind pre-roll.  We’re used to it.  It’s simply a commercial before a show. While overlay ads are intrusive, annoying, and don’t forget this.

Deloitte’s 2007 State of the Media Democracy Survey

my virtual hand slapped

I had my virtual hand slapped the other day.

A friend and colleague, someone with a mind-boggling marketing past (Disney, Nestlé, Former President of The Advertising Hall of Fame), reprimanded me for painting all psychiatrists who’ve been on PBS as nutty.

I didn’t quite say that – although my tongue-in-cheek pontifications here in the ether are often misinterpreted. I take the blame for that.  (And take a certain amount of perverse pleasure in it, too.)

My friend/colleague is working on some projects with a gentleman I admire, a psychiatrist who’s been on PBS and many other media outlets, Dr. Gary Small.

I’ve blogged Dr. Small, linked to an article where he was quoted, doing so more than once.

His new book iBrain: Surviving the Technological Alteration of the Modern Mind is getting great reviews.

My friend offered to put me in touch with Dr. Small for an interview – but I wouldn’t do something crazy like waste such an opportunity on a silly blog. If I ever got Dr. Small on the phone I’d turn it into a free personal psychiatric consult.

So instead, watch this:

Dr. Harry “Rick” Moody Joins IMMN

Yours Truly was asked to continue for another year as an International Mature Market Network (IMMN) Honorary Board Member.  It wasn’t a decision I had to wrestle with.

Here’s the list of IMMN members.

Also joining as an Honorary Board Member is Dr. Harry “Rick” Moody, Director of Academic Affairs for AARP:

Dr. Harry "Rick" Moody, Director of Academic Affairs for AARP in Washington, DC, received the 2007 Outstanding Scholar award from the Creative Longevity and Wisdom program at Fielding Graduate University. Since 2005, an outstanding scholar has been chosen for this prestigious award given in recognition for the recipient's work with the aging population.

They Didn’t Get The Memo

I never watched Boston Legal except for catching snippets every so often.  I limit myself to two shows on a regular basis (they’d be House and Curb Your Enthusiasm).   

Obviously, I try to catch as many commercials as possible.  That’s why I don’t have TiVo.  I asked some fellow at the electronics store if you could program TiVo to only record commercials.  He didn’t know – but did seem to know that he was talking to a lunatic.

An article about Boston Legal’s final episode:

Kelley, Like 'Boston Legal,' Won't Go Quietly   
By Lisa DeMoraes

… In last week's episode of "Boston Legal," John Larroquette, who plays Carl Sack, a senior partner in the firm, represented Betty White, who was suing the broadcast networks for age discrimination because they do not program to viewers over the age of 50 … "The baby boomers, now all over 50, earn $42 trillion in annual income. That's trillion!" Larroquette continues, warming up to his subject.

"Madison Avenue is after the discretionary spender," shoots back Bald Lawyer Guy, representing the broadcast networks.

"Yes, and people over 50 account for half of that, too," Larroquette responds coolly. "Choose your statistic. Go ahead. I've got you. We've got more money. We spend more money. We watch more televisions, go to more movies, we buy more CDs than young people do and yet we're the focus of less than 10 percent of the advertising.  All the networks want to do is skew younger. Kids shows for kids. You know, the only show unafraid to have its stars over 50 is 'Bos -- ' gee, I can't say it. It would, um, break the wall," Larroquette says, signaling the wall between him and viewers watching at home ...

Whoever David E. Kelley is, I like him.

I also like this blogger.  He sounds a lot like me over the last five years:

Madison Avenue Just Doesn’t Get It
Richard Ungar
… Once the boomers passed the magic age of 49, our ranks continued to be a very significant economic force-but the current generation of broadcast television programmers didn’t get the memo …