The Next Phase Of The Web

Interesting tidbit from NPR:

Hmmm. Sounds familiar. From six months ago:

Foretellings
With the exception of the workplace, smartphones (along with iPads and Kindles or something like them) might just make desktops and laptops and the web as we know it obsolete.  If ‘being connected’ mostly means communicating with friends, doing simple search, reading the news - then all that’s really needed is a smartphone…

That silly retronym “traditional advertising” will remain the premiere force for introducing people to a product or service, along with sustaining its shelf life. Television, print, radio, and billboard ads will continue to have the visceral power they’ve always had – if only for their sheer size, simplicity, and cutting-edge audio/visual qualities.  Advertising on smartphones will be considered an annoyance, invasive, and rather dinky – while marketing (coupons on steroids, and more) will flourish and dominate.

And:

If you’re not up on apps …
Smart Phones, iPads, and Baby Boomers
Goodbye, Fancy-Schmancy Web Sites

The Silver Market Phenomenon 2nd Edition Released

An updated version of The Silver Market Phenomenon ©2008/2011 is available, published by Springer Press:

The Silver Market Phenomenon
Marketing and Innovation in the Aging Society
Kohlbacher, Florian; Herstatt, Cornelius (Eds.)
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 “graying market” or “silver market”, the market segment more or less broadly defined as those people aged 50 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. This book offers a thorough and up-to-date analysis of the challenges and opportunities in leveraging innovation, technology, product development and marketing for older consumers and employees. Key lessons are drawn from a variety of industries and countries, including the lead market Japan.

I contributed, updating the 2nd Edition with lots of new material – as have the other contributors (along with nine  new chapters/contributors).

Springer does a good job promoting the book on their site.  You can read the introduction and the first few pages of each chapter (including mine). 

Appraisals:

From an in‐depth global overview of the mature market, through design and product development for older consumers, to the marketing implications, this book has it all. With contributions from experts around the world, the book recognises that population ageing poses great challenges to industrialised and developing countries alike. Its well researched attention to detail means The Silver Market Phenomenon is a ‘must have’ for both practitioners and academics. – Kevin Lavery, Managing Director, Millennium, Founding Member and President, International Mature Marketing Network (IMMN), UK

The Silver Market Phenomenon literally encapsulates the wisdom of the ages about the aged. What sets this book apart is the breadth of its geographic scope, informing readers of age‐related trends around the globe from the perspective of world‐class thinkers. From social theory to empirical evidence to practical applications, the Silver Market Phenomenon mines the collective wisdom of practitioners and academicians who bring rich and varied perspectives on the fallout from aging to the written page. If you’re looking for the survey course on mature consumers, this is it!
Laurel Kennedy, author, “The Daughter Trap”, and President, Age Lessons, LLC, USA

The Silver Market Phenomenon Press Release (PDF)

Preface & Introduction (PDF)

On Amazon

Baby Boomers & Travel Companies & Irony Redux

A piece from across the pond:

Adventure holidays for the over 50s
Age is no obstacle when it comes to enjoying different and exciting experiences, according to World Travel Market's latest report.
The over-50s are keener than ever to see the world, and they won’t settle for two weeks in Torremolinos anymore. “They have a thirst for adventure,” says Archers Direct head of product David Binns. “They want to learn how to cook in Morocco, go walking in the Grand Canyon and explore South America. Touring in Jordan and Morocco is proving particularly popular for 2011.”

I wrote about this recently – and in my book, and in 2004:

Fun to see the travel industry catching up.

Future Family: Life In the Digital Age

Interesting show coming up on The Discovery Channel:

Future Family: Life In the Digital Age This … program explores how baby boomers – the 78 million Americans born in the wake of World War II are embracing technology to better manage increased work and home responsibilities.

Sounds suspiciously like my book ©2005/2007.  Excerpts:

… Contrary to popular myth, Baby Boomers do not believe that they are still teenagers or young adults. (Some probably do, but they need therapy.) Boomers are slyly redefining what it means to be the ages they are. Included in this new definition are some youthful attitudes - but the real change is that instead of winding down, many are winding up. We're not 'looking forward to retirement,' we're looking forward to new lives, new challenges. Only a small percentage will opt for pure retirement. (I predict that in twenty years the word 'retirement' will still be in dictionaries, but followed by the modifier archaic.)

… 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.

… 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.

NostraChuckus strikes again.

Goodbye, Fancy-Schmancy Web Sites

A colleague tipped me off to this piece:

The Undesigned Web
by Dylan Tweney
… It's that separability of design and text that has led to the third wave of the web, in which readers (or what some would call end-users) are in control of how the content they are reading looks. And, as it turns out, many of those readers like their designs to be as minimal as possible.

I’ve been talking about flash-addled web sites for years, and recently in my Nissan Leaf posts. 

And six months ago:

Foretellings
My advertising/marketing predictions and not-technical-because-I’m-not-a-tech-guy recommendations:

1. The visual power of the web will fade as more people use handheld devices.  Goodbye, fancy-schmancy web sites. People will get bored sifting through it all when they can find what they need with their smartphones.
2. How this will play out, I don’t know – but the ‘web’ needs to be rethought.  Accessing a page on a desktop or laptop is not the same as accessing it on a smartphone.  There will have to be two separate ‘webs’ for large screens, small screens. People will get very tired very fast clumsily negotiating bulky pages on handheld devices. Usability cannot be ignored.  Laptops and Desktops will only be utilized for deep research or visual treats.

Not everybody agrees, sort of.  Actually, it looks like they do agree, sort of:

Is "Undesigned" the Next Great Web Trend? Fat Chance
Online, content is a tool. We use it. It's not passive and neither are we. And if its design hinders that use, we get irritable. That's why good Web design often has more in common with the invisible soft-science of industrial design than the in-your-face, "art directed" aestheticism that many of us associate it with.

I remember when hyperlinks and animated GIFs were eye-popping, cutting-edge marvels.  Before long video, music, and games were everywhere. That ended up as lots of fun.

But technological marvels come and go.  Human nature persists. The importance of being connected, communicating, and seeking out information has been around since the beginning of civilization. 

How will this shake out with advertising and marketing?  My take:

That silly retronym “traditional advertising” will remain the premiere force for introducing people to a product or service, along with sustaining its shelf life. Television, print, radio, and billboard ads will continue to have the visceral power they’ve always had – if only for their sheer size, simplicity, and cutting-edge audio/visual qualities.  Advertising on smartphones will be considered an annoyance, invasive, and rather dinky – while marketing (coupons on steroids, and more) will flourish and dominate.