No News News Redux II

No News News Redux
I’m one of the few bloggers to take pride in bringing you no news news.  I’ve been offering my readers no news news for years …

No News News Flash #1:
A lot of times no news news happens because Dick Stroud beats me to it, what with his getting up earlier than I do.
Like today …

Email designs are neglecting the needs of Boomers

There’s nothing new here – and Dick knows it.  But he’s nicer than I am. 
A post from a few years ago about a presentation of mine:

Our requested changes were never heeded.
… It was especially amusing when your graphic for ***** came up and you noted that the copy was too small to read. You should have added that for some reason, more and more people are also using this light gray typeface (in the print ad you used as an example). My proofreading colleagues and I would get myopically and intellectually frustrated and rant about our changes not being acknowledged!

What I say when this slide pops up: “A fifty or older designer would not design an ad that he or she cannot see.”
The same holds true for DRM email.
No News News Flash #2:

In Praise of the Original Social Media: Good Ol' Television
Here's what I've learned from soaking in all that data: For all the buzz and obsession about social media, old media still rules our lives. (It's amazing how often we use new media to talk about what old media is up to.) And of all the old media, TV maintains the tightest grip on our collective consciousness.

I can’t link to all the posts here about this.  Just believe me – or search the blog for ‘television’ …
And my next post will be about TV.
Baby Boomers grew up watching television as a group.  I tell the story in a section of my speaking/consulting presentations.

So until the next time nothing new pops up in the news …

The Déjà Vu News

Sometimes I think my browser is playing tricks on me.  Twilight Zone tricks.  Or Google is on the fritz, spitting out news stories from the past.  Some recent headlines:

Boomers Are The Most Valuable Generation For Marketers

Baby Boomers Are A Lucrative Marketing Demographic

Retailers Target Grey Spending Power

Baby Boomers Consider Next Housing Move

Boomers Are Not Like Your Grandparents

Baby Boomers Discover Grandparenting

More Boomers Aspire To Careers With Social Purpose

Baby boomers Are Starting Up Businesses

Hindenburg Explodes In Mid-Air

OK, I’m lying about the last one.  It’s not a recent headline.  But  to me it doesn’t seem any older than the others.

No links to these because everything has been said before in this blog, my book – and in other places by other marketing and advertising folks who talk about Baby Boomers. Why have you choke on regurgitated reportage?  Always go to the sources.  Scroll and click around over on the left.   

More déjà vu-ish offerings through the years:

No News News

No News News Redux

No News News Redux II
I’m one of the few bloggers to take pride in bringing you no news news.  I’ve been offering my readers no news news for years …

More No News News

No News News Redux

I’m one of the few bloggers to take pride in bringing you no news news.  I’ve been offering my readers no news news for years:

8.02.2005
No News News
If any of this surprises you.....
Culled from a report by Jupiter Research, Internet Retailer reports Baby Boomers spend more online than other age groups.

11.03.2006
Another Same Old, Same Old 

6.06.2008
The Crystal Ball of Common Sense

12.01.2007
The Same Old, Same Old Redux

4.17.2008
How Well Do You Know Boomers?

12.12.2008
No News News

Now there’s more no news news (and it’s not news for two reasons – the first being that Dick Stroud gets up eight hours earlier than I do):

Today’s Seniors and Boomers Rival Younger Generations in Online Activities
Boomers are tech-savvy and just as likely as the younger generations to own a digital camera, DVD player and cell phone.

Sounds familiar:

11.14.2005
My Favorite Cyber-Myth
How I snicker and roll my eyes whenever I read about Baby Boomers fumbling around on computers, scratching their heads, totally flummoxed.

From my book (© 2005):

Come back regularly.  You can always count on me to bring you the newest of whatever’s not news.

No News News: Super Bowl Ads Highly Effective

I’m one of the few bloggers to take pride in bringing you no news news. I’ve been offering my readers no news news for years.

With the Death of Television, today I offer you this new no news news:

Super Bowl Ads Still Sell
by Steve Hall/AdRants
Despite the uncertain economy, three out of four Americans are still more likely to research or buy a product after seeing it advertised during the Super Bowl … 64% would be disappointed if advertising during the game disappeared … 66% still remember their favorite brand advertiser from last year's Super Bowl while only 39% remember who won the game.

Feel free to ‘tweet’ or ‘facebook’ this no news news – so a half dozen more people can be enlightened. But please do it before the Super Bowl. Afterwards, hundreds of millions of people will be too busy researching and buying products they saw advertised, and my very important ‘social marketing/viral’ advertising message might get lost in the ethereal vortex.

The Newest No News News

I’m one of the few bloggers to take pride in bringing you no news news.  I’ve been offering my readers no news news for years.

The Newest No News News:

NBC Universal says older consumers are a big deal 
By Jon Lafayette 11/2/2010
Like most other television networks, NBC Universal aims for younger viewers because advertisers and media buyers pay for viewers in the 18 to 49 and 25 to 54 demographic group. But Alan Wurtzel, president of NBCU Research, says marketers and buyers may be laboring under misconceptions about older consumers.

Sounds vaguely familiar.  A post from 2005:

Where's the TV for us?
Brad Adgate of Horizon Media and Alan Wurtzel, president of research for NBC Universal, do a good job exposing the silliness of television advertisers (and advertising agencies) targeting only the 19-49 demographic …

That was five years ago.  Now they talk about alpha-boomers or leading-edge boomers:

That group of 55 to 64 year olds are the fastest growing segment of the population and are quickly aging out of the tradition 25-54 demo, making them invisible to ad buyers. Wurtzel says these days, Alpha Boomers are very active consumers who have a lot of buying power, respond to advertising, are tech savvy as younger consumers.

Hmmm. Tech savvy.  That sounds vaguely familiar.  From a post in 2005:

My Favorite Cyber-Myth
How I snicker and roll my eyes whenever I read about Baby Boomers fumbling around on computers, scratching their heads, totally flummoxed. Sure, there is a percentage of any age group that's technologically challenged - but Boomers as a whole have embraced the internet and aren't afraid to plunge into the ether brain first.

Pull quote on the cover of Advertising to Baby Boomers ©2005:

“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.

Culled from Advertising to Baby Boomers (Page 161):

I can’t list all the posts (you don’t want me to, trust me) that talk about tech-savvy Baby Boomers.  Just one more:

Snake Oil In Cyberspace
A recent report from Forrester Research indicates that while it might be tempting to categorize all aging Americans as techno-dinosaurs and Luddites …

Back to the B&C piece & Baby Boomers & Television:

These Alpha Boomers are "an important media and marketing target we can't afford to ignore," Wurtzel said …

Sounds Vaguely Familiar Redux:

Boomers: The Overlooked Media Sweet Spot

Forgotten Consumers

Study: TV's youth obsession backfiring

The steady glow of the Boom tube

Television programmers take note of the Silver Tsunami

Calcified Advertising Agencies

The Media & Baby Boomers: Joined At The Hip

Bookmark my blog for the latest No News News.

Week Old No News News

I didn’t get around to blogging about some no news news when it wasn’t news a week or so ago.  Now is as late a time as any:

Top retail products being sold to Baby Boomers
Baby boomers are responsible for nearly half of all consumer-packaged goods (CPGs) purchases, according to Nielsen’s August 2012 findings. CPGs include products ranging from foods and drinks, to health and beauty products, to household and pet products.

So along with the obvious stuff, Boomers purchase just about everything else.  Sounds familiar:

14 December 2008
Baby Boomers: A Force to Reckon With
Households with baby boomer members -- born between 1946 and 1964 -- account for nearly $230 billion in sales of consumer packaged-goods (CPG) products and represent 55 percent of total CPG sales…

16 September 2009
Boomer Backlash II
The Real Issue: Marketing and advertising folks grasping the fact that Boomers will be buying billions (trillions?) of dollars worth of 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.   

Automobiles:

Boomers Replace Their Children as No. 1 Market for Autos
The 55-to-64-year-old age group, the oldest of the boomers, has become the cohort most likely to buy a new car…

Sounds familiar:

12 March 2009
Who’s gonna buy this car?
In 2005 on The Advertising Show yours truly had a spirited discussion with hosts Brad Forsythe and Ray Schilens.  A chunky segment was about marketing autos to Boomers.

03 May 2012
67% Of All Sales…
I haven’t invoked NostraChuckus in awhile.  He’s that Great Seer of The Obvious and The Mundane. 

More no news news:

'Selfish' Baby Boomers Give Way More to Charity Than Gen X or Gen Y
… Baby boomers account for 43% of all charitable giving in the U.S., far and away the largest amount given by the four demographic measured in the study.

Sounds familiar:

Me vs. We  11 February 2008

Me vs. We Redux  26 June 2009

Me vs. We Redux Redux 22 October 2009

Or …

Consider this post prophetic, for there will be much more of the same no news news in the future.

»»» Update 15 August 2013
Looks like The Wall Street Journal has finally caught up to what I’ve been saying since 2005:

Who's Buying 'Youth' Cars? Seniors
Boomers Are Prime Buyers for Small Vehicles That Auto Makers Target at Hipsters

Another Dumb Article

Dilemma.

For years I’ve blogged about no news news. One of too many posts:

16 NOVEMBER 2015
The Déjà Vu No New News
It’s always a treat to get up, make some coffee, open the newspaper (pixels or pulp) and read nothing new.

And recently, I promised never to link to any more dumb articles:

17 APRIL 2019
No News News & Fake News
…Someone over at one of the major business magazines recently wrote about Baby Boomers, advertising/marketing, technology. He said nothing I (and others) haven’t been saying for almost twenty years…

Here’s the dilemma: There’s a brand-new no news news article I don’t want to link to -- but the comments are fun and worth reading.

So close your left eye and just read what’s on the right:

Older People Are Ignored and Distorted in Ageist Marketing, Report Finds

The No News News News

It’s always a treat to get up, make some coffee, open the newspaper (pixels or pulp) and read nothing new:

Study: Older drivers more likely to buy new vehicles
Isabella Shaya
May 30, 2013
Automakers and dealers have the best chance of selling new vehicles by marketing to consumers ages 55 to 64, according to a University of Michigan study released today.

The study looked at the likelihood of a licensed driver buying a new light vehicle based on the consumer's age.

Baby Boomers still more likely to buy cars than Millennials
Paul A. Eisenstein
June 3, 2013
While automakers may be focusing on the next generation of potential buyers, they shouldn’t forget about the middle-aged motorists key to the industry’s recovery, according to a new study.

Sounds vaguely familiar…

18 December 2009
What Next From The Crystal Ball of Common Sense?
Famed Soothsayer and advertising gadfly NostraChuckus has been startling the world for years with his mundane prognostications. 

One of his first foretellings is now coming true.  Way back in The Ancient Times (2005) he foretold the redesigning of automobiles for an aging demographic…

31 March 2006
Car Spots Driving in the Wrong Direction
Automakers pursuing the elusive youth demographic are chasing the wrong economic quarry…

16 May 2008
Coming Boom in Boomer-Friendly Transport

12 March 2009
Who’s gonna buy this car?
…If we rescue the auto industry, it must
be able to build vehicles for an aging population.

Oftentimes No News News takes the form of a convoluted zero-sum theory, where contradictions cancel each other and you end up with … No News News:

Boomers aren't working forever, after all
Mark Miller
Baby boomers have been talking a good game for years about working longer and reinventing the last third of life. Now that it's game time, their retirement decisions look somewhat conventional.

Why Boomers Are Ditching Retirement to Go to Work
Steve Yoder
The Fiscal Times
Today’s older Americans are dumping retirement or at least reengineering it to include work.

Some mornings I’d be better off just staring at a blank newspaper or empty computer screen.

No News News & Fake News

I’m not linking to any more dumb articles.

Or fake news. Fake news to me can be broken up into two categories:

1. News that’s half-fake and half-not fake. There might be some good advice in an article, but if it also has a lot of bad advice – then no link.
2. News that’s fobbed off as new when it’s really old. In the past I’ve called this No News News.

Someone over at one of the major business magazines recently wrote about Baby Boomers, advertising/marketing, technology. He said nothing I (and others) haven’t been saying for almost twenty years. Just about every point he makes can be found in the Intro and 1st Chapter of my book © 2005-2007:

Folks Are Still Reading My 2005 Book
… Truth is, you can analyze marketing fodder all day and night, read countless books about marketing to Baby Boomers, attend advertising and marketing conventions around the world, and soak up everything all the experts have to say. Much of what is out there is valuable and useful … But if you plan on implementing a creative strategy and turn it over to a different generation of advertising professionals—you'll forfeit the natural sensibilities required to generate vital campaigns…

Intro & 1st Chapter (PDF)

Another major business mag (this one in the U.K.) just published two articles full of admixtures of old good advice, old bad advice. Trouble is, I don’t want to be 50+ Marketing Snopes.com and have to sift through the diamonds and dreck. No links.

Instead, read Dick Stroud and Kevin Lavery.

Those Baffling Boomer Brains

This post could be tucked in The Déjà Vu News or No News News gatherings.  But I’ll give it it’s own page so we can poke around:

Inside the Brain of a Boomer: Cash-Rich Demo Does Poorly With Visual Complexity
by Jack Neff, Advertising Age
The neuroscientists at Nielsen Neurofocus, having strapped EEG-tracking caps on thousands of people over the years, have good and bad news for marketers about the brains of baby boomers.

Not really news:

03 March 2010
Aging Brain Less Quick, More Shrewd
… For baby-boomers, there is both good news and bad news about the cognitive health of the aging brain.

NPR interview with Dr. Gary Small:

More from the Ad Age/Nielsen piece:

As boomers age, some neural decline will be inevitable, and they’ll find it harder to handle visual or verbal complexity.

I interpret this a bit differently.  From my book, © 2005:

I also talk about busy websites in a very long online presentation produced in 2007.  If you have nothing better to do…

Advertising to Baby Boomers: Ads and Web Sites

A few years later a fascinating book was released dealing with many of these themes:

3 January 2010
2010: The Year of The Baby Boomer Brain
The brain, as it traverses middle age, gets better at recognizing the central idea, the big picture. If kept in good shape, the brain can continue to build pathways that help its owner recognize patterns and, as a consequence, see significance and even solutions much faster than a young person can.

16 April 2010
The Secret Life of the Grown-Up Brain

Ad Age/Nielsen:

Among cognitive pluses that come with age…are more “emotional resilience” and a tendency to “not sweat the small stuff”…So they’re less likely to fall for alarming messages…

Sounds familiar.  From my book:

… A similar campaign today, using vague, anxiety-ridden scare tactics, might not work for Baby Boomers. We’re too smart (or perhaps too jaded) to be fooled by hackneyed situations and simplistic answers…

Remember this: An easy-to-grip handle is not dumbing down.  A ‘big picture’ is not dumbing down.  If anything, a big picture has more inherent complexity and meaning than an array of blinking doodads.

---

The Human Resources/Brain Power Posts

The Déjà Vu No New News

It’s always a treat to get up, make some coffee, open the newspaper (pixels or pulp) and read nothing new.
Even that shticky opening sentence is nothing new.

For some reason, the last month or so has been jam-packed with no news news:

Older people have the spending power. So why are ads obsessed with youth?

If you want the answer nine years before this question was asked, download (for free) the Introduction and 1st Chapter of Advertising to Baby Boomers ©2005/2007:

Introduction and 1st Chapter

More from that Globe and Mail piece:

… The rationale for focusing on younger people used to be that advertisers who could win them over would gain a consumer for life. But research has shown that brand loyalty is fading, meaning this approach may not make sense any more.

Brand loyalty almost always fades, and hasn’t made sense for decades. Read a review of Advertising to Baby Boomers in The Journal of Consumer Marketing.

The Average Age Of A Creative Is 28, While The Average New Car Buyer Is 56 - That's A Problem

It’s been a problem for years and years:

Hire Baby Boomer Creatives
NostraChuckus predicts the future. Again. It was 2003 when he first divined it…

Automobile ads written by … but targeting…:

Non-Diversity = Solipsism
… Someone commented on my comment:
You nailed it Chuck! My reaction (albeit with an agency skew) is that these spots are targeting BOOMERS, but written by 20-somethings? … Young creatives (are there really any other kind?) can't write to BOOMERS…so they write to please themselves. As a BOOMER many of us see right through this common occurrence.

Here’s a news story that is impossible to cherry-pick.  Every cherry has been plucked, packaged, and offered as sustenance by Yours Truly and others for over a decade:

Baby Boomers Are Noticing How You're (Not) Speaking to Them

I’ll snatch one piece of wrinkled fruit, just for fun:

…. One of the biggest reasons for this is marketers are beginning to close the book on this generation by relying on outdated stereotypes to inform decisions and craft messages that ultimately don’t hit the mark. It takes more than a Rolling Stones song on a 30 second TV commercial. Half of Baby Boomers (47%) told us in this same survey that companies are using inaccurate stereotypes in advertising about people their age.

A few moldy posts:

03 October 2005Invoking "The Sixties": Fidelity Financial vs. Ameriprise

19 February 2007
Food fights, Balloons and Dancing Gorillas
19 December 2010
Why does the media think Boomers are smiling, vapid idiots?

And if you’re desperate to hear me bloviate about it all, check out highlights from a European Tour in 2007:


Recently I penned an Afterword for an international marketing/advertising tome due out in early 2016.
A pull:

I wasn’t the first to suggest a necessary shift away from the 18-35 demographic. In 1990, two books were released, Age Wave by Ken Dychtwald  and Serving the Ageless Market: Strategies for Selling to the Fifty-Plus Market by David B. Wolfe.  Many others followed, including The Definitive Guide to Mature Advertising and Marketing by Kevin Lavery  (U.K) and Marketing to Leading-Edge Baby Boomers by Brent Green.

What bewilders me about all these brand-new news articles: the  disregard of historical perspective along with the absence of acknowledgements due the original thinkers and doers. It’s not difficult to research almost anything nowadays.  A simple googling of  ‘advertising & baby boomers’ would return over a million hits.
And as a journalist it would keep you from embarrassing yourself.

No News News

A few news stories popped up in my Google alerts:

Baby Boomers are Largest Group of U.S. Internet Users
eMarketer estimates that ‘baby boomers’ - people born between 1945 and 1965 - constitute the largest group of United States Internet users.

News???  Here’s an excerpt from my book, first published in early 2005 (the quote is about a commercial for a hotel reservations service):

 
While this study was done in Europe, it applies here:

Older people can be disenfranchised by celebrity-fronted ads
The research carried out by YouGov on behalf of Senioragency … discovered that 46% of older consumers are actively turned off by celebrities fronting ad campaigns while only 11% thought more positively.

I talk about this in an online PowerPoint.  And in my book:

   
I’m a big supporter of web-based news and information – but sometimes print is years ahead of anything you’ll find in the ether.  Here’s a catalog brimming with books about marketing - all with ahead-of-the-curve insights that you won’t find on the web: