Beginning in 2003, my business blog for Creative Services, Copywriting, Consulting, and Speaking. You'll find all sorts of information about the current trends in advertising and marketing to this unwieldy, diverse demographic.
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:
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.):
Another study about advertising and the use of technology:
New Study Shows Consumers' Affinity for Using Technology Increasingly Important in Success of Advertising Campaigns
Integrated 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:
… 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.
A bevy of talented, beautiful Boomer Divas is about to have a whole lot of fun:
Boomer Women Prepare to Launch Boomer Diva TV
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.
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.”
My publisher has a new downloadable catalog.
Established in 1999, Paramount Market Publishing, Inc. offers a selection of insightful books for marketers, research professionals, and students of marketing.
Download The Summer ‘09 Catalog (PDF)
My book is in there somewhere:
Advertising to Baby Boomers
This 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.
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
… 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
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.
