21 April 2010

Your Brain On Games Redux

As NostraChuckus predicted, it’s the Year of The Baby Boomer Brain.

More research about brain games:

Brain-training companies are challenging the findings:

image Posit Science Disputes Results
"There is a fatal flaw in the BBC study; it assumes that since their methods did not work, all methods would not work," said Steven Aldrich, CEO Posit Science.

Obviously I’m not qualified to comment on whether these digital gizmos revivify your rotting noggin.  However, for years I’ve questioned why the hype was so thick.  Did it have to be? 

image Study: Brain Exercises Don't Improve Cognition By Eben Harrel
The study … undermines the sometimes outlandish claims of brain-boosting websites and digital games.

My advice has always been to take the high road with the 50+ Market.  They’ve been around long enough to recognize most B.S. – and when they feel they’ve been fooled, say goodbye to them.

A post from a year ago:

The Brain Games Game
I scratched my not-too-bright head and wondered what the difference was between a brain game and any mind-bending game: Rubik's Cube, Scrabble, Sudoku, etc.  Obviously, this new crop of revolutionary IQ busters improved your brain power while all the others were, I guess, just for laughs. 

chess And that’s what bothered me about the marketing – and still does.  Are these new-fangled blinking lights on a screen the best way, the only way to keep your noggin nimble?  This seems to be the claim.  Or are they a new breed in a long line of cognitive games that go back to counting pebbles on cave floors?

You certainly get the ‘hard-sell’ impression that if you don’t buy and play these games, eventually your brain will leak out of your nose and ears.  Why not just tell the truth?  These are high-tech, stimulating computer-generated exercises that will help keep your mind sharp - are structured, measurable to some degree (so they’re useful for medical research), and quite entertaining. 

And there are a lot of them – so you won’t get bored just playing one over and over. 

Not much has changed since that post.  The brain game industry recklessly jumped into hype mode and now they’re paying the price.  It doesn’t matter what the truth is – the doubts are out there for all to see. 

image With a bit of sensible PR, marketing, and advertising – the industry could have avoided all the negative publicity by positioning their products not as miracles, but as what they are –  brain-twisting workouts that are fun to play, keep your mind active – and in research/medical settings are measurable instruments. They don’t make you smarter, they aid in making you as smart as you are. 

Oh, well.  Perhaps the brain games powers-that-be didn’t play enough brain games …
_____

Dick Stroud: Dumbed down Science

Laurie Orlov: The BBC Brain Training study -- let's flip it around

19 April 2010

Baby Boomers - A South African Perspective

To: nyrenagency (at) gmail.com
Subject: Baby Boomers - A South African Perspective

Hi Chuck

image A Baby Boomer myself, I have for many years contemplated to further my post graduate studies. I live and work in Johannesburg, South Africa. Reading on the internet about you and the work you have done on advertising to the Baby Boomers have really motivated me to follow my dream and to submit a research proposal on this subject to my local university. I first graduated in 1976 with my very first job at an ad agency in Johannesburg. In and out of advertising over the years of rearing a family, I now have the time to pursue my studies again. I have mainly had a career in media strategy and implementation.

image My first step is going to be to order your book, Advertising to Baby Boomers on-line and start with a comprehensive literature overview. Hopefully this topic will bring me the meaningful field of study I have been in search of for many years. I will have to find out what has been done in South Africa that is relevant.

Any thoughts on attempting a study on Baby Boomers from a South African perspective will be much appreciated.

Kind regards,

Tertia Strydom
Johannesburg
South Africa
____

I emailed Tertia this link (from a 2006 blog post):

Managing age diversity in the advertising industry
Do people working in ad agencies lack emotional intelligence, because their average age is lower than in traditional organisations? Paula Sartini explores the issue of age in the advertising industry in this paper.

16 April 2010

The Secret Life of the Grown-Up Brain

In January NostraChuckus predicted that this would be:

imageThe Year of The Baby Boomer Brain
Not that the last few years haven’t had plenty of neurons bouncing about and flashing all sorts of surprising info about middle-aged noggins …

And he mentioned an upcoming book:

The Secret Life of the Grown-up Brain
The Surprising Talents of the Middle-Aged Mind
Barbara Strauch – Author
image For many years, scientists thought that the human brain simply decayed over time and its dying cells led to memory slips, fuzzy logic, negative thinking, and even depression. But new research from neuroscien­tists and psychologists suggests that, in fact, the brain reorganizes, improves in important functions, and even helps us adopt a more optimistic outlook in middle age.

image I haven’t read it yet (it’s on its way) – but I did sit transfixed by Barbara Strauch on Fresh Air

For advertisers, everything she says is important.  Ms. Strauch talks about “creating a disorienting dilemma” and “shaking up the cognitive egg” to get our attention – not something usually done when advertising to Baby Boomers. Most ads pander and lull us to sleep. 

The last question asked and answered is really what it’s all about.  

Carve out 30 minutes sometime soon and listen to it all:

13 April 2010

Selling To Seniors

Libbye Morris I had a good chat today with Libbye Morris.  She’s writing a piece for the Selling To Seniors web site.

Forget about what I said (we’ll find out in May).  I asked Libbye if she was offended by advertisements targeting Baby Boomers.  She replied: No, I’m not offended. I feel ignored.

That sounds about right.

12 April 2010

Designing for Older Consumers

As usual, Dick Stroud beat me to it because he gets up eight hours earlier. (At least that’s as good an excuse as any.)

Dr. Joseph Coughlin (I’ve blogged about him a bunch of times) has a post on his Disruptive Demographics blog that should be read by everybody involved in advertising and marketing to Baby Boomers:

Personalization: The New Language of Design for Older Consumers
image Researchers and industry have spent considerable time and resources on improving the usability of new technologies. Despite these efforts, the capability and functionality of most new devices still outstrips their usability. Greater capability is often coupled with greater complexity packaged in an ever-smaller device … The cell phone provides a good example. Many phones enable users to play music, take photos, film videos, and now many mobile platforms are being designed to monitor chronic disease. However, this high level of functionality is not matched with an equal level of usability.

Entrepreneurs often approach me with products and say, “I’ve dumbed it down for Baby Boomers.”  One product had a dumbed-down GUI – but even worse: the text was reverse white on blue, the most difficult to read color contrast for older eyes.  The designer hadn’t a clue.

Dumbing-down is what you don’t want to do. You want to make the product easier to see, to hold, to operate.  That’s not ‘dumbing down’.  You can apply Universal Design principles to complex products. 

From my book (© 2005, 2007):

image

Apply the above to smart phones and apps, and just about any technology product.  Baby Boomers do want and demand choices, features.  They just won’t be interested in or use them all.   

Read the Disruptive Demographics blog post. (Although we’ll forgive Dr. Coughlin for his ‘Me Generation quotes.)