Advertising to Baby Boomers

15 October 2010

In Home, Out of Touch

I do find it amusing when I find my name surrounded by construction equipment, since the last thing I built was with Lincoln Logs.

Feature: In Home, Out of Touch
by Jason Jacks
Most Baby Boomers want to retire where they live now. That will necessitate accommodations to age that they're not currently willing to accept.

A 2009 study by MetLife Mature Market Research and NAHB found that 63% of the Baby Boomers surveyed desired to age where they now reside.

Flip through ProSales – and/or download a PDF.

More reading:

Universal Design As A Beginning, Not An End

Designing for Older Consumers

A Potential Boom from Baby Boomers: Universal Design & Aging in Place

Aging In Place, Universal Design Redux

Disruptive Demographics: Global Aging, Technology & Innovation

Aging In Place Technology Watch

Louis Tenenbaum.com: Aging In Place Ideas

11 October 2010

The Man Who Sold America

Excellent bio:

Man Who Sold America: The Amazing Story of Albert D. Lasker and the Creation of the Advertising Century
by Jeffrey L. Cruikshank, Arthur W. Schultz
Lasker's creative and powerful use of "reason-why" advertising to inject ideas and arguments into ad campaigns had a profound impact on modern advertising, foreshadowing the consumer-centered "unique selling proposition" approach that dominates the industry today. His tactics helped launch or revitalize companies and brands that remain household names--including Palmolive, Goodyear, and Quaker Oats.

Instead of a review, I’ll defer to Kenneth Roman’s take in the WSJ (Mr. Roman penned a superb bio of another fellow you may have heard of):

Present at the Birth of Modern Advertising When Lasker moved to Chicago in 1898, advertising agencies were still mainly brokers of space in newspapers and magazines. Lord & Thomas employed just one graphic artist and a part-time copywriter. All that was about to change. America's population was swelling, and manufactured goods were flooding into the market; the emergence of large-circulation newspapers and national magazines like The Saturday Evening Post meant companies had new and inviting places for promotion.

All through the book, the great and the ugly, I kept thinking “These stories are not only relevant today – they’re what’s been missing for years. Reason-Why Creative. Public Relations based on the principles and practices within the company. Time to get back to the roots…”

Then, somewhere I stumble upon a reader review:

If you are looking for advertising insights this is not the book. As a student of the game I expected to get more insights into how his agency made such an impact … But what he did has no more application to the business as it is today any more than Mad Men does.

Odd stuff. This person thinks Mad Men is real – or thinks a biography is really a soap opera.

Instead of learning from the innovators – their successes and failures – what we get today is this:

Three-Quarters of Americans Have Found a TV Commercial Confusing
Commercials are supposed to be somewhat clear. Yes, they can be artsy. Yes, they can be clever. Hopefully they are both entertaining and informative as well. But, a commercial's main focus needs to be selling a product or service. If consumers watching these commercials are unsure of that main focus, the marketers are doing something wrong.

Reason-Why Creative? Today, viewers are not even sure of the reason why they’re watching commercials.

Also – for all you PR folks … I sent an email recommending the read to a Flack friend:

Just finished this…
Fascinating character, great stories. First half mostly about advertising, with healthy chunks on PR. The second half is almost exclusively about PR.

One blurb:

“Cruikshank and Schultz provide vivid details of Albert Lasker’s revolutionary advertising and public relations career, launching and revitalizing beloved American brands. The Man Who Sold America tells a fascinating story, and reveals valuable lessons and insights for anyone interested in communications and the media.” - Carol Cone, Founder, Cone Inc., and Managing Director, Edelman

Read the book.

04 October 2010

New Report From MetLife Mature Market Institute

I’ve blogged a bunch of them:

Aging In Place

Boomer Bookends

Ecologies Of Risk

Discovering What Matters

The newest one: How America's Leading Edge Baby Boomers Will Transform Aging, Work & Retirement

Key takeaways:

Over the next 10 years aging Early Boomers will cause a 50% rise in the number of people 65 to 74 years old, a growth rate for that cohort not seen in 50 years.
It is estimated that at least two-thirds of Early Boomers are grandparents and a rising number are responsible for their grandchildren.
The labor force participation rate of Early Boomer men and women is at a 15-year high; trends suggest that it will rise further in the future.

I’ve talked about the Baby Boomer grandparent ethos for years:

Grand-scale Grandparents (2006)
"This is the first group of seniors that's embarrassed to have an AARP card," noted Carol Rehtmeyer, president of Rehtmeyer, a toy design, development and manufacturing company … "They're from the rock 'n' roll generation, and embrace spontaneousness and fun," she said. "Boomers think their grandkids are too programmed, and they're looking to stir things up."

Grandboomers (2007)
Marketers are now targeting Baby Boomer grandparents for all sorts of things. GRAND Magazine has ads for the normal fare (vacations, pharmaceuticals) but you’ll also find ones for children's toys, books, and educational products (lots of them)…

This weekend while at Costco, I caught a grandmother (she shall remain anonymous) sending pictures of dresses to her granddaughter so the child could pick the one she wanted. Instant virtual shopping.

This scenario is played out thousands of times every day around the world - and would make a smart theme for an advertising campaign.

And I’ve talked ad nauseam about work and redefining later stages of life:

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.)

And a few posts (before and after the economic downturn):

My Warm Milk and Nap (2006)
"Money is not the sole motivating factor behind Baby Boomers working into retirement. They instead see work as a way to stay challenged and mentally active and sustain a link to the community they have been a part of for most of their lives…"

Time to Retire the 'R' Word (2007)
Retirement, by the way, was an irrelevant word for the poor folks who needed to work forever. Now the word is irrelevant for nearly everyone. Many baby boomers, now turning 60, are healthier and want to work forever.

Call for ban on use of the word 'retirement' (2009)
A LEADING psychologist has called for a ban on the word retirement, saying it no longer reflects the reality of growing old for the baby boomer generation …

Download The MetLife Report (PDF)

27 September 2010

Next Avenue: Baby Boomers & PBS

Something’s simmering in the Twin Cities:

Public Broadcasters to Launch 'Next Avenue' Multimedia Initiative to Super-Serve and Engage Baby Boomers
Next Avenue, a new, national public television initiative that will offer comprehensive, multiplatform content designed to super-serve and engage baby boomers, help them navigate a new life stage and unleash their full potential…

So far, so good.

But there’s more:

Adult Sesame Street to teach how to live
PBS … is collaborating on an adult Sesame Street, a new series that will teach baby boomers how to live. Called Next Avenue, the series — and corresponding web site — aims to help teach baby boomers how to handle their lives, now that they have reached middle age, just as the pre-school TV show teaches children their A-B-Cs.

Isn’t it a tad patronizing to assume that Baby Boomers need to be taught how to live and handle their lives? Just reading that makes me itchy and queasy.

There is a very intelligent series coming out of Twin Cities Public Television: Life Part 2. I’ve blogged about it, and often use video chunks in my presentations. But I don’t think of Robert Lipsyte as Buffalo Bob hosting an adult Howdy Doody Show.

Maybe this silly positioning will initially attract underwriters and PBS affiliates – but branding the project as a middle-aged pre-school when promoting it to the public…

Will they be resurrecting Mr. Do-Bee?

One piece of advice: I wouldn’t get all agog over the concept of multiplatform content by making this project a truly interactive venture. Of course, have a web site (PBS usually produces good ones). Mobile apps? Fine. However, don’t be sidetracked. Concentrate money and energy where the eyeballs are.

Some ethical questions are considered in this New York Times piece:

Public TV Project Aims to Make Baby Boomers Its Own

23 September 2010

Which Comes First: Research or Insight?

Forrester Research/MediaPost has important news for us:

Boomers Ahead On Tech Curve Where It Counts: Their Wallets
While Boomers are arguably less tech-savvy than younger consumers, they spend more money on technology, and on the Web, than any other age demographic …

“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.