Non-Diversity = Solipsism

I was watching a commercial.  A twenty-something talked about how he’d moved back in with his parents, but they were sleeping. Then we see them in a car (the spot was advertising the car) and on their way to have fun doing something or other.  He was microwaving his dinner.  A mildly amusing spot.

If a gremlin had whispered in my ear, “What’s the target market for this ad?” I would’ve shrugged.  If the gremlin then put a thinking cap on my head, I probably would’ve said, “Well, the kid. After all, it’s all about him. He should buy one of these cars so he could go have some fun … or something.”

Days later I stumbled on an online industry pub piece about the campaign which included a few more spots with the same theme. One had a twenty-something sitting forlornly, babbling away and staring at her computer while her parents were in their car, having tons of fun.  The other I don’t remember. 

But here’s what was bewildering:

It seems like a bold move, marketing a new vehicle toward baby boomers and away from younger buyers …

The spots were targeting Baby Boomers.  Yet the themes revolved around Millennials, with Boomers portrayed as smiling, vapid – with no real personalities whatsoever. 

Not that this surprised me:

Why does the media think Boomers are smiling, vapid idiots?
Actually, there are two distinct demos – something marketers need to know:
  • Baby Boomers who  scream and jump in the air on the beach
  • Baby Boomers who scream and jump in the air on their motor scooters.

I left a comment attached to the article:

Spots that star Millennials but, at least from what you tell me, are targeting Baby Boomers.  I guess if you want to target Millennials, you should get a bunch of Baby Boomers to star in the ads, and have them talk about their kids.

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.

I answered:

Yup.  That's my book, my blog. I first wrote about it in 2003.  Here's a piece from 2006: http://bit.ly/pnL1fC

The 'boomers' in this campaign are vapid, mindless caricatures, simply window dressing for some young creative.

And here’s the best part: In another article, a creative from the car ad actually explained the genesis of the campaign:

***** says a lot of the humor and interplay in the ads came from "All of us [millennials] at ***** having conversations about our own parents…

Well, duh.

This campaign reminds me of another one:

Baby Boomers as iPhone window … I mean, screen dressing.
I saw this ad a few months ago, liked it, but said to myself, “Did they ever miss the mark. It should have been done from the grandmother’s point of view...”

Wouldn’t these spots have been a tad better if they’d been from the parents’ point of view?  If the older principals had been interesting and funny? You also would’ve been in and around the car for more time (that’s what they were trying to sell, by the way). 

And here’s a really silly idea: Maybe you could’ve actually worked into the scenarios something about the car’s features.

Take a look at this recent post:
Diversity = Productivity Redux

For more about why most ad agencies are clueless when targeting Baby Boomers:

Introduction: The Geritol Syndrome (PDF)

Chapter One: Why Companies and Ad Agencies Need Baby Boomers (PDF)

Todd Harff on Generation Reinvention

I know Todd Harff, have blogged about him numerous times:

10 Ways Marketers Should Grow Up in 2008
Here's a great way to start off the New Year: Todd Harff's PowerPoint Presentation.

Unfortunately, not many followed his advice. 

But advertisers and marketers have another chance.  Todd recently spent an hour with host Brent Green on the internet radio show Generation Reinvention:

The Future of Integrated and Online Marketing to 50+ Consumers
Todd Harff brings a unique perspective to help clients achieve business results. He combines market insight, creative solutions, pragmatic business knowledge, and project management to produce actionable and profitable marketing solutions.

About five minutes in, Todd talks a bit about me.  You can stop listening after that.

Just kidding. That would be a big mistake.  It’s hard to believe, but the show gets better.  Before long Mr. Harff unpacks the real story about Facebook use, the diversity of Adult Communities, how various age groups actually use the web, and his overarching views of marketing to Baby Boomers and older.  His takes are steeped in research and insight. 

It’s an hour well worth your time.

Diversity = Productivity Redux

Good to see a few new pieces about workplace diversity:

Why You Should Work With Your Parent's Contemporaries
By Kelly Eggers
While it might seem fun to work at a company where the average age is below thirty and everyone is on Facebook and Twitter, you're better off working with more seasoned colleagues, say experts.

Multigenerational staff can benefit business
While a multigenerational staff may sound like a recipe for disaster, many companies are realizing the benefits of a generationally blended team and are coming up with unique ways to manage its challenges.

I’ve been hollering about this for years and years.  Gee, it seems like I was a young punk when I first started hollering:

11 September 2006
Managing Age Diversity in the Advertising Industry

Since then:

Diversity = Productivity

Trust Your Gut

Calcified Advertising Agencies

Rance Crain Makes Perfect Sense Yet Again

Diversity as a Strategic Advantage

I will take issue with one quote from this piece:

The reality, however, is that many older workers don't view the younger generation as having so much to offer.

Yours Truly is not one of the ‘many’.  From my book © 2005:

I have a business friend who wants to start an advertising agency that would only accept clients whose products are for the 50-plus market, and he wants to hire only people over fifty, from the receptionist on up. It’s hard not to applaud such an idea, but I wouldn’t want to work there. And it wouldn’t be because of the receptionist. I’ve met some gorgeous, very smart ones who’ve mentioned to me that they’re grandmothers. (They’ve got to be lying.) The reason I wouldn’t work there is because I love working with people in their twenties. They sizzle. They’re galvanized. They charge me up.

AARP: INNOVATION@50+ SCHOLARSHIPS

Have I picked on AARP through the years?  Yes. Although usually not about all the political stuff.  I stay away from that, leave it to others. 

Mostly, I’ve commented on their marketing and advertising:

NostraChuckus Predicts The Future of AARP
AARP has been swirling around in his magickal, vaporous orb for nigh onto half a decade. It began as a chapter in his book…

But I’ve also said some nice things:

AARP Global Network
Good articles, good news section – all with juicy global perspectives. 

It’s also fun to follow the member links and visit other organizations that cater to and are concerned with aging issues.

So let’s put this post in the ‘nice’ category:

AARP Launches New Innovation@50+ Scholarships for DEMO Conference
New scholarships to help two entrepreneurs pitch the next great idea for Americans 50+ at nation’s premiere start-up launch conference
“We know better than anyone how much talent, knowledge and experience older Americans have to offer,” said Jody Holtzman, AARP Senior Vice President of Thought Leadership.  “We also know that as the youngest boomers approach their own 50th birthdays, there is a huge opportunity for innovators of all ages to meet the needs and wants of Americans as they age.  We’re trying to match the available talent with the abundant opportunity and help create great innovation.”

A Big Break for Boomer Start-Ups
The start-up world may be dominated by 20-somethings—but if you’re a Boomer in the tech space (or a techie in the Boomer space), you could get a chance to pitch your plan or product to more than 200 venture capitalists and reporters. AARP is launching Innovation@50+, a program to give two entrepreneurs scholarships to DEMO, the Silicon Valley tech conference…

This is a great start. But why limit it? Wouldn’t it be smart, somewhere down the line, to broaden this?  Tech and non-tech with smaller events around the country (maybe the world) where AARP brings together Baby Boomer entrepreneurs and Venture/Angel Investors? 

AARP could become the premier non-retirement organization it’s trying to become anyhow.

A Bit Of Social Networking Site Research

This is a business-to-business blog, not really of much interest to the general public.

Advertising to Baby Boomers has been around since 2005, and serves its purposes:

1. Introduces and educates marketers, advertisers, entrepreneurs, etc. about how to reach Baby Boomers with their advertising and marketing.
2. Prompts prospective clients to consider me for copywriting, creative direction, consulting.
3. Promotes my book and speaking engagements around the world.
4. Alerts media so I’m interviewed and quoted in magazines, newspapers, radio and television networks.  (Breeze through the In The News section in the left column.)
5. Gives me a virtual megaphone to holler about this or that.

How many folks turn up here? Sitemeter says about one hundred a day.  Out of that one hundred, maybe a third show up by mistake (they’re really looking for something else), a third pass by, a third stick around, like what they read, and stay awhile.  Lots come back regularly.

So each day, 33⅓ businesspeople wanting to know about advertising to Baby Boomers read my posts. That seems to be pretty good numbers for a one-person B2B blog, certainly worth the time and effort.

Alexa measures traffic on websites.  Google is #1.  Facebook is #2.  And so on…

Where is my blog on the list?  It fluctuates, but at the moment:

Let’s use my measly, little blog as a barometer, and take a  look at some ‘major’ sites that target Baby Boomer consumers, especially the ones that tout themselves as social networking sites. After all, there are 76 million Baby Boomers (give or take) in the United States alone, something like 50 million using the Web.  Social networking is the big buzz phrase for marketing folks.  According to social media gurus, you must have a social network marketing strategy. 

In 2008, PC Magazine had this to say:

The 10 Best Sites for Baby Boomers

Six sites featured in the link above were Social Networking sites.  Of those six, four (BoomJ.com, BoomerTowne.com, TeeBeeDee.com, Boomer411.com) failed miserably and no longer exist.  Millions of dollars wasted.

Alexa rankings (as I write this) for two Baby Boomer social networking sites receiving press recently:

 

 

No rank available for U.S.

 

Let’s dig a bit deeper: page views. Without mentioning names, two high-profile Baby Boomer social networking sites are unpacked by Alexa:

• ****.com has a three-month global Alexa traffic rank of 32,289. Approximately 68% of visits are bounces (one page view only).
• *******.com has a three-month global Alexa traffic rank of 411,987, and roughly 58% of visits to the site consist of only one page view (i.e., are bounces).

Ready to spend your marketing nickels or your gazillions on Banner Ads or coercing members to be ‘fans’ on these sites? 

Maybe you should just stick with Facebook:

Click this ad. 0.051% do.
… A tiny fraction of people ever click on an ad. In fact, 99% of stable cookies examined never click on an ad … Average click-through rate was 0.051 percent … The worst performing ad category on Facebook, per Webtrends, was healthcare, which generated 0.011 percent click-through rates and an average cost-per-click of $1.27.

Yeah, I’ve been screaming about this for years.  From my book ©2005, 2007:

And a handful of moldy posts:

Sleepy Baby Boomer Internet Villages

Invasion of the Baby Boomer Pod People

Invasion of the Baby Boomer Pod People Returns

5 Reasons Why 90% Of Social Media Efforts Fail

For the umpteenth time:

The Most Effective Marketing/Advertising Model For Reaching Baby Boomers: What is now called (silly retronym ahead) traditional advertising pushing you to an age-friendly, informative product/services web site.