baby boomer marketing - never call them old!

Marketing to Baby Boomers

Never Call them Old!

Generation Clarification*

Generation Birth Years Male Example Female Example

G.I. 1901-1924 John Kennedy Anne Frank

Silent 1925-1945 Colin Powell Shirley Temple

Boomer 1946-1964 Steven Spielberg Oprah Winfrey

Gen-X 1965-1981 Michael Jordan Jodie Foster

Millennials (Gen Y) 1982-2002? Mark Zuckerberg Miley Cirus

9/11 Generation

(Gen Z)

2002 – 2020?

*Can vary up to three years

What Generations are represented by

the people in your group?

What was the first concert you ever

went to?

In Your Chatbox…

Distorted Self

Perception?

“Senior” Stereotypes Smashed

In your chat box…

What should we call Baby

Boomers to Attract Them

to Our Programs?

Dimensions of Diversity –

Boomers are More Than Chronology

Work

Background

Geographic

Location

Marital

Status

Military

Experience

Religious

Beliefs

Education

Parental

Status

Income

Race

EthnicityPhysical

Qualities

Gender

Sexual

OrientationAge

Primary

SecondaryBased on: Loden and Rosener

Workforce America

GenerationIdentification

Politics

Youth Defines Us

Our “Coming of Age” is a great demographic indicator

When did we graduate from high school?

What historic events do you remember?

What was your favorite band in high school?

What was the first concert you ever saw?

Hairstyles, Hollywood, Heroes?

In your chat box…

What does customer loyalty mean to you?

Are you loyal to any brands?

Do you have customers that are loyal to you?

List some of the brands, stores, companies, products, etc. that you and the

people in your group are loyal to.

The Cost to Court a Customer

Hook ‘em

Reel ‘em in

Keep ‘em

coming

back for more

AdvertisingP.R.

Promotion

Sales

Front-line contact

Customer Service

Product Quality

Customer

Favorite Brands of the Boomer Generation

Levis

Harley Davidson

VW

Beatles

Leggs

Pepsi

Absolut

Saturday Night Live

Clairol

Coach

What Boomers Say They Want

To maintain independence

To develop and maintain stronger

relationships

To achieve meaningful experiences

To continually grow and share their

wisdom

To seek mental and physical rejuvenation

To look and feel younger than they are

Boomers and

their Devices

Preferred

Method of

Direct

Marketing

Boomer Purchasing Power

Financial Concerns Post 2008

Baby Boomer Marketing Dos Learn as much as you can about physical and behavioral changes caused by the aging process. Apply

your knowledge to product design, marketing, advertising and sales communications and approaches.

Design your promotion or advertising to allow the consumer to define the service attributes using

his/her imagination in terms of his/her needs and desires (sometimes referred to as Conditional

Positioning). Don’t try to shove ten pounds of copy into a five-pound page. Less is often more in Baby

Boomer markets.

Design your product to meet functional, social reinforcement, and related experiences’ expectations.

Promote and advertise your product as a gateway to meaningful experiences beyond the intrinsic

value of your product. What additional value (metavalues) does you product provide?

Be authentic and give them the facts (reduce hyperbole).

Portray these populations as doing for others, as individuals, as smart, as active, as wise.

Use marketing and advertising firms with a demonstrated knowledge of your target markets (Check if

people matching your target’s age are on the creative team).

Use Baby Boomers to assist in product, service and communications development.

Touch their hearts and they will allow you to enter their minds. Tell stories with words and pictures.

Don’t:

Underestimate the significance of these markets. They are the New Customer Majority. More than 138 million people in America are over the age of 40.

Consider age a determinant of consumer behavior (there is no evidence that a person’s age is a major factor in determining buying habits). Age should be considered as a correlating factor only.

Design your service or advertisements to appeal to self-gratifying interests of the consumer.

Use hyperboles

Design or promote your services to appeal to the vulnerabilities associated with the aging process. At times they feel bad enough; you don’t have to remind them.

Attempt to instill a “sense of urgency” during a purchase consideration (time is usually not of the essence in their decision-making process).

Over-embellish product or service performance claims — may be automatically perceived as misleading (to good to be true) as would small print on product labels and advertising may damage the credibility of your message.

Stress self-indulgent values of your product/service — more effective in younger markets.

Stress images that are contrary to traditional basic values. Generally accepted universal or traditional values may include American flag, church or temple, home, traditional small town, etc.

Remember that Baby Boomers, on average, have a superior sense of reality. Don’t succumb to the myths and stereotyping about aging that pervades our society — you may do so at the expense of the long-term potential of your business.

Baby Boomer Marketing Don’ts

Repackage “problem programs”

What “problem

programs” do you offer

that might need to be

repackaged?