Boomers are Hip. Again!

Who says there are no second acts in American lives? Okay, F. Scott Fitzgerald did, but he didn’t know bupkiss about Boomers. In case you haven’t heard the news that’s been all over Twitter and the blogosphere in recent days, the venerable Nielsen Company has spoken: in their obsession with youth, i.e. consumers ages 18 to 34, “advertisers and consumer goods manufacturers have been overlooking a group that has tremendous buying power: the 78 million Baby Boomers in the U.S. today.” The prescient few who found their pronouncements on this very topic ridiculed or ignored—where have you gone, JWT Boom?—are justifiably saying, “we told you so.” 

Why the sea change in opinion? Sure, Baby Boomers are a huge generation – always have been; still will be for quite a while. But I think a major reason is that at the same time that Boomers reached the age where a generation would previously have been considered old, the goal line was moved considerably. What I mean is that people who are 60-65 today just don’t behave the way people of that age did in the past, (nor do the current crop of 70- and 80-year olds, for that matter.)

The conventional wisdom? People over 60 spend little; are stuck in their ways, technologically challenged, and winding down. The facts?  Boomers are open to new things and new brands. They are active; typically participating in ten or more activities on a regular basis. They are comfortable with technology because they’ve grown up with it. Heck, many of them are not even thinking about retirement – and those who are, are in the process of completely redefining it. Hence the term, encore careers.
If you’re still skeptical about the value of advertisers targeting the Boomer market, consider these Nielsen facts about Boomers
• Dominate 1,023 out of 1,083 consumer packaged goods categories
• Watch the most video: 9:34 hours per day
• Comprise 1/3 of all TV viewers, online users, social media users and Twitter users
• Time shift TV more than 18-24s (2:32 vs. 1:32)
• Are significantly more likely to own a DVD player
• More likely to have broadband Internet access at home

Not only are Boomers an excellent target for marketers’ existing products, they also provide an opportunity for new product designers who are able to respond to both the needs and desires of a population that’s still hip, after all these years. In a recent article on the blog Disruptive Demographics, Joseph Coughlin, Director of MIT’s Age Lab suggested that Boomer consumers are as captivated by fashion and fun as their younger cohorts, it’s just that Boomers demand function and value as well.

This has huge implications for businesses across a wide range of industries, from technology to housing, to healthcare. Personally, I think that any product that combines fun, fashion, function, and value would be of interest to all consumers. But then, I’m a Boomer.

– posted by Lynn Schweikart

Growing Up Without a Cell Phone

I received a pass-around e-mail last week targeted to the over-30 crowd, with some of those  "when I was a kid" comparisons. You know, the ones that go:
– Instead of the Internet, we had the library
– Instead of e-mail, we actually wrote letters

– Instead of MP3's or iTunes, we had record stores
– Instead of cell phones, we had to find a phone booth when we were away from home.
Since I could relate to all of these myself, it got me thinking about the myth that "Boomers are technologically challenged". I realized that while that may be how I seem to my nieces and nephew, they don't realize that I've actually grown up with technology. And though I've felt challenged a bit along the way, there were many times, including now, when I choose to embrace technology and it actually turns out to be quite fun and amazing.

There's so much that can be said about Boomers and technology, that this is probably the first of a series of posts on the subject. I would agree with the research that says Boomers prefer technology that's useful. And according to a recent article about the aging brain on NPR.org it's not only useful for the brain to learn new things (like blogging!); it actually helps new brain cells to grow throughout life. So jump in any time!

Even though Boomers think they’ll never grow old, there are things that inevitably will happen to us physically as we age, whether we like it or not.
As my sister and I’ve accompanied our aging parents and relatives through a variety of transitions, there have been so many times we’ve found ourselves searching for technological solutions to a variety of issues. For instance, since we ARE in the age of cell phones, which seem to be getting smaller and more complicated, we’ve wondered why there can’t be a cell phone with simpler functions and larger numbers. (I know my husband already has to use his glasses to see who's calling, though my arms are still long enough to read without them.) Sure, there’s the Jitterbug, which works for elders. But as I suspect that many of us Boomers will still want the bells and whistles we’ve grown accustomed to, there's lots of room for more innovation in this area alone.

At Gen-Sights, we came across a video awhile back that Ronni Bennet (Her Blog: http://www.timegoesby.net/) posted on YouTube. She talks about technological gadgets, computers, and the web and some of the physical challenges they pose for the aging population. She offers some insight into the kinds of issues that we Boomers are sure to face as we continue to age. In my last post,  I mentioned the MIT Age Lab, where researchers are looking for new ideas and creative technologies that offer practical solutions for "the quality of life of tomorrow". More companies really should be looking at their products this way and not just focusing on the teen-to-20-something set as they develop new technologies. There's huge opportunity with the largest segment of the population, the Boomers. The key is to make it useful, in order to make life better.

I also have to mention a cool company called MyWay Village that I’ve been very impressed with. They’ve developed a product called Connected Living, which enables seniors to keep in touch with family members and friends through a safe online community. By providing ambassadors to train the seniors, they’ve seen amazing results in how easily seniors take to the technology. In fact, the company has had so much success, they're now developing a special program for the memory impaired. What a great way to make it easy for Boomers to stay in touch with their elder parents or loved ones, and for children to connect with their grandparents. Again, something that’s not just useful, but life-enhancing.

Though we may have grown up without a cell phone, we certainly have them now and we'll continue to look for technologies to make our lives easier as we age. As I'm celebrating another birthday, I have to admit that yes, we'll age, whether we like it or not, and I want some great technology to go along for the ride.

– posted by Laura Willis