50-Plus Marketing

Financial institutions - we don’t trust you

2009-07-01T06:35:00.000Z

Harris Poll has asked Americans about their trust of financial institutions (this includes all sorts from banks to insurance companies) and discovered an interesting generational difference.

Almost two-thirds (64%) of Gen Xers (those aged 33-44) and 61% of Baby Boomers (those aged 45-63) say they do not consider any of these to be honest and trustworthy compared to 52% of Echo Boomers (those aged 18-32) and 53% of Matures (those aged 64 and older). So grandparents and Yoof have more trust than their parents. Dick Stroud

Age specific social networking is high risk stuff

2009-07-01T06:01:00.004Z

Back in July 2007 I wrote about a social networking site called TeeBeeDee.com that was: “founded to provide a voice for the wisdom of our crowd – those of us who have learned from our life experiences and want to keep on growing at midlife.”

Anybody who has read my blog will know that I am highly sceptical of social networking that relies on the person’s age as the primary reason to get and retain their attention.

In a note to members, the founder said that the company had lacked the resources to continue developing the site: “Our business opportunity proved disappointing.” The site had raised more than $9 million but had only 70,000 unique visitors last month. Instead, they were quite content with using Facebook, which has seen its fastest growth in users over 55.

The article concludes that: “Baby boomers apparently did not want to be categorized away by their age.” Sad but inevitable. Here is the Reuter's note about the business. Dick Stroud

Growing Old in America: Expectations vs Reality

2009-07-01T05:36:00.003Z

The Pew Research Center has just released a 152 page report detailing the research results from a telephone survey of a nationally representative sample of 2,969 adults living in the US. The survey was conducted by Princeton Survey Research Associates International.

It is pointless attempting to summarise such a long document, especially since I haven’t yet read it, but, from first glances it looks to contain some interesting ideas. The report covers

Demographics of Older Adults
Perceptions of Old Age
The Daily Lives of Older Americans
Family and Friends
Intergenerational Relations within Families
Work and Retirement

So when is somebody ‘old’? Amusing results.

When I have worked my way through the detail I will comment. The report is free so there is no excuse for not downloading. Dick Stroud

The old have seen it all before

2009-07-01T05:26:00.002Z

McKinsey has just published a paper about how the spending behaviour of US consumers is changing and concluded that after two decades of unsustainably high levels it is returning to where it was in the past - much lower.

The bit of the research that really interested me was the difference in the expectations of how the stock market will behave over the next 30 years. Of course nobody has the faintest idea, but answering this question is a good proxy for people’s optimism about the future and the extent to which they perceive today’s economic problems as transitory. The chart says it all.

McKinsey concludes.

Finally, the historically poor returns of US equity markets during the lives of investors under the age of 45 may be creating a generation of equity-averse consumers. Less than half of US respondents believe that the stock market will produce returns above inflation over the next 30 years. Eighty-five percent of consumers from 36 to 45 believe that it won’t.

What a fascinating conclusion. Do the young know something the old don’t? Methinks not. This is all about the dent this recession has created to the risk averseness of the younger age groups. A factor that will be around for a long time to come. Dick Stroud

The biggest Ponzi scheme of all time

2009-06-29T10:03:00.003Z

There’s lots of stuff being published about Madoff and how his Ponzi scheme was the biggest of all time. He might have burnt through 20 Billion, some say 50 Billion, whatever, it's a big number.

Compared with the UK Government, Madoff hadn’t got past page one of the Idiots Guide to Ponzi schemes. He was an amateur, not even worth a footnote in the history of Ponzis.

The article in the Sunday Times by Dominic Lawson spells out the unbelievable mess the UK is in because of the ageing population and the unwillingness of the Government to have done anything about its consequences other than make matters a hell of lot worse.

Mr Lawson quotes a European Commission report, about The Sustainability of Public Finances, dated 2006 (yes 2006) that said:

The United Kingdom has been placed in excessive deficit procedure and the European Council has recommended that the United Kingdom bring the deficit below 3 % of GDP by the financial year 2006/07 at the latest.

As a result of the weak fiscal position in recent years, the debt/GDP ratio has risen by around 5 % of GDP in three years, to 42.8 % of GDP in 2005 (42 % for the financial year 2005/06).

Do you know what the debt/GDP ratio is now? Come on have a guess. You won’t believe it? Trust me it is a big, big number. OK, double the figure in 2005 and add a bit (87%).

Lawson goes on to say that the IMF says that the

Fiscal headache of the credit crunch is as nothing to the migraine which, absent a change in policies, is about to pulverise us: it states that in the period between now (yes, that is 2009) and the middle of the century, the fiscal impact of the credit crunch will be about a tenth of that caused by the demographic crunch.

Let me spell this out for you. The Ponzi scheme we have been living through over the past couple of decades, but especially since the mid 1990s, has been paying Jo Public a ridiculously large amount compared with the money contributed.

Everybody has been living in Alice in Wonderland. The Government was able to position itself as the wise investor and manager of the nation’s wealth and Jo Public has done pretty well with zillions of new jobs created in the Public Sector and a continuous stream of initiatives, interventions, and policies to make everybody feel happy.

It was all a sham. Just as the credit crunch caused Madoff's scheme to collapsed so it has with UK New Labour Ltd. The scheme is collapsing in front of our eyes and guess who is going to pick up the tab. Jo Public, Jo Public’s kids and their kids. What a mess.

Marketers need to start preparing for how the will exist and thrive in a low growth, austere economy. Better start today. Dick Stroud

Two new books about doing business with Boomers

2009-06-27T13:55:00.002Z

There is a steady stream of new books appearing about Boomer XXXX and Boomer YYYY. Here are some details about two that I have recently read – well partially read.

Boomer Selling, by Steve Howard, is all about: “Helping the wealthiest generation in history own your premium products and services.”

Boomer Marketing, by Ian Chaston, is about: “Selling to a recession resistant market.”

Having written a book about the subject matter covered in both of these titles I find it very difficult to give an objective review.

Every author has a different approach to writing a book – every reader has different requirements.

Boomer Marketing is firmly based at the ‘academic’ end of the writing spectrum containing piles of references to other academic papers and using the language and detachment of the academic journals I review for the IDM's Journal. You can download some additional content from the publisher’s web site that will give a feel for the author’s style when discussing segmentation. This book will be ideal for the final year business studies students who contact me and who want a quick fix on stuff about oldies.

Boomer Selling is at the other end spectrum and the sort of book you pick up at an airport – very chatty – very direct – lots of statements like “Boomers won’t postpone gratification” and “Know our emotions and bring yours”. Have a quick listen to the author talking about the book.

It is not the fault of the authors that neither book comes anywhere near to reflecting the new reality, the opportunities and grave dangers caused by the recession. Because of the gestation time of writing and the process of publication it would be unreasonable to expect this to happen. Boomer Marketing makes an effort, but only at a cosmetic level.

If you are interested in the 50-plus market then you could do a lot worst than purchase both books – there are always a few factlets and challenges to conventional thinking that makes such books worthwhile. Dick Stroud

1.8 million UK grandparents save for the grandchildren

2009-06-27T07:30:00.003Z

The importance of grandparents' spending and wealth transfer to their grandchildren must not be undersestimated, or worse ignored.

Grandchildren are important to their grandparents. Day in and day out, gramps and granny are spending large amounts of dosh on their kids children.

This bit of research from Saga concludes that 13% of the grandparents (1,800,000) regularly save money for their grandchildren and that 20% of grandchildren will receive a pots of £10,000+ when they reach adulthood. The way the UK economy is going they will need it!

I would have thought this intergenerational dynamic is of great interest for the Financial Services Industry. Dick Stroud

The Economist survey on ageing.

2009-06-26T11:22:00.002Z

I reckon The Economist is fantastic value for money.

Each week, in one publication, you get a distilled summary and interpretation of the important things that are happening in the world – all for the princely sum of £100/year.

OK, advert over.

This week’s edition has a special survey on the ageing of the world’s population. I have had a quick scan at the online version and it looks great. Definitely worth purchasing.

In its section about selling to the older demographic it perfectly summed up the situation.

The hardest thing about selling to older people is that they are such a heterogeneous group. Someone in his 70s may be in frail health and living in an old folks’ home; or he may be running for president of the United States, as John McCain did last year. There are many shades of grey.

You can say that again. Isn’t it a terrific photo on the cover? Dick Stroud

Seminar about 50+ marketing

2009-06-26T07:09:00.001Z

The third Retirement Show will be taking place in London on Friday 17 and Saturday 18 July at London Olympia's Grand Hall. Before the event starts, on the 16th, there is a day marketing seminar, at the same location. I will be on the boards talking about all things Internet. The programme has some interesting looking sessions. Dick Stroud

A really excellent blog

2009-06-26T06:32:00.002Z

I have referenced the Aging in Place Technology Watch blog a couple of times.

It really is an excellent place to learn all about the developments in technology aimed at assisting older people.

Laurie Orlov, the person behind the blog is a tech industry veteran, who clearly knows what she is talking about and who writes in a most engaging way.

If you register on the site you can download the Technology of Aging in Place market overview report. Well worth doing. Dick Stroud

Don't keep telling me about the problem give me a solution

2009-06-26T06:01:00.002Z

Aviva is the UK’s largest insurance company and has taken to doing bits of research showing the dire financial straights of the UK’s over-50s as they reach retirement not having enough savings for their own wellbeing or that of their parents.

The most recent press release is: ‘Baby gloomers’ unprepared for parents’ retirement care.” The one before was: “A growing sandwich generation survives not thrives.”

I am sure the research is right on both accounts; however, it raises an interesting marketing question: “ Why keep telling people that they are, or will be poor, when they can’t do anything about it.” Maybe worse than that, why keep telling them about their lack of savings when they perceive the reason for their plight as being the fault, probably incorrectly, of the incompetence of finance companies like Aviva.

Aviva, don’t get me wrong, I totally understand why you are undertaking this PR research and I am sure the messages you are telling are true and sensible, but isn’t it counterproductive?

Now here is an idea for you. You rightly identify that there is a lack of knowledge about the costs and procedures of providing care. Why not divert your PR research budget into creating the definitive web site to help the sandwich generation navigate the unfathomable route between the NHS, social services and the charities who make up the elder care jigsaw. Dick Stroud.

Including the digitally excluded

2009-06-26T05:32:00.003Z

There is a lot of chat about enabling the digitally excluded to jump the chasm and reap the benefits of the digital world.

Mostly it is just talk.

Many older people, mainly in their late sixties, seventies and eighties, don’t have the desire, patience or perceived need to get to grips with PCs, Windows and all of the paraphernalia of needed to use the Internet.

I have written about a UK company called Finerday that is trying to make this jump a little easier. Now I have discovered a US company (Famililink) with the same intention and not dissimilar technical approach.

The question niggling me is that if an older person learns enough to be able to use either of these services why will you not go the extra 10% and start using generic software. No doubt somebody will answer that question.

There are very few organisations that are doing the hard work and providing services to help older people take the first steps and get to grips with the wonders of IT.

In the UK, Digital Unite is leader. I wonder if there are equivalents in other parts of the world? Dick Stroud

Are Baby Boomers killing Facebook and Twitter?

2009-06-23T07:10:00.002Z

I suppose it must be like your mum and dad turning up at a club/pub/party and wanting to be introduced to your friends. Shock and horror. This is what seems to be going on with Facebook and Twitter. A couple of my friends who recently joined Facebook couldn't wait to go and check out their children’s profile.

Are there no places for Yoof to go where they blasted parents don’t want to follow? Dick Stroud

Importance of middle-aged women

2009-06-23T05:48:00.000Z

Here are a couple of factlets for you about the Web use of UK women.

According to a study that will be published in the summer by the Internet Advertising Bureau and that is being conducted by Nielsen Online, women between the ages of 35 and 49 are now the largest demographic group on the web, representing 15% of the UK online population.

The next largest demographic group is 18-34-year old women and 35-49 year-old men, each representing 14% of the internet audience. How interesting. Dick Stroud

Is the public sector a major customer – be worried be very worried

2009-06-23T05:12:00.002Z

Imagine you are in a boat that has just survived a horrendous storm.

Bits of rigging are broken, the galley is in a mess but you are all still alive. The sun is breaking through the clouds and you and crew give a collective shout of joy. You look over your shoulder and see on the horizon, what looks like a solid black line of clouds.

You look again and it appears to be rapidly approaching. You should be worried but you guess that if you survived one storm what more can go wrong. Big mistake. Big. Huge.

Two stories in yesterday’s press should send a shudder down the spines of all companies that get a significant amount of business from the public sector. That includes a lot of businesses that are dependant on local authority spending to provide services to older people.

Quote 1. PricewaterhouseCooper accountants said that whichever party wins the next election, there will have to be cuts of around 15% totalling a huge £22 billion. PWC’s John Hawksworth said: “Public spending cuts may need to be greater than either party is admitting. “If health is protected then other departmental spending would need to be cut by around 15% in real terms.

Quote2. More than half of UK jobs created in the business services sector during the past five years will be axed by 2011, a study suggests. About 334,000 jobs will be lost in the sector because of the credit crunch and recession, the Centre for Economics and Business Research (CEBR) said. Firms who worked for the public sector would suffer as spending by government bodies are tightened.

The UK has vast array of companies that owe their existence to the past decade of massive government spending. For a lot of these are quasi-marketing companies it is time to batten the hatches, look for new markets and pray. Dick Stroud

Spending power of the 50-plus

2009-06-23T04:44:00.002Z

I have given up blogging about the economic importance of the 50-plus on the basis that everybody knows all about that and it doesn’t need it to be endlessly repeated.

Yesterday, I had a chat with a marketing agency about some work they are doing for a major international company, I wont say what industry because that will identify the company, but it appears that their marketing staff are unaware of the economic clout of their older customers.

This article in Media Post states again the sort of facts that I had assumed all marketers understand – clearly that is not the case.

People 50-plus earn $2.4 trillion annually compared to $1 trillion for the 18-34 group.
According to McKinsey, people 50+ generate 41% of all disposable income.
They buy 60% of all packaged goods, over half of all new cars and spend 75% more per vacation than consumers under 50.
In 2007, people over 50 spent 3.5 times the national average holiday shopping online.

I don’t expect these stats will make a jot of difference to marketers who are still institutionally youth-centric but I guess they still need to be repeated. Dick Stroud

It’s obvious – why bother with the research

2009-06-22T17:19:00.000Z

Reckon you know something about fonts, older people and browsers. See how you get on with these questions:

"In this day and age, most people who need to increase their font sizes in their web browser already know how to do it." Right or Wrong?

"People who do need to resize type will do so via the browser; it's not hard to do so." Rights or Wrong?

"It's not 1995; not all 50+ people are such newbies that they don't know, or wouldn't want to know, how to resize text in a browser." Right or Wrong?

"The people who most need to increase font size are people 65+, which is the group least-likely to be skilled enough to have adjusted settings." Right or Wrong?

Now go an have a look at the latest edition of Jakob Nielsen's Alertbox for the answers and find out how some hot shots from the Web design world got on with the questions. Dick Stroud

Matt - thanks for a great newsletter

2009-06-22T07:33:00.002Z

Matt Thornhill is the founder and president of a company called Boomer Project. If you haven’t subscribed to his newsletter you should.

I have just got around to reading the June edition and it contains some really interesting links to Boomer focused businesses that are totally new to me.

The one I really liked is Sonic Boomers that describes itself as

Monday through Friday there are daily links to relevant news for the Boomer audience, as well as a different song spotlighted from the entire history of recorded music. Each Friday, new album, DVD and book reviews are published, along with feature stories, interviews, and a highlighted article from the archives of rock 'n roll history.

It looks an inviting and well constructed web site. Matt, thanks for publicising. Dick Stroud

Goodbye, 9 to 5 TV Part 2

2009-06-22T06:07:00.001Z

A few days back I wrote a blog post about the launch of a new 50-plus social networking site and TV channel. You can now have a look at the style of the programming from this clip that is published on YouTube.

Clearly this is a low budget business and it will be incredibly difficult for it to gain visibility amongst the sea of channels available on UK TV. That said I reckon the founders need congratulating on a brave venture. I do wish them success. I guess it is in their business plan but I would ditch the TV Channel and focus on publishing the video programming via the Web. Dick Stroud

50-plus business ventures - lessons from the US

2009-06-22T05:09:00.004Z

Each year a competition takes place, at Santa Clara University, called the Boomer Summit where start-up businesses pitch for a prize for the best business concept aimed at the Boomer market.

So where do our friends in the US see the future of Boomer ventures. These are the concepts of the five finalists

A super- dopper hearing aid. The venture is not launched.

Ageing in place. Two of the companies are having a crack at this sector one of which is Life at Home Longer - the other is to launch.

Providing information to assist with the selection of care homes/service using user generated content. The Senior List

Medical tourism – how to make your retirement income go further by selecting cheaper medical assistance from abroad Traveling4Health. .

My observations are:

No surprises. This is what I would expect in the UK. To be honest they are all a tad too predictable.

The popularity of Ageing in place – This is going to be such big business since it provides a solution that is popular with the customer and, in the case of the UK, the Government since it is perceived as a way of saving money.

What is disappointing is the paucity of technology solutions. If you are not going to get high tech solutions coming from the West Coast you are sure as eggs are eggs not going to get them coming from the UK. Dick Stroud

Go Computer Part 2

2009-06-21T05:54:00.001Z

A few days ago I wrote about the launch of computer aimed at older people. At that stage there was not that much detail available. This blog posting from the excellent Aging in Place Technology Watch blog gives a much more detailed account and review of the product. Dick Stroud

50-plus less likely to lose their job during the recession

2009-06-21T05:04:00.002Z

Thanks to Rick Hartley for telling me about this factlet. A few days back I wrote about the: “Resilience of employment amongst the 50-plus.”

In the UK it appears that the young are having a worse time of things, as far as remaining employed during the recession, than the 50-plus. Getting employed again, having lost a job, might be a very different issue.

The US appears to be following the same course as is demonstrated by this fact

The only segment of the population that is gaining jobs is the 55+ age category. This group gained 224,000 net new jobs in May while the rest of the population lost 661,000. In fact, over the last year, those folks 55 and up garnered 630,000 jobs whereas the other age categories collectively lost over six million positions.

"Moreover, the number of 55 year olds and up who have two jobs or more has risen 1.1% in the last year, the only age cohort to have managed to gain any multiple jobs at all.

I have no idea why this is happening but it is a very important issue for marketers who are trying to understand the result of the recession on their customer base.

It would seem that we can add to the usual list of reasons why the 50-plus are an important group the fact that they are more likely to remain employed. Dick Stroud

The Bookends Generations

2009-06-20T11:51:00.003Z

Marketers instinctively look for the unique characteristics of individual consumer groups/segments to be able to tailor an offering and the communications to resonate with their special needs/requirements.

Many of the questions I get asked about the 50-plus focus on how they differ from other age groups. When I say: “in many ways they have similar attitudes to other age groups” I can see the look of disappointment and then the suspicion that guy doesn’t know what he is talking about.

A few marketing and Internet gurus have made it their life work to research and (dare I say) emphasise the difference between Generation Y and their parents and grandparents. A lot of the arguments are built upon Gen Y's supposed instinctive understanding of ‘technology’ that has somehow become part of their DNA. Like all of these arguments it is based on a grain of truth – the question is: “how significant of these differences.” More importantly, what is the magnitude of the differences compared to other factors like race, wealth and education.

There are a couple of studies that conclude that the Boomers and Gen Y have a lot more in common than is generally believed.

The Bookend Generations published this week by the US-based Center for Work-Life Policy and is about the US.

The Reflexive Generation is a report from the London Business School's Centre for Women in Business and is about the UK.

The LBS study is free. The Bookend Generations is $40.

Once I have read them both I will write again on this subject in detail.

An article that summaries and merges the two sets of findings appeared in Friday's FT.

It is nice to know that there are few other people who also question the extent of the generational differences. Dick Stroud

Sustenance and hope for caregivers of elderly parents

2009-06-18T16:39:00.003Z

When people talk to me about 50-plus marketing they invariably have one of two things in mind.

Most often they are thinking of age-silo products like stairlifts, walk-in baths, hearing aids, retirement properties etc. Alternatively they are thinking about age neutral marketing (i.e. selling more multi-age products to the older demographic).

There is a third group of activities that few people want to talk about and this involves providing care for the elderly and services to carers. In the past the responsibility for providing care was assumed by the state and the relatives of the old person. This is changing as the traditional family structure disappears.

Let’s face it, looking after an incontinent and confused 80 year-old is not the sexiest of subjects. The final phase of life issues are things none of want to face. We prefer to ignore them until reality intervenes and creates a crisis.

I was recently sent a book to review called Sustenance and hope for caregivers of elderly parents by Author Gloria G. Barsamian. This is not a book about marketing but about the realities of being old and being a carer.

I have only just started reading it but it seems to provide a remarkably balanced and positive description of the subject. If you need a business reason to read such a book then consider the opportunities created by the rising 80+ population.

Another good and personal reason to read it is that a lot of us will be both a carer and the one being cared. Dick Stroud

An amusing photo

2009-06-18T06:35:00.002Z

There is a small area of grass, called Parliament Square that is close to where MPs meet.

Over the past couple of years it has been used by all sorts of people wanting to make their voices heard – anti- war/pro-war, Greens, Tamils, Vegans, pro/anti Muslim groups etc etc.

Not to be outdone a pack of angry 50-plus have recently decided to make their point about the way their pensions have been decimated by the Labour Government.

Much more amusing than the usual deadly serious bunch that inhabits the place. Dick Stroud