Illustration by James CollinsThe February 5th issue of AdAge includes the article "The Misunderstood Generation -- By Lumping Them Together, Marketers Fail to Understand Baby Boomers" by William Hupp. Here's an excerpt:
NEW YORK (AdAge.com) -- They comprise nearly 24% of the population, have a buying power of $3 trillion, and include many of the country's current business and political leaders. But marketers misunderstand -- and inefficiently target -- this country's 78 million baby boomers. That's according to a new 22-page survey of 1,320 baby boomers from Edelman shared exclusively with Ad Age.
Conducted with the agency's in-house market research subsidiary, StrategyOne, the study was undertaken after a group of senior Edelman executives (many who are boomers themselves) decided to test a theory that says marketers are failing to connect with consumers born between 1946 and 1964. And indeed, the results found that marketers over generalize, misrepresent and sometimes ignore the generation, lumping them together and, in the process, alienating them.
Many resent generalization
Only 71% of those surveyed defined themselves as boomers, which means 22 million Americans -- generally those over 60 years old and under 46 -- don't even consider themselves as part of the demographic, said Laurence Evans, president of StrategyOne.
While advertisers may think they're appealing to a wide audience by using the term baby boomers, they're in fact distancing those who resent the generalization. "It would behoove marketers to consider that boomers are not a widespread demographic," said Marilynn Mobley, senior VP-strategic counsel at Edelman. "Baby boomers have always been considered the 'me-generation,' and that doesn't change with age. We're still just as self-centered and we want things very customized."
The study also found that boomers don't show a lot of brand loyalty. At least half surveyed (50% of the males and 60% of the females) said they were "not at all set for life financially," which supports the notion that brands don't always matter to a generation looking to save rather than spend.
An overwhelming majority of survey respondents felt misrepresented and neglected by the advertising industry (54%), the media and entertainment industry (91%) and politicians (76%).
"This is a generation -- because of the sheer size of their demographic -- for which the world has always changed to meet their needs," Mr. Evans said. "Now [boomers] are finding that they're feeling a little left out by political campaigns, media and TV that are focused on younger groups."
Click to read the article in its entirety: http://adage.com/article?article_id=124865
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NEW YORK (AdAge.com) -- They comprise nearly 24% of the population, have a buying power of $3 trillion, and include many of the country's current business and political leaders. But marketers misunderstand -- and inefficiently target -- this country's 78 million baby boomers. That's according to a new 22-page survey of 1,320 baby boomers from Edelman shared exclusively with Ad Age.
Conducted with the agency's in-house market research subsidiary, StrategyOne, the study was undertaken after a group of senior Edelman executives (many who are boomers themselves) decided to test a theory that says marketers are failing to connect with consumers born between 1946 and 1964. And indeed, the results found that marketers over generalize, misrepresent and sometimes ignore the generation, lumping them together and, in the process, alienating them.
Many resent generalization
Only 71% of those surveyed defined themselves as boomers, which means 22 million Americans -- generally those over 60 years old and under 46 -- don't even consider themselves as part of the demographic, said Laurence Evans, president of StrategyOne.
While advertisers may think they're appealing to a wide audience by using the term baby boomers, they're in fact distancing those who resent the generalization. "It would behoove marketers to consider that boomers are not a widespread demographic," said Marilynn Mobley, senior VP-strategic counsel at Edelman. "Baby boomers have always been considered the 'me-generation,' and that doesn't change with age. We're still just as self-centered and we want things very customized."
The study also found that boomers don't show a lot of brand loyalty. At least half surveyed (50% of the males and 60% of the females) said they were "not at all set for life financially," which supports the notion that brands don't always matter to a generation looking to save rather than spend.
An overwhelming majority of survey respondents felt misrepresented and neglected by the advertising industry (54%), the media and entertainment industry (91%) and politicians (76%).
"This is a generation -- because of the sheer size of their demographic -- for which the world has always changed to meet their needs," Mr. Evans said. "Now [boomers] are finding that they're feeling a little left out by political campaigns, media and TV that are focused on younger groups."
Click to read the article in its entirety: http://adage.com/article?article_id=124865
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Hummmmm ... now that we're in the middle of a youth craze it's no wonder Baby Boomers feel neglected. Even though we hold more in discretionary spending dollars that any other generation, we're no longer the center of attention. And we don't like that one bit. Maybe it's karma. Back when we were kids every advertiser and retailer fought over us -- we're sure that drove our parent’s generation crazy.
Still, it's important to note that today you must serve many customer masters. No matter what age the customer standing in front of you is, one thing is for sure: they want what they want, when they want it, the way that they want it. And it's up to you to do the research so you can deliver it just that way.Kind of reminds us of the Alex Forrrest line in the film Fatal Attraction: "I won't be IGNORED, Dan!"
