Advertising to Baby Boomers

Kiplinger Catches Up

noreply@blogger.com (Chuck Nyren) — Fri, 24 May 2013 20:36:02 PDT

The Press Release Parade Marches On. Today leading the band is a PR firm representing Kiplinger:

Hi Chuck,

Every day, about 8,000 baby-boomers celebrate their 65th birthday. That’s the traditional age for retirement, but the generation that lived through Woodstock, Watergate and 12% mortgage rates has a history of breaking the rules. Kiplinger outlines eight ways baby-boomers are reinventing retirement…

Let’s go through most of these eight ways Baby Boomers are reinventing retirement:

Kiplinger: More career second acts—about 70% of pre-retirees expect to do some work during their retirement years and more than half of those want to launch a new career. Nearly half say “stimulation and satisfaction” are the main reasons they want to work in retirement.

From my book © 2005, 2007: Contrary to popular myth, Baby Boomers do not believe that they are still teenagers or young adults. (Some probably do, but they need therapy.) Boomers are slyly redefining what it means to be the ages they are. Included in this new definition are some youthful attitudes - but the real change is that instead of winding down, many are winding up. We're not 'looking forward to retirement,' we're looking forward to new lives, new challenges. Only a small percentage will opt for pure retirement. (I predict that in twenty years the word 'retirement' will still be in dictionaries, but followed by the modifier archaic.)

Post from 2007: Time to Retire the 'R' Word

Kiplinger: Rising entrepreneurship—in 2011, individuals ages 55 to 64 accounted for nearly 21% of new entrepreneurs, up from 14.3% in 1996.

From my book: Advertising to Baby Boomers is also for anybody with a marketing or product idea yet to be realized or about to come to market. Venture capitalists take heed: the largest demographic of entrepreneurs are over forty, the largest consumer demographic the same.

Posts from 2003-2013: Entrepreneurs & Baby Boomers

Kiplinger: Helping family financially—despite worries about their own retirement security, boomers are writing checks for family members on both sides of the generational divide. About 52% are providing their children with financial support and 16% are helping their parents or in-laws.

If Wikipedia has a page about this, you know it’s old news: Sandwich Generation.

And there’s this: The Daughter Trap by Laurel Kennedy.

Kiplinger: A rise in volunteering—about one-third of adults age 55 and older volunteer their time for various causes. And volunteer organizations are eager to enlist boomers as they have more education than previous retirees and bring skills and life experiences that charities value.

Sounds familiar:

11 February 2008
Me vs. We

22 October 2009
Me vs. We Redux Redux

17 March 2011
The Crystal Ball of Common Sense Returns
Boomers volunteer at the highest rate of any generational group…About 33 percent of all boomers those born between 1946 and 1964 volunteer on a regular basis, the highest rate of any generational group and four percentage points above the national average of 28.8 percent…

Kiplinger: Numerous studies have shown that most boomers want to remain in their homes as long as possible, but often it’s not realistic to stay in a four-bedroom, two-car-garage home. One solution: cohousing, featuring condos clustered around a central courtyard or home improvements that make the house more age-appropriate.

Post from 2007: Neighborhood Design, Universal Design
Cohousing communities aren't cookie-cutter projects. Each is unique. Prospective residents are intimately involved in the planning, though they may rely on an architect and developer to handle the technical aspects of design and construction. Projects usually consist of 20 to 30 households … The latest twist to the nascent trend is cohousing exclusively for people 55 and older.

News article, 2008: Communes for grownups --Co-housing for Boomers a growing trend

And all of these: Aging In Place & Universal Design

Kiplinger: Going back to school—across the US, colleges and universities are designing programs for boomers who want to learn new skills…Community colleges are also reaching out to boomers who want to update their job skills.

Post from 2005: Baby Boomers, Adult Communities, and Education

From 2009: Academic Research on Boomers & Lifelong Learning

Tramping Through The Ether

noreply@blogger.com (Chuck Nyren) — Wed, 22 May 2013 00:59:06 PDT

I’m on the hunt, digging around, stuffing my pockets – but can’t unearth that one big blog-worthy story. Pixels gathered:

Why are baby boomers leading the entrepreneurial movement?
… Amid economic and social changes, the 55- to 64-year-old age group has had the largest increase in entrepreneurial activity over the last decade.

I’ve heard something about this…

Entrepreneurs & Baby Boomers
All of a sudden every other news article about Baby Boomers is focused on business and entrepreneurs.

17 September 2009
Late Bloomer Boomers
This isn’t like retired people taking on hobbies. The Late Bloomer Boomer Movement is going full blast, and there’s no stopping it. The magic equation: Thirty-odd years of experience plus not feeling old and being relatively healthy plus knowing you have another quarter-century of productivity in you equals . . . Well, we’ll see.

Dick Stroud visits Arjan in't Veld and De Youngsters. Amazing stuff, a must-click via Google Translate:

Portraits

Students study baby boomer consumers
Marketing and gerontology graduate students are researching ways to reach the baby boomer generation as a consumer group, as part of a project allowing them to apply acquired skills and build upon industry skills.

Perhaps the curriculum should include a book recommended as a Classroom Resource by The Advertising Educational Foundation.

News Flash:

Baby Boomers Downsizing Homes, Upgrading Options
The baby boomer generation has made it clear they are not ready to retire. For that reason home builders, designers and architects are continuously modifying floor plans to meet their demands.

Hmmm. Sounds familiar:

Selling Universal Design To Baby Boomers/Aging In Place (PDF) © 2005, 2007

Aging In Place & Universal Design Posts

That’s it. I’m out of pixels. Unless you want to play some brain games.

Mature Marketing Association

noreply@blogger.com (Chuck Nyren) — Mon, 20 May 2013 12:53:38 PDT

It’s not all austerity and economic upheaval across the pond. There are some folks promoting optimistic, practical approaches for sparking business growth:

The Mature Marketing Association
We believe that Europe's ageing population presents a unique set of marketing challenges and opportunities which, if addressed correctly, will benefit both business and consumer.

Influencing the formation of MMA was The New Millennium Tales – a collection of boisterous, savvy narratives and essays corralled by Kevin Lavery. The title is on The Advertising Educational Foundation’s ‘Must Read’ List.

Many marketing/advertising outfits in the U.S. and around the world are MMA International Partners.

Bookmark the MMA web site.

Official Launch: June (2013)

Donna Highfill: Making Incontinence Cool

noreply@blogger.com (Chuck Nyren) — Tue, 07 May 2013 11:08:59 PDT

Over on Huffington, Donna Highfill pens a funny, trenchant piece about advertising/marketing incontinence products:

Making Incontinence Cool
… Let's face it, if a person in their golden years doubles over in a public place and announces, I'm wetting my pants, most people vacate the area as quickly as possible. If we have wet marks on the back of our pants like that toddler, nobody smiles and says, Aw, bless his heart.

I toss up a comment with a link to a short presentation from 2012:

I don't need it, but I'll try it on for charity.

Donna Highfill responds.

Make sure to zip through all the comments trailing the article. Ms. Highfill certainly hits a nerve.

More Huff Posts from Donna Highfill.

My post this week was written by The Ad Contrarian.

noreply@blogger.com (Chuck Nyren) — Mon, 29 Apr 2013 12:36:09 PDT

I was just about to put paws to keyboard and expose this exposé:

IAB to Rally Industry Against Bogus Publishers and Bots
By Mike Shields
The Interactive Advertising Bureau will take on the evil robots, shysters and shady characters who are stealing millions from advertisers—before the medium's reputation takes any more of a beating…

If you spend enough time in the murky world of ad exchanges, ad tech middlemen and real-time bidding software, you might come away wondering why any major brand even bothers with online advertising.

Not only are banners dull and clickthrough rates low, but all the technology flooding the industry promising perfect targeting perfection can't even deliver real human audiences...

Then I would’ve added it here:

The Social Media - WOMM - Web Advertising Posts

But the intrepid Ad Contrarian beat me to it:

April 29, 2013
Online Advertisers Getting Hosed
Click-through rates are abysmal. The odds of breaking through on YouTube are in the million-to-one range. Facebook is a big fat turd that seems to have a new ad scheme every week. QR codes are a cruel joke. Content and social media are sounding more like religion, and less like business.

And now we're starting to get a peek at massive advertising frauds being perpetrated on the web.

Oh, well. I guess I’ll do some work or something.

We’re hot again.

noreply@blogger.com (Chuck Nyren) — Sun, 28 Apr 2013 12:19:58 PDT

For almost a month I’ve been on a Large Org Rampage, ignoring all late-breaking stories. My news aggregator is clogged. It needs a cleansing:

We’re hot again, wanted again, as we are every year or so for a brief time until everybody who wants us realizes they have no idea how to get our attention.

Dentists want us.

The Clergy wants us.

Book Publishers want us.

Even Hollywood wants us.

And to no one’s surprise, marketers and advertisers want us. Recent headlines, with no links because it’s all been said before so why waste your time:

Advertising to the over 40s – the new rules of engagement

New Research Reveals Misconceptions of Baby Boomer Marketing

Marketing to Boomers Crucial to Bottom Line

Baby Boom Your Branding Strategy

Advertisers overlooking cashed-up Boomers

People are spending — just look at the Boomers

Marketing to Baby Boomers: A [Very] Valuable Demographic

I feel like Rip Van Winkle – except upon awakening nothing has changed – and that’s even more shocking….

One gold nugget from the sift:

Why You Should Remodel to 'Age in Place' Now
Safety and style should go hand in hand when making home modifications
By Louis Tenenbaum
… In my 35 years as a professional home remodeler, I've found that if I get clients to fold the health and safety solutions into the more enjoyable task of remodeling to suit their changing tastes, they are not only more responsive, but they're also excited and enthusiastic.

And thanks to two folks for mentioning me in their posts/articles:

Baby Boomer Bashing: I just don’t get it.
by Erin Read Ruddick

BOOMHER: A is for….
By Nancy Hill

AARP Is All New Redux: Part IV (Entrepreneurs, VCs & Health Tech)

noreply@blogger.com (Chuck Nyren) — Sun, 14 Apr 2013 13:12:20 PDT

In 2005 I wrote Advertising to Baby Boomers. Knowing a big chunk of the readers would be entrepreneurial Boomers and another chunk would be younger entrepreneurs developing and marketing products and services to Boomers, I made sure chunks of the book dealt with their concerns.

A few grabs, the first from the Introduction:

Page 74:

Mary Furlong has been producing The Silicon Valley Boomer Venture Summit for a decade. AARP is one of the sponsors.

Last year the organization plopped headfirst into the Boomers/VC/Start-Up pool. This year’s plunge:

AARP Health Innovation@50+ LivePitch
AARP Health Innovation@50+ LivePitch…is the premier showcase featuring the most exciting start-up companies in the “50 and over” health technology and innovation sector. The pitch event offers the venture capital and angel investor community as well as the media, the opportunity to connect with these outstanding start-ups.

If you don’t know your way around the 50+ Health/Tech industry, check out these thought leaders:

Aging In Place Technology Watch
Industry Trends, Research & Analysis
Laurie Orlov

Richard Adler
IFTF Research Affiliate Richard Adler was born in New York City, raised in Colorado, attended college in New England, taught in the Midwest, and spent most of his working life in Silicon Valley. These many changes of scene have given him a broad perspective on American culture and a strong curiosity about what is coming next.

I’ve always been a big fan and supporter of tech and health tech. Fabulous stuff is on the way.

But there will be backlash. A handful of concerns for advertising/public relations:

Privacy Issues. Big Data is the buzz phrase of the day. Corralling every piece of medical information about everybody (including DNA profiles) could be a tough sell.
Monitored. Many will balk at every burp being recorded, analyzed, crammed into an electronic spreadsheet and sent through the ether to who knows where.
Wired. It probably won’t be wires stuck into every corporeal crevice, aligning every orifice – but whatever it’ll be will be considered invasive and unnatural by many.
Anxiety. Wired ‘n Monitored will create a whole new disorder for the mental health industry. Having a device (probably something like a phone app or Google Glasses) that constantly flashes and beeps your vitals will cause over-the-top anxiety for many.
Boredom. That’ll be the antidote for all the anxiety. In 2009 I blogged about monitoring during exercise:
I wonder if most of the above won’t get tired fast. How biofeedback-onic do you really want to be while taking a walk in the woods or playing some doubles?
And beepers going off to tell you you’re a lazybones? It sounds like fun once or twice, but pretty soon some sweats or tennis attire will be all you’ll put on. Being wired like a android and having to perform at specific levels every minute while you’re ‘playing’ could cause a slew of new anxiety afflictions.
Of course, there will always be a few obsessive-compulsives.

More info:

Why Innovators Get Better With Age
By TOM AGAN (NYT)
Less gray hair sharply reduces an organization’s innovation potential, which over the long term can greatly outweigh short-term gains.

The AARP is looking for some good Baby Boomer entrepreneurs to back
By Ki Mae Heussner
Despite Silicon Valley’s preference for young entrepreneurs, the research may not be on their side.

Entrepreneurs & Baby Boomers
All of a sudden every other news article about Baby Boomers is focused on business and entrepreneurs.

For reference:

21 March 2013
AARP Is All New Redux:
Part I
AARP is ‘rebranding’ itself for the umpteenth time.

27 March 2013
AARP Is All New Redux:
Part II
AARP will also step up its efforts to help businesses develop “their 50-plus strategy”…

02 April 2013
AARP Is All New Redux:
Part III (The Magazine)
There is a slow overhaul of AARP Magazine going on, no doubt for the better.

AARP Is All New Redux: Part III (The Magazine)

noreply@blogger.com (Chuck Nyren) — Thu, 04 Apr 2013 18:25:46 PDT

There is a slow overhaul of AARP Magazine going on, no doubt for the better.

While not privy to the changes, I do know that Myrna Blyth, former editor/publisher of a slew of top-notch magazines (Ladies’ Home Journal, Family Circle, More, and even more) is now Editorial Director of AARP Media. AARP can’t do much better than that.

I won’t comment on the content of AARP Magazine over the last ten years. I will comment on the advertising.

A post from 2007:

Positioning Magazines for Baby Boomers
There are active and passive parts of our day. Without getting into too much psychobabble, as you get older the passive side needs more nourishment. It’s not really passive. It’s focused absorption. At some point you have to climb out of your frenetic digital nest and concentrate on one thing. It might be reading a book, watching a TV show or movie, listening to music, looking out the window.

Or immersing yourself in a magazine.

This isn’t ‘down time’ (that would be sleeping), but nourishing your psyche by absorbing and not actively being involved in what you’re doing.

From another post:

An attractive magazine arriving in the mail gets your attention. It hangs out on the table, inviting you to do some easy, restful leafing – at least until recycle day rolls around.

What makes AARP Magazine unattractive: The Ads. They’re ugly, and the subtext is always “You’re old and sick.” Who wants to leaf through such icky stuff over and over in every issue?

While it’s a freebie with your AARP enrollment, and 37 million copies are mailed, something tells me that a very large chunk of people simply toss their copies. One of the reasons: They don’t want to see the ads. They don’t want to see only ugly ads about how old or sick they might or might not be – or even worse, might be someday:

I counted one non-age/malady ad in the February/March issue – for Bose audio.

16 September 2009
Boomer Backlash II
Why couldn’t it have been a car? Laundry soap? Baked Beans? Gender-specific razors? Aluminum foil? Anything but some age-related malady.

Add to all this something everybody knows already: Readers devour magazines not only for editorial but for advertisements. They look forward to makeup and fashion ads, car ads, home-improvement ads, smartphone/tablet/tech ads. Did I leave any out?

For specialty magazines, ads are even more appreciated: Mechanics, DIY items, automobile enhancements, exercise equipment, crafts, cooking, travel. Did I leave any out?

I have a tough time believing that anybody rifles through AARP Magazine excitedly looking for the latest in hearing aids and stair-lifts.

Advice for AARP Magazine:

Sure, your media folks have a tough sell. And they know it and do their best:

A new campaign aimed at advertisers themselves features people in their 50s and early 60s, and argues that brands should be focusing on them, not people ages 18 to 34…

Dump the shotgun approach and suck them in. Plan an issue with no age/malady related ads allowed and one-time only rates advertisers can’t refuse. Practically give the ad pages away.

Lose lots of money with this issue, but fill it up with beautiful, sumptuous, high-quality ads for Cars, Swiffer Dusters, Vacation Packages from whomever, Laundry Soap, Fashion Items (did I read something recently about J. Jill?), Warby Parker, Ikea, Smartphones, Tablets, Apple, Microsoft. Did I leave any out?

Make it up to the age/malady advertisers by giving them discounts for the following six issues.

Of course, I would leave editorial in the expert hands of Ms. Blyth and others – but might suggest this: For one issue, no articles about being old or sick.

Put those aspirational TV spots aside for a month and toss up a few about this special issue of AARP Magazine (without really saying what’s so special about it). Make sure advertisers know that you plan to promote the issue with a national television campaign.

My Bet: AARP Media will attract more major advertisers.
__

For reference:

21 March 2013
AARP Is All New Redux: Part I
AARP is ‘rebranding’ itself for the umpteenth time.

27 March 2013
AARP Is All New Redux: Part II
AARP will also step up its efforts to help businesses develop “their 50-plus strategy”…

AARP Is All New Redux: Part II

noreply@blogger.com (Chuck Nyren) — Thu, 28 Mar 2013 10:36:10 PDT

Part I for reference:

21 March 2013
AARP Is All New Redux: Part I
AARP is ‘rebranding’ itself for the umpteenth time.

AARP Is All New Redux: Part I

noreply@blogger.com (Chuck Nyren) — Sun, 24 Mar 2013 19:29:04 PDT

AARP is ‘rebranding’ itself for the umpteenth time.

… The advertising campaign has one ad with ashen-faced Baby Boomers in body bags ("These days, doctors don't pronounce you dead. Marketers do."). Another shows Baby Boomers acting like testosteroned teenagers ("Outta the way, punks: older racers are the hot-rod kings!"). Yet another has one of a middle-aged lady dead in a powder room (probably from overdoing it on the dance floor) with police chalk outlining her body. I don't know what the copy is because I haven't seen it. It's probably something like, "Give me wrinkle cream, or give me death!"

Let me not bore you with their varied forays, bumbling or competent. If interested, a few posts:

19 February 2007
Food fights, Balloons and Dancing Gorillas

16 May 2007
Music for Grownups?

05 May 2008
AARP's Chicken Coop Coup?

25 August 2008
Goodbye, Jukebox. Hello, Jennie Chin Hansen.

24 July 2012
Picking On The Big Boys & Girls: AARP

International Journalist and Researcher Joop Koopman (based in NYC) attended the recent ASA Conference and penned a report for a large and influential publishing house headquartered in Europe. He has permitted me to quote from it:

… AARP is making some key adjustments. It’s not-yet-officially launched “Life Reimagined” and “Create the Good” projects…are clearly meant to update the appeal of the organization beyond an overly familiar organization (suffering from an image of dullness and predictability) that … offers discounts, and sells insurance.

No kidding. Check out those links to my posts. I’ve been saying this for years:

… So the other day I'm leafing through the new National Geographic and I see this (click here or click the thumbnail on the right). I get sucked in. Great story. It's something real - not a lot of aspirational vapor.

Back to Mr. Koopman’s Report:

“We want to enhance people’s quality of life,” says Jody Holtzman, AARP’s SVP, Thought Leadership.

Holtzman insists that the AARP genuinely wants to become more relevant to members…many of whom only stay members for just a few years after first turning 50.

Wow. I knew the percentage of Boomers joining AARP was low compared to previous generations (although the actual numbers stay relatively steady because there are so many of us), but had no idea that people join AARP, then dump their memberships after a few years.

Someone explain to me what this is all about:

Welcome to Life Reimagined – An idea from AARP
Powerful tools to help you discover your unique gifts and explore new possibilities for the road ahead.

Sounds a bit condescending to me – not unlike another site targeting Boomers:

30 July 2012
Next Avenue
… Isn’t it a tad patronizing to assume that Baby Boomers need to be taught how to live and handle their lives? Just reading that makes me itchy and queasy.

The AARP site urges you to join and gather up calling cards that look a bit like playing cards from Old Maid:

The site design is horrific: Teensy, spongy, light-gray fonts for squinting, centered paragraphs for headache-inducing reading, and cheesy cartoon characters that a four-year-old would find insulting.

Many of The Expert Advisors, among them Steve Gillon and Dr. Bill Thomas, are top notch.

This should be front and center – not buried in the hierarchy: Real Stories.

The other new site is great (except for the design)…

Create The Good connects you with volunteer opportunities to share your life experiences, skills and passions in your community.

… although the about page is much better than the landing page. It should be the landing page. And I might rearrange it so you wouldn’t have to scroll to read the piece about Ethel Percy Andrus.

I punched in my zip and a dozen interesting volunteer opportunities popped up. I’ve bookmarked a few. Excellent service provided by AARP.

My point: If adults are looking for relevant information about this or that, give them relevant information. We don’t want to play games unless we want to play games. We’re not children. We’ve already played Go Fish, Old Maid, Candyland, Chutes and Ladders.

They watch your shows anyway. Part II

noreply@blogger.com (Chuck Nyren) — Wed, 13 Mar 2013 16:03:26 PDT

It’s a slow news week, especially when The New York Times poses such a moldy query:

Why Don’t Advertisers Care About Me Anymore?

Advertising to Baby Boomers (PDF)

Two swipes from the book:

_____

___

And/or scroll through some posts:

6 September 2009
Boomer Backlash II
… Why couldn’t it have been a car? Laundry soap? Baked Beans? Gender-specific razors? Aluminum foil? A smart phone? Anything but some age-related malady.

08 March 2011
They watch your shows anyway.
… Almost immediately, the gentleman said, “There is no way I could sell this to an advertising agency. They’re all twentysomethings – and have already told me, ‘Why target people over fifty? They watch your shows anyway.’”

Wrap Rage Redux

noreply@blogger.com (Chuck Nyren) — Sat, 09 Mar 2013 22:23:35 PST

Dick Stroud unpacks the latest in insufferable packaging:

Packaging - a design nightmare
…As consumers do battle to get their hands on their purchased product it seems that some companies make the task as difficult as possible. The resulting frustration ranges from a mild mutter to uncontrolled ‘wrap rage’…

Not much has changed. I was ripping into wrapping years ago:

13 June 2005
Wrap Rage

12 June 2006
Boomers in Candyland
… "Bad packaging can make Baby Boomers feel incompetent; as marketers, you don't want to remind this group of people that they don't have the physical skills they had when they were younger."

Now it’s become a 2nd Amendment issue. Many folks believe that you have an inalienable right to protect yourself against Bubble Wrap with high-capacity assault weapons:

If you can get them out of the packaging:

Warby Parker

noreply@blogger.com (Chuck Nyren) — Mon, 18 Mar 2013 13:55:37 PDT

I lost my glasses.

There is cosmic permission, for I’m sixty-two. No worry about Alzheimer's, only my driving.

I stopped by the optometrist's office that same day.

While cheaper than a Google Car, I wasn’t happy with the bill. Of course, my prescription had expired – so an eye exam. New glasses were almost $350. On autopilot (perhaps because I couldn’t see very well), I simply did the routine.

Two-and-a-half years ago when last there, my more-significant-than-I-am other insisted on accompanying me. I would pick out goofy-looking big plastic frames, she would make sure I got new, groovy ones: small, thin, rectangular, metal. I checked around, checked the stars on all the TV shows, and had to admit that the grooviest of the groovy were wearing those.

This time I grabbed a similar frame, a bit bigger and slightly rounded, so I would get in trouble but not too much trouble.

A few days later, just out of curiosity, I searched for a hip eyewear outfit I’d heard about: Warby Parker. It was quite a shock. Now my favorite kinds of glasses, goofy-looking big plastic ones, are the grooviest of the groovies. I was groovy before they were, but wasn’t allowed to be.

With my new thin, metal, slightly rounded glasses, I’m hopelessly old-fashioned – until I lose them, which might be soon since I have cosmic permission: I’m sixty-two.

Warby Parker is a welcomed phenomenon. While not in their target group, I appreciate the business model, the copywriting on the site (A modern update of an old stalwart, the Percey is a trimmer, subtler take on the glasses worn by Gregory Peck in "To Kill a Mockingbird"), the Monty Python-esque TV spot:

Apparently, WP is taking on the big guys. And advising some big folks. And doing good deeds.

Baby Boomers and older would eat this stuff up, along with appreciating the styles and prices.

Don’t write them off.

A Stroll Down Memory Lane

noreply@blogger.com (Chuck Nyren) — Tue, 19 Feb 2013 23:39:24 PST

Funny how odd little items you come across trigger remembrances of things past. Odder still is how often they show up as news:

More Baby Boomers Heading Back to School
The sea of faces in your average college classroom are not just students in their teens or early 20s. In fact, a growing number of them are much older.

Having a blot blog is great for helping you remember what you know already. From November, 2005:

Baby Boomers, Adult Communities, and Education
I did a conference call consult recently with a couple of on-the-ball entrepreneurs. The product/service targets Baby Boomers and their interest in continuing education.
_______________________

Retiring baby boomers see opportunities, find support as 'encore entrepreneurs'

I’ve heard something about that. Half my book is about that, plus seven posts to skim through:

Entrepreneurs & Baby Boomers
_______________________

What the boomers want on vacation
The travel industry is trying to win the wallets of baby boomers who are starting to travel more — and have the money…Boomers continue to be intrepid explorers, even as many express a desire for creature comforts.

From 2003 and 2010:

Baby Boomers & Travel Companies & Irony
_______________________

Baby Boomers Aren't Sold On Retirement Communities
As baby boomers begin to retire, they're going their own way -- or ways -- when it comes to housing choices and relocation strategies.

Sounds vaguely familiar. From 2005/2007:

Selling Universal Design To Baby Boomers/Aging In Place
_______________________

A good piece by a gent studying at The Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism:

Incompetent and Incontinent?
Insult or ignore. How is that for a marketing strategy to the demographic that has the most disposable income and whose numbers swell by the week?

Or you could read this from 2009:

Boomer Backlash II

Or watch this:

I don't need it, but I'll try it on for charity.

Or scroll through the intro and first chapter of…

Advertising to Baby Boomers (PDF).

Generations Beat Online

noreply@blogger.com (Chuck Nyren) — Tue, 12 Feb 2013 13:59:27 PST

Finally, there is easy access to Generations Beat Online, a newsletter that for years was knotty to link to:

Generations Beat Online
E-News of the Journalists Network on Generations
Welcome to the new, improved, lemon-freshened GBO, marking the 20th year of the Journalists Network on Generations. Great new format, same old content…

The man behind the curtain:

Paul Kleyman, Assoc. Director, Ethnic Elders Paul is the national coordinator of the Journalists Network on Generations, a group of 1,100 journalists who cover issues in aging. For 20 years he was the editor of Aging Today, newspaper of the American Society on Aging.

I penned something for Paul and Aging Today way back in 2006 (PDF) when I was a snot-nosed kid.

Bookmark GBO, and subscribe to the newsletter.

The Sounds of Capitalism

noreply@blogger.com (Chuck Nyren) — Fri, 01 Mar 2013 00:21:23 PST

It’s the day after the 2013 Super Bowl, and this advertising gadfly isn’t going to give you an in-between turnovers play-by-play.

A book I haven’t read yet – Pitchfork’s Eric Harvey interviews the author:

The Sounds of Capitalism
Author and musicologist Timothy Taylor on his new book, which analyzes the relationship between popular music and consumer culture.

If you’ve ever attended my song ‘n dance, it’s full of advertising history. And I’ve written (along with many others) about the positive and negative impact of music in commercials:

03 October 2005
Invoking "The Sixties": Fidelity Financial vs. Ameriprise

09 December 2005
Boomer Nostalgia
… Do advertisers benefit from invoking the past willy-nilly? When those tunes come on, am I really paying attention? Or do they send me off into the ether, conjuring up all sorts of bizarre and moldy feelings, images, remembrances?

By the time I float back, the spot is over.

07 April 2006
Ameriprise vs. Fidelity Financial Redux
"In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida" is being used to get aging hippies to invest for retirement. It's in a Fidelity commercial. Define irony. I strongly doubt that when a circle of stoned 19-year-olds were passing around a joint with Iron Butterfly on the turntable in 1969, they were weighing wealth-preservation versus growth as they considered the most prudent mix of stocks, bonds and other equity instruments …

11 April 2006
More In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida
"In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida" is in a class by itself. Hear it and a veteran of the '60s might think water bong, not 401(k) rollovers.

19 February 2007
Food fights, Balloons and Dancing Gorillas
“Every time I swear I'll never again be shocked or saddened by a TV commercial ruining a treasured rock anthem, another proves me wrong.”

Timothy Taylor explains it all – or a big chunk of it:

Pitchfork: This felt like the first time that a lot of people, including the Beatles, got angry with a brand for co-opting the music of their youth.

TT: Yeah, the surviving Beatles sued them, but they didn’t really have any grounds on which to sue them because they didn’t own the copyright on their own music anymore-- they had sold it off to Michael Jackson’s company. But they still didn’t like it. Nike said they weren’t going to let that sway them, but they eventually stopped running ads with that music in there, I assume because of the bad press that they got.

This is interesting (to a doddering guy like me):

TT: … If you’re a struggling band (today), it’s less about record sales and it’s more about placement in commercials and film and TV.

So thirty or forty years from now, when you hear an old song from your teenage years, it’ll bring back fond memories of an iPhone commercial.

One reference to The Super Bowl:

Don’t think anything’s new. Before The Clydesdales (actually The Clydesdales were around back then), before the web – there was interactive advertising.

From 1903:

Bud…

The music in the video is a sing-a-long. If you don’t know what a sing-a-long is, it’s sort of like Karaoke.

Read about Timothy Taylor’s The Sounds of Capitalism and listen to oodles of music from advertisements over the last one-hundred plus years.

Marketing to the Ageing Consumer

noreply@blogger.com (Chuck Nyren) — Thu, 31 Jan 2013 00:07:20 PST

New book, a good one:

Marketing to the Ageing Consumer
The Secrets to Building an Age-Friendly Business
By Dick Stroud and Kim Walker

As the populations of Europe and the US, soon to be followed by China, grow older, it is vital that marketers understand the effects of physiological ageing and their impact on marketing.

Dick and Kim have put together a concise, brimming-with-info overview of what people 50-70+ are and will be experiencing physically and psychologically (with a larger nod to the former) – and why this knowledge is critical to companies, organizations, governments.

It’s an easy though at times startling read, backed up with clear, to the point graphs and charts (even I could comprehend most of them).

The message: Age-Friendly doesn’t begin and end with advertising and marketing. The initial product development, packaging, and point-of-purchase experience is likewise crucial and often ignored.

An example not in the book: Six or so years ago, we were overwhelmed by a stunning international campaign targeting 50+ women with a line of beauty products – skin and face moisturizers, a shampoo, conditioner, etc. Truly revolutionary advertising. The bottles flew off the shelves.

But something happened at home. The product containers were pretty much the same – a murky maroon with flaky white fonts, leading and kerning so bunched that for older eyes all was a blur. Women would reach for a specific bottle in the bath or at the vanity, and had to grab their glasses to read the label. Try that in the shower.

A great ad campaign will make a bad product fail faster. It will get more people to know it's bad.
– Bill Bernbach

But it wasn’t the product, it was the packaging that held back this beauty line from universal, everlasting success.

Mr. Stroud and Mr. Walker address similar issues in their book.

Introduction and Chapter Selections (PDF)

Publisher’s Page

Age-Friendly Web Site

Congrats on this, Gents.

A Guide for the Perplexed

noreply@blogger.com (Chuck Nyren) — Tue, 22 Jan 2013 01:01:31 PST

Even a lowly advertising creative-author-consultant-speaker-gadfly can’t always keep up with everything said about him on the web.

Something I missed from 2006 - a review of my 2005 book in a report by The Institute For The Future’s Richard Adler for AARP:

Aging Baby Boomers: A Guide for the Perplexed (PDF)
Nyren indicts the advertising industry for remaining fixated on allure of the “youth culture” and losing interest in Boomers, even though they still represent an extremely large and dynamic market.

The industry is still fixated…

A belated thanks, Richard!

Tablets Redux

noreply@blogger.com (Chuck Nyren) — Tue, 22 Jan 2013 01:02:30 PST

NostraChuckus, that famed Soothsayer and advertising gadfly who’s been startling the world for years with his mundane prognostications, sometimes is surprised when his predictions materialize:

06 April 2010
The Obligatory iPad Post
I won’t be getting one (a tablet) soon, however. I’ll wait for the model that won’t shatter when you drop it, and can be rolled up to swat flies.

He really didn’t mean it when he foretold it, but the mystikal cosmos ofttimes plays eerie tricks on him:

Now, flexible 'paper tablet' that can be rolled up
… Researchers have developed a revolutionary tablet screen as thin as a sheet of paper that can be twisted and dropped without damage - and it could replace your laptop within five years.

Stay tuned for more shocking revelations from NostraChuckus, if his feeble heart is able to survive them.

Tablets

Tablets

noreply@blogger.com (Chuck Nyren) — Mon, 21 Jan 2013 13:25:14 PST

Moses and the pharmaceutical industry once had exclusive dibs on this word. Nowadays, tablet commonly refers to a specific type of computer doodad technology.

Anacin

Not quite as ubiquitous as The Ten Commandments or Anacin, some believe they will be soon. Perhaps tablets shall impart wisdom, perhaps relieve your headache. My guess is that they may impart a bit of wisdom while giving you a headache.

In another cranny of virtual etherland, I stumbled upon a silly jumble of 2013 predictions gathered from social media gurus. A not completely silly one caught my eye:

#3: We’ll See Media as Either Active or Passive
I believe that we will stop seeing media as social and start thinking about our media as being either active or passive. This will happen in two stages.

Stage one is the consumer. When are consumers active or passive with their media? When are they passively watching a TV show or actively taking part on Twitter?

Sounds familiar. From 2007:

Positioning Magazines for Baby Boomers
There are active and passive parts of our day. Without getting into too much psychobabble, as you get older the passive side needs more nourishment. It’s not really passive. It’s focused absorption. At some point you have to climb out of your frenetic digital nest and concentrate on one thing. It might be reading a book, watching a TV show or movie, listening to music, looking out the window.

Or immersing yourself in a magazine.
This isn’t ‘down time’ (that would be sleeping), but nourishing your psyche by absorbing and not actively being involved in what you’re doing.

And there’s the ‘actively taking part on Twitter’ part:

Twitter & Advertising (2012)
… The mobile/social media soothsayers will have you believe that there is this unknown, magical mode of persuasion that has never been thought of before – and will reveal itself any day now.
If you believe that, I have a Blackberry in Brooklyn I want to sell you.

I guess what NostraChuckus really predicts is predict what futurists will predict in five or so years.

Back to tablets and whatnot:

You should stop thinking about the next big thingamabob and whose will be best. In five or ten years there will be all sorts of thingamabobs for just about everything. You’ll have two or three or ten thingamabobs. Tablets/Smartphones will be big, small, thin, simple, complex, active, passive, out the door in your purse or pocket, lost in your couch cushions.

If you’re using a tablet for a passive activity like reading a magazine – the advertisements should be passive, engaging. I’m not sure how they’ll play vs. a print mag – and that’s the big question. But they will have to draw you in viscerally – not with lots of annoying noise:

Digital Distractions
Advertisers are getting wise to the drawbacks of marketing in the digital nest…

Digital Distractions II
There are so many digital distractions that it’s difficult to be distracted…

That social media guru is on the right track. He simply needs to read some of these:

The Social Media/WOMM/Web Advertising Posts

Windows 8

noreply@blogger.com (Chuck Nyren) — Sun, 13 Jan 2013 14:03:10 PST

It’s now my desktop OS.

I also have a Windows Phone that’s almost an 8 – and from what the geek press tells me I’m impatiently waiting for an upgrade that’ll make it not quite Windows 8, though close enough.

These posts are composed with Microsoft Live Writer, a pretty good program.

But don’t think I’m a Microsoft groupie – my browser is Firefox, my cloudy email Google.

Redmond screwed up a bit with their new OS. Lots of folks aren’t happy with the Start Screen. You can do your own binging about the brouhaha. It has to do with the touch interface when there’s no touch. The OS works flawlessly on phones and tablets, not so well on desktops and laptops with regular ol’ monitors and screens. Third-party workarounds are available – and I use them.

If I ever get a tablet or touchscreen laptop they’ll probably be Windows, and I’ll probably like them.

My HTC Trophy is simple, easy to figure out, easy to use, easy on the eyes.

Win 8 phones, tablets, and desktops are potent technologies for Baby Boomers, but you’d never know it by the ads and commercials. The products are positioned as toys, not elegant and productive tools:

Windows 8

Surface

Microsoft would be wise to fashion some advertising for Boomers and older (and that tiny niche market known as the business industry). Less flash, more substance. Once you get the hang of it, “Metro” isn’t that intimidating. The email app is big and gorgeous, but lacks features at the moment. The weather app is great, the pic apps easy to utilize. Thousands of other apps are likewise graphically pleasing and accessible. My guess is that the next handful of upgrades will be all about making the OS more user-friendly.

And I think most people will be able to switch between a mouse/keyboard OS for serious business stuff and touch-based operating systems for accessibility and fun.

Microsoft doesn’t seem to understand this:

Windows 8 wrestles with PC's legacy
On a traditional PC, Windows 8 Metro is a solution looking for a problem
by Brooke Crothers
… Of course if you're one of the relative few who have a tablet like the Samsung slate or Microsoft's Surface or a touch-screen laptop like Acer's Aspire S7, yeah, then Metro is front and center, as it should be.

But on a traditional laptop it's problematic.

Ever heard of Gorilla Arm? Read about it. Boomers and older have enough trouble with arms and hands and fingers. And shoulders. And necks. On a phone or tablet, touch is great. Not so with desktops and laptops.

Microsoft needs to upgrade the Windows 8 Start Screen with a few more navigational buttons, and in advertising spots show people being productive with mice, keyboards, and touchpads.

Call me an old fuddy-duddy, but I’m not particularly interested in B-Boying with my Surface. (Well, maybe once in awhile.)

Update 13 Jan 2013:

Two good pieces from The Wall Street Journal and Forbes:

Microsoft needs a Windows 8 fix now
11 Jan 2013|John C. Dvorak
Problems with operating system affect entire industry.

Microsoft Could Change The World With Windows 8
12 Jan 2013|Jonathan Salem Baskin
Even a budget north of $1 billion hasn’t changed the fact that they have expertly told us nothing compelling about what they’re selling.

Until next year (if it happens)…

noreply@blogger.com (Chuck Nyren) — Tue, 18 Dec 2012 19:13:22 PST

I thought it’d be a smart move to get my last post of the year in before the end of the world in a few days.

Making predictions for 2013 – that’s what everybody’s doing now. But NostraChuckus has no prophecies. The Crystal Ball of Common Sense is hazy.

Like The Mayans, NostraChuckus unleashes prognostications not limited calendar years. Often he foretells decades in advance.

It’s impossible to keep track of the slews of small-to-medium ad agencies opening up specializing (or so they say) in targeting Baby Boomers. All follow in the shadows of Yours Truly and others.

C H A P T E R T W E N T Y - S I X
The Revolution

My guess is that the revolution will be a quiet one … It won’t be high profile, and most likely you may not hear about it untle it’s over. Here’s what will happen.

The Prediction: A Baby Boomer at the helm of a small or medium-sized agency will roll up his or her sleeves, get his or her hands dirty with copy and design (or hire a few of his or her creative buddies from the old days), and fashion a campaign for a general consumer product, with Baby Boomers as the target market…

Small-to-medium-sized advertising and marketing agencies may squirm at first, even kick and scream—but eventually will be co-beneficiaries of this common sense revolution. Some may become the heroes and heroines of this reasoned paradigm.

Last week there was a newspaper piece about advertising and Baby Boomers. A fellow heading up a small agency was quoted:

*********, who is a boomer, added, “I still have to wake up and brush my teeth, just like a 25-year-old.”

Sounds vaguely familiar. From a review of Advertising to Baby Boomers (2005):

Until next year (if it happens), NostraChuckus signs off…

The strongest drive is not sex or greed.

noreply@blogger.com (Chuck Nyren) — Wed, 12 Dec 2012 11:18:27 PST

My Xmas Card from British Subject Reg Starkey:

Scroll a few:

Reg Starkey has been writing copy since the Dead Sea was only poorly.

For the last umpteen years, he has focused primarily on the ‘mature market’ where he perceived the need to fill the yawning gap between technically ‘clever’ advertising and effective communication.

As sooth is said, eld has great advantage;
In eld is both wisdom and usage;
Men may the old outrun but not outred.– Geoffrey Chaucer, Canterbury Tales

The New Millennium Tales
This book is ahead of its time in its recognition and understanding of the importance of the mature market. Whilst others waste time obsessing about youth, this collection sheds all the light you need on reaching Baby Boomers.

What is Digital Advertising?

noreply@blogger.com (Chuck Nyren) — Mon, 10 Dec 2012 11:10:45 PST

I wanted to follow my previous post by posing a tongue-in-cheek question: What is Digital Advertising? I’ll do that in a scroll or two.

Merely researching the subject made my head spin. So many buzzwords, catchphrases, and twaddle to slog through…

Thanks to The Ad Contrarian (I should’ve just gone there first), here’s a video that sums up everything:

December 05, 2012
Truth Is Stranger Than Satire
I have watched this thing three times and I am convinced that these people are serious.

And there’s this chestnut:

23 June 2010
Where people already aren’t.

The newest buzz-phrase has me completely baffled: Native Advertising. One social media guru described it as advertising that is ‘baked into’ the content. I guess it’s sort of like the old Burns & Allen Show where one episode had Gracie baking a cake using Betty Crocker Cake Mix, a sponsor.

Or was that product placement? Madison & Vine? I’m still confused. Whatever it was, I know it doesn’t work anymore, is old school, and nowadays native advertising is the future, and all advertisers should be all over it or their businesses will fail.

So what is Digital Advertising?

Television is now digital, commercials are shot with digital cameras – so are commercials digital advertising? Are digital spots on digital radio digital advertising? Print ads are created on computers, usually rendered as PDFs, delivered digitally. Digital advertising? Magazines, both editorial and ads, are digitally produced. Digital advertising?

I read an odd piece the other day. A fellow instrumental in the development of banner ads (#epicfail) now doesn’t like them:

“There's a way to make web advertising a better experience, like an ad in between every pageview that you can simply flick away if you don't want to see it. I'm a big fan of full-page ads, especially on tablets.”

Hmmm. Reading a magazine on a big tablet, immersing yourself in a passive experience with no distractions…

Sounds familiar:

27 April 2009
Is roiling ether the best place for advertising?

23 October 2012
The Future Of Consumer Doodad Technology
Tablets/Smartphones will be big, small, thin, simple, complex, active, passive, out the door in your purse or pocket, lost in your couch cushions…

15 April 2007
Positioning Magazines for Baby Boomers
… This (digital) nest is here to stay – but for a big part of their day Baby Boomers are happy to fly far from all the chaos and into another nest – one that is warm and nourishing. That’s where they will find, among other delectable items, your magazine.

01 May 2010
Foretellings
That silly retronym “traditional advertising” will remain the premiere force for introducing people to a product or service, along with sustaining its shelf life. Television, print, radio, and billboard ads will continue to have the visceral power they’ve always had – if only for their sheer size, simplicity, and cutting-edge audio/visual qualities.
06 March 2012
Digital Distractions
Digital interruptions are headache-inducing. Not so with magazines. Advertisements are welcomed and appreciated. They are integral, seamless extensions of the magazine experience.

So are full-page ads in a magazine you’re accessing on a tablet digital advertising?

Say goodnight, Gracie.

Black Friday, Cyber Monday Surpass One Billion Press Releases

noreply@blogger.com (Chuck Nyren) — Sat, 01 Dec 2012 10:54:42 PST

A fleck of flack confetti just flew into my inbox:

Subject: Expert Available for Cyber Monday Recap Stories

Chuck,
For any Cyber Monday wrap up stories you’re working on, **** CEO & Co-Founder ***** is available to comment.

Who needs experts when we have famed Soothsayer and advertising gadfly NostraChuckus, who’s been startling the world for years with his mundane prognostications?