Indvidual Project 6/2/10 Marketing to Baby Boomers

The actual tasks you completed: I studied methods that are currently working to market to baby boomers.

The progress you made toward your desired outcome(s): This was great because much of my learning has been on health issues that baby boomers have. So this was interesting to see how marketing is working for this age group.

The lessons you learned: I found this very interesting, because baby boomers are getting their information almost the same way as generation x and Y. The only difference is the actual campaigns. I read of examples such as Dove where they have done a "real woman's campaign." So the focus is not on youth or on being skinny. The focus is on being beautiful no matter your age. It is quite inspiring. Their sales have gone up 3% since launching the campaign, which is great for a company that sells soap! Also, baby boomers perceive themselves as young. They do not think they are 20, but they defiantly do not think that they need to sit around crocheting. They see the world as many opportunities that they still need to experience. Baby boomers have become very internet savvy so internet marketing works the same for them as it does for younger generations.

Here is some interesting research:

• The baby boomer generation is deeply engaged with everything the Internet has to offer — they email, use search engines, shop, research, download...but when it comes to channels like social media, they can be a bit elusive.
http://www.marketingtobabyboomersonline.com/index.html?keyphrase=marketing+to+baby+boomers&lid=565289000&c=563680405&provider=google
• At more than 100 million strong, baby boomer and senior customers (born before 1965) are the single largest consumer group in America, and they are the wealthiest, best educated and most sophisticated of purchasers. With more disposable income than any population in America, they are, in fact, the New Customer Majority. the key to capturing and keeping these rapidly growing lucrative segments is a better understanding of their values and how their behavior, buying motivators and satisfaction needs change as they get older. http://www.comingofage.com/
• Fewer than 20% say they see themselves stopping work altogether as they age, according to a recent Merrill Lynch & Co. (MER ) survey of boomers. Of those who plan to keep working at least part-time, 67% said they'll do so to stay mentally active, and 57% said to stay physically active. People now in their 50s may well work longer than any previous generation, with more than 60% of men age 60 to 64 expected to be in the workforce in 2012, up from about 54% in 1992, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Yes, our culture worships youth. But that doesn't mean boomers fantasize about being 20 again. In fact, that assumption has caused some notable marketing mishaps. In 2001, Mitsubishi Motor Sales of America Inc. began running ads featuring people in their twenties grooving to indie rock music. It turned out those ads alienated the 40-to-55-year-old customers Mitsubishi coveted. Much to the carmaker's dismay, in two years the average age of its buyers had dropped to about 35 from 40. That's bad news because 40-to-55-year-olds tend to have better credit scores and buy more expensive cars than 20-to-35-year-olds. Mitsubishi retooled the ads, casting fortyish actors. "We literally had existing, valuable customers who were dropping us from consideration because they said they no longer saw themselves in our brand," says former Mitsubishi marketing chief Ian Beavis, now head of marketing at Kia Motors America Inc. Even cosmetics marketing, which has most adamantly equated beauty with youth, is starting to change. Procter & Gamble Co.'s (PG ) Cover Girl brand, where women older than 55 account for about 20% of sales, has just launched its first line of makeup aimed at older women. The name of the product, Advanced Radiance Age-Defying Makeup, hints that advancing age can be pretty. And while ads still show a stunningly gorgeous face, that face belongs to an older woman: 51-year old former supermodel Christie Brinkley. Cover Girl marketing head Anne Martin is betting that bringing back Brinkley, who represented the brand for two decades until 1996, will help Cover Girl recapture boomer women who were customers in the 1970s and '80s. Like many of today's fiftyish consumers, Brinkley is known for being energetic and active. "She represents the new 50-year-old," says Martin.

33% of consumers older than 50 agree that it's "risky" to buy an unfamiliar brand. That's less than the 36% of respondents aged 16 to 34 and only a little more than the 30% of people aged 35 to 49 who agree with that notion. In some categories, older consumers are even more willing to brand-hop than younger ones. According to a 2004 survey by Leo J. Shapiro & Associates LLC for DSN Retailing Today, 48% of shoppers aged 50 to 59 said they would probably switch brands of consumer electronics, compared with 40% of all respondents. And 56% of people in this group would try another brand of health-and-beauty product, more than the 51% figure overall.

"This group grew up in a time when novelty and experimentation were higher on the priority list than during the prior generation," says Yankelovich President J. Walker Smith.

Health issues weigh heavily on the mind of the 50-year-old boomer. The top concern about retirement in a MetLife Inc. (MET ) survey was "becoming sick," with 31% of respondents citing that issue. Drug companies, of course, have always tried to cash in on the health concerns of older consumers. Now other kinds of companies are joining in.

But catering to health worries isn't as easy as it looks. Long known for Corn Flakes and sugary kiddie cereals, Kellogg Co. (K ) in Battle Creek, Mich., in the late 1990s launched its "Smart Start" line, designed for older grownups. But it languished for years because the packaging, marketing, and product itself weren't aggressive enough in promoting specific health benefits. "The marketing and ads were generic in the way [they] talked about vitality and vitamins," says Mark Baynes, a senior vice-president for marketing. Last year, Kellogg set out to relaunch the line. Inside the company, staffers used the term "successful aging" as a rallying point.

This time around, Kellogg wanted to target older, health-conscious boomers who increasingly see themselves as amateur nutritionists. The revamped line includes three varieties: "antioxidant," "soy protein," and "healthy heart." Each pinpoints specific health claims. The front of the box from the antioxidant line, for instance, says the product can "help support a healthy immune system."

Kellogg doesn't soft-pedal the message. One ad says, for example, that "more and more women are hospitalized for heart disease." Kellogg figures its audience can handle the no-nonsense tone. "They're more educated on the health risks, and if they have a second life to fulfill, they have to take control," says Baynes. Since the relaunch early this year, Smart Start sales have risen 48% from a year ago, while sales for cereals as a group slipped 0.2%, according to Information Resources.

It's clear that the boomers are more comfortable with their age than marketers give them credit for. "It'll be cool to be gray," says consultant Meredith. Once companies pick up on that, they'll start to see green amid the silvery tones.