Marketers—Ignore the Boomers at Your Own Peril

In this age of social media, many marketers are focusing on young, tech savvy consumers, on early adopters, and on emerging families.  And rightly so, as it is critical to continually be bringing new consumers into your brand, and understanding and connecting with emerging consumers is a good way to do so.

However, another basic tenet of marketing is never take your eye off your heavy users.  For many brands, their heavy user group is made up primarily of baby boomers.  We’ve all heard some of the basic facts about boomers-  that they are the 76 million Americans born between 1946-1964 following World War II.  Most of us have heard that every seven seconds a baby boomer turns 50.

Digging A Little Deeper Into the Baby Boomer Generation

Did you know that while Boomers represent 28% of the U.S. population, they control 70% of the financial assets, and the vast majority of the disposable income in this country?

Did you know that boomers are three times more likely than their parents to get divorced, and together make up over 60% of all divorces in this country?

Did you know that as boomers become empty nesters, and/or divorcees, that the average household size in the U.S. is shrinking and will continue to shrink?  In fact nearly 30 percent of all households are now single person households, and over 60 percent of households have only one or two people in them.

Did you know that boomers have very different attitudes than their parents did about aging?  While the previous generation looked forward to retirement as a stage of rest and relaxation, boomers are extremely focused on staying young, healthy and active.  Psychographically, they are “Forever 37”.

Implications for Marketers:

1. Boomers control the wealth- ignore them at your own peril.
2. With over 60% of households having only 1-2 people, it is important that brands offer product forms and sizes that meet the needs of smaller households.
3. The residential real estate market will see a significant shift over the next decade, as boomers become empty nesters and downsize from 3000+ square foot homes into 2-3 bedroom condos.
4. Don’t even think about showing 50-65 year old talent in your advertising targeted at boomers, they will see it as their parents.  Instead, show 35-45 year old talent, which boomers believe represents them.
5. There is a significant opportunity for new product innovation that meets the desires and needs of boomers, for example:

Desired Benefit:	Sample Product:
Looking Young	Skin cream
Staying Healthy	Vitamins, probiotics, omega 3
Staying Active	Motorcycles, health clubs
Staying Energetic	Yoga, CoQ10

Thanks for stopping by and, as always, I welcome your thoughts.