Second50Years Marketing Blog

Should you use humor when advertising to baby boomers and seniors?

Yes…older people enjoy humor as much as any other age group. However, Wolfe and Snyder in their book, Ageless Marketing, point out that older consumers don’t always like the same humor that their children and grandchildren might like.

• Young people favor humor based on nonsense, bodily functions, and aggressions. Middle-age folks prefer political, sexual, family, and aggressive humor. Older people like humor that is based on family or politics. They appreciate sexual humor too but it should be subtle and ironic rather than raw and direct.

• Older people prefer kinder and more gentle humor where no one is made fun of, put down, or ridiculed. They also prefer their humor to be related in stories.

So, be careful with humor…make sure it is age appropriate or it may well repel your mature audience rather than attract them.

I was inspired by a great little article in AdAge recently that used the iPhone as a way to tell the auto industry how to recover itself and produce consumer icons again. Here is my take on the lessons the iPhone can teach marketers in the mature consumer space.

1. The iPhone is a breakthrough product, not just another version of other mobile phones. It is revolutionary in design, features and function.

How often do we create breakout products that will blow our mature consumer away? Or do we just take our usual product and try advertising it a bit differently and hope that boomers or seniors will buy in? The Jitterbug, in its own way, is a breakthrough product in the same space as the iPhone. ReServe is a breakthrough nonprofit service that puts a new spin on employment and public service for older workers. “Green Houses” will revolutionize nursing home care.

2. The iPhone looks like no other mobile phone. It shatters the design model for a mobile phone and recreates it. It is fun, practical and beautiful.

Sellers to the mature market often overlook the need to make products that not only are functional for older people but that also provide a new and pleasing design model. Gold Violin is a retailer that searches constantly for beautiful as well as functional products for the older market. Not only are the products pleasing to use and look at, but the company’s website presentation is attractive and at the forward edge of design while maintaining an easy-to-use functionality. The Audeo hearing aid is on the cutting edge of hearing technology but also breaks new ground in design with its sleek, stylish and discreet design.

3. Regardless of the service problems the new version of the iPhone has experienced recently during its roll out, most customers seem to really enjoy the wonderful Apple stores where customers enjoy the attention of superbly trained sales associates that are ambassadors for the brand.

In a world of bad service, older consumers are likely to run, walk, and crawl to any company that provides a great customer experience.

That is what you get when you walk into a Chico’s women’s clothing store. The sales associates are more than helpful. They take you in hand and help you understand the super simple sizing of 1, 2, 3; put outfits together; and then accessorize them. Dazzled from fitting into a size 2 or 3, the middle-aged or older shopper easily moves along a welcoming and well lubricated track from new customer to “member” customer, and from no clothes to a total ensemble, fitting the store’s mantra, the “Chico look.” And all at a reasonable cost.

Are you offering breakthrough products and services to your older customers? Design that is both life enhancing and functional? A world-class customer experience? If not, study your iPhone and start thinking outside the paradigms of your industry.

Photo of iPhone by William Hook

It seems counter-intuitive since we are used to people researching online and then buying at a store. But, new data from the USC Annenberg Center for the Digital Future has found that consumers 50+ do just the opposite.

Researchers found that some two-thirds of consumers between the ages of 50 and 60 had researched their online purchases at stores. More than half of consumers ages 70 and over had done that.

Why? Earlier research by the same organization had shown that older consumers are less enamored with buying products online than younger users. In that study 82% of people 65+ said they don’t like giving their credit card number or personal information online; and 84% said they prefer to see the things they buy before buying them.

Perhaps, older consumers check out the item in the store, think about it, and then order online rather than return to the store.

In any case, e-tailers can hardly ignore the older consumer, and even bricks and mortar retailers must offer multi-channel options for consumers. eMarketer estimates that the percentage of Internet users ages 62 and older will increase at a rate more than twice that of the entire US Internet population between 2006 and 2011 (7.6% growth vs 3.1% growth).

Jeffrey Grau, senior analyst at eMarketer, said, “Online seniors are a lucrative consumer segment that Web retailers cannot afford to ignore….They have higher incomes and are more likely to be employed than seniors overall.”

Have you started seeing more laughlines in models’ faces in your women’s catalogs? You are not delusional. The demand for older models is booming, according to an article in the Los Angeles Times recently.

The trend is due to baby boomers wanting to see themselves reflected in the ads that market to them and the boomers’ awesome buying power. Boomers make up 26% of the population and, reputedly, have $2-trillion in spending power.

This accounts for the second life of actresses from Diane Keaton to Sally Field, but modeling agencies are also finding that demand for “classic” or “sophisticated” (read older) models is their fastest growing segment. J.Crew and Rolex are sporting older models in their ads, and there is a TV reality show, called “She’s Got the Look,” that is searching for the next supermodel over the age of 35.

If you still need to be persuaded to use older models in your advertising to older women, look no further than this study, done in 2006.

A researcher at Kansas State University showed two sets of photos of models wearing the same clothes to a group of women age 60-80. One set of photos was of middle-aged and older models, and the other set was of the same models, but computer enhanced to look younger.

The researcher found that “perceived similarity to the model” influenced the respondents’ reactions toward the models. In fact, the more similar the participants felt toward the model, the more likely they were to rate her as appealing and attractive and the model’s clothing as being fashionable and up-to-date. The study participants also said that the older models had more of an influence on their purchase intentions.

Your business may not need an older “supermodel,” but showing images of people close to the age of your customers and clients is becoming a winning formula.

A new study looked at “green” actions of Americans and came up with some generational differences.

Three-quarters of those surveyed believe they are doing their part to help the environment. But while some frankly didn’t know what to do, of the “matures” (age 63 and up), only 19% fell into this category.

However, the matures were the least familiar with the term, “environmental sustainability,” with only three in 10 having heard it used before. Furthermore, of those matures who said they aren’t making lifestyles changes, 49% said that they did not believe those changes would make any difference. This number compared with 29% of the “refrainers” in all the other age groups. So while, older adults “know” what to do, and most do it, the ones who don’t seem to be more jaded than their younger counterparts.

Take aways: Watch your language when talking about environmental issues with older adults. Be sure to use terms they will be familiar with. Also, spending money to convert the most balky of these consumers is probably a waste. They don’t believe that lifestyle changes will make any difference anyway.

Source: BrandWeek.com

Peter Francese, founder of American Demographics magazine and demographic trends analyst at Ogilvy & Mather, has written a fascinating article for AdAge about the changing face of the consumer.

Francese’s top demographic trend is the aging of the consumer. He points out that the average head of household in the U.S. is just six months short of 50. The bigger story, however, is the growth in the over 50 demographic…more than 80% of the growth in the number of households for the next five years will be those headed by consumers 55 and older. Francese says, “That’s pretty scary stuff for the youth-obsessed.”

Francese continues:

“Two age groups — 35 to 44 and 45 to 54 (together about 47 million households) — have the highest number of dual-earner married couples, and they account for almost half (49%) of total U.S. consumer spending.

“As these two age groups shrink in the next five years (by as much as 1 million households), a larger share of future increases in consumer spending may have to come from those high-growth households headed by someone 55 or older — many of whom spend much more on services than they do on goods.”

There is good news though since households headed by someone 55-64 have rising household income. In fact says Francese, ” The average household headed by someone 55 to 64 had $10,600 more to spend in 2007 than the average household in that age group five years earlier.”

On the other hand, he points out, risk-averse behavior increases with age. Older consumers may be more careful with their money as they worry about their health and making the money last.

Francese says marketers will be challenged to overcome that risk aversion but says that risk averse consumers want to “hear at least two of these three words: guarantee, safety and experience.”

For more tips and cautions as well as other demographic consumer trends, see Francese’s article.

The graying of the audience for major network TV continues to cause groans among advertisers and network execs. Why we are not sure, given the buying power of the older consumer. In a recent report, media agency Magna Global found the following:

• the median age for viewers of newscasts from NBC, ABC and CBS is 61.
• the network morning show audiences are younger with “Today” having a median age of 55; “The Early Show” with an audience aged 52-54; and “Good Morning America” with a median age of 55.
• the CBS game show “The Price is Right” has the oldest average audience at 64.
• all three early late night talk shows, Leno, Letterman, and Kimmel, have median ages of 50 or older. Even Conan O’Brien’s audience is closer to 50 than 40. In contrast, Comedy Central’s median late-night viewer is age 30.

This seems like a great advertising opportunity for businesses that sell to the older adults. So why all the moaning? What do you think?

Thanks to Ronni Bennett at Time Goes By for this bit of news. A new survey from JWT Boom and ThirdAge of 1800 baby boomers asked which online activities respondents have “little or no interest in.” The results:

67% - Writing blogs

63% - Participating in general social networking

62% - Playing games with others

55% - Listening to podcasts/prerecorded audio

44% - Downloading music

Ronni suggests that we look at this the other way…by how many who did not indicate little or no interest. Could it be that those respondents are interested in these activities? If so, this is what the figures look like:

33% of baby boomers are interested in writing blogs

37% are interested in participating in general social networking

38% want to play games with others online

45% are interested in listening to podcasts

56% want to download music

There…now boomers seem a lot more fun and progressive, don’t they?

More from this survey at Marketing Vox.

The International Council on Active Aging (ICAA) will promote Active Aging Week September 22 - 28, 2008.

The promotion is in its sixth year and aims to introduce older adults to a healthy and active lifestyle. This is a perfect promotional tie-in for parks, rec centers, gyms, retirement communities, senior centers, churches, malls, and any retailer that sells active apparel or equipment.

The key messages for ICAA’s Active Aging Week 2008 translate the results of research on successful aging into simple concepts:

• Choose an active life to stay mentally and physically healthy as you age.
• Choose to be physically active for 30 minutes, five or more days a week. It takes only 10 minutes at a time to feel better and have more energy.
• Choose to exercise your mind through reading, hobbies, games and classes. You can stay alert and keep your mind sharp by being mentally active.
• Choose to be active with your friends, family, colleagues and neighbors. Staying connected to the people around you supports mental and physical health.

Colin Milner, CEO of International Council on Active Aging, said, “Stereotypes of the ‘poor senior’ still exist, and people don’t always connect their lifestyles to their health. That’s why we launched Active Aging Week, to empower over 7,500 professionals in our network to promote the many options for healthy and active lifestyles.

“The Active Aging Week messages will be used by professionals to educate and encourage older adults. Last year older adults and their families and neighbors chose from a variety of movement classes, dances and concerts, health lectures, brain games and an enormous number of walks, hikes and strolls.”

The association provides professionals with a library of planning guides and promotional resources to prepare for the event, along with publicity for organizations that are hosting events. Professional resources are available for free as a service to the active-aging community on the ICAA website in the “Networking and education” section.

At our main site, Second50Years.com, we’ve profiled more than 50 businesses and nonprofits that serve older adults, plus interviewed numerous marketing experts who spend their time studying the ins and outs of this huge demographic. Here are some of their top tips:

Know your market.

The founders of GRAND magazine, targeted to baby boomer grandparents said,

“We seem to be on to something….The timing is very right for GRAND. We’re writing for a generation of 60 million plus people – the famous elephant going through the population python. More than two-thirds of Americans over the age of 45 are grandparents….And this generation is grand-parenting with both style and substance.”

Jump in.

The founders of Gold Violin, which retails products suited to older adults, said,

“The opportunity is ripe for entrepreneurs to come in….It doesn’t even have to be that unique of an idea. You can go up against some of the big, established companies just because they are not doing anything about the senior market. Eventually they may, but you may be the one who gets a foothold (in the market) and your company becomes a great acquisition play.”

Let your older adult clients promote your products or services.

When Dottie Drake, president of Miracles Fitness, started advertising her fitness business targeted at older adults, she was advised to use the young and fit in brochures and TV ads. She knew that seniors would reject or ignore these ads. Seniors want to see people like themselves so they can identify with the program or product.

Stay sharp….Never underestimate your older adult customers.

Brian Reilly, publisher of Geezer.Jock, said,

“I believe mature consumers will reward good ideas with their business. But also remember, mature consumers will switch brands just like younger consumers. So you always need to be examining what you do to make sure you’re delivering more value for the money than anyone else.”

Establish a new paradigm.

Nader Robert Shabahangi, the founder of AgeSong, a new kind of retirement facility for seniors, says,

“AgeSong strives to create an environment where people are accepted for who they are. Young and old interact and learn from each other. The facilities have an open, communal feel about them that illustrates this is not an old-folks home. It’s basically just another place where you hang out”

Do you have some favorite tips for reaching the older adult market? Let us know in the comments.