CRM - November 2008 - (Page 37)

The Boomers A recent study from San Francisco– based customer interaction solutions provider MarketTools mirrors those assessments. When Boomers were asked which market currently had the biggest impact on their spending habits, only 10.5 percent said the “high cost of healthcare.” Alternatively, the vast majority of Boomers—61.7 percent—said the high cost of gasoline hit their wallets the hardest. STAY IN TOUCH Some people believe technology is only truly embraced by the younger groups who’ve grown up in a world reliant on it—the Gen Yers/Millennials and end-ofGen-Xers that author Don Tapscott writes about in his upcoming book, Grown Up Digital. But that’s a mistake marketers can’t afford to make, says The Age Curve’s Gronbach: “Boomers love technology,” he says. A study from New York–based market research company eMarketer finds that Boomers are crawling all over the Web. In 2005, 58.2 million, or 75 percent of Boomers, used the Internet. By 2011, eMarketer expects 63.7 million, 83 percent of them, will be Internet users. Boomers may be late bloomers, but they’ve taken to the new age of social media. “Boomers are trying to integrate technology more into their lives,” Seitzinger says.“A lot of the advances have been making this more accessible…such as high-speed access in the home, ondemand multimedia, and integrated voice and data services in a handheld environment.” Baby Boomers intertwining their lives with the latest technology is exciting in two ways, he says: First, they’re the ones with the spending power as new solutions come to market. Also, “Boomers, as they have with everything else… will redefine the aging social experience leveraging technology,” Seitzinger says. There’s a reason this crowd intuitively grasps social networking. “Boomers have been indulging in social networking in the real world for the last 40 years,” Thornhill says. “They’re going to extend some of that into their virtual world. They’ve invested their time and effort putting together a network in their communities.” www.destinationCRM.com But though technology is a factor in Boomers’ social circles, there’s a world beyond, he says. Even with the sudden reversal of the economy, volunteer organizations will see Boomers knocking down the doors to contribute time instead of money. “We already see a larger percentage of Boomers volunteering than the previous generations,” Thornhill says. “[Community groups] will see an influx of talented and experienced Boomers over the course of the next 20 years who want to stay connected and give back.” MARKETING (UN)INTELLIGENCE Despite the unique trail Boomers have blazed, marketers have wrongly thought that this generation will take on the same habits and patterns as previous middleagers did. “A lot of people have conventional views about the Boomers, and many of those are incorrect,”Mincher says. “It’s tough to take a generalist approach.” Seitzinger also criticizes the nonsegmented approach many marketers take when trying to attract Boomers. “Consumer marketers are not doing a very good job targeting this group,” he says.“It doesn’t fall within a typical marketing profile of what’s attractive, such as the 35-and-under demographic.” seeing that Boomers are an entirely different cohort than their predecessors, Thornhill says. “It’s just a generational term, yet marketers seem to think they’ll be the next seniors and act like them,” he adds. “They won’t.” Still, a handful of marketers are beginning to see the light. “They are starting to get it and understand [Boomers] are neither young adults nor old people,” he says. “They’re a group in the middle.” One example of a company clearly targeting the graying masses is Combe’s Just For Men brand of grooming products. Its latest commercial, for a new product called Touch of Gray, opens with some particularly active Boomers—playing basketball, surfing, dancing, doing karaoke, and just plain enjoying life. The commercial thrums to the beat of the 1960s Cream anthem “Sunshine of Your Love,” and opens up with the line, “The generation that swore it would never get old—didn’t. Welcome to the summer of life.” Another campaign, for Ameriprise financial advisers, uses counterculture icon Dennis Hopper to scoff at the definition of retirement: “Your generation is definitely not headed for Bingo night,” he says, with “Gimme Some Lovin’” squealing on the soundtrack. Boomers, the new marketing man- “Marketers seem to think [Baby Boomers] will be the next seniors and act like them. They won’t.” Marketing traditionally targets those key youth segments, under the theory that younger people are more likely to become long-term, loyal customers.“Most manufacturers today are very category-specific and have reduced a great deal of [their] marketing-research dollars,” Seitzinger says.“There hasn’t been a lot of incremental money to learn more about this new, emerging, and powerful group. It’s been taken up by how to reconnect with teens, Hispanics, and African-Americans… there are very few companies saying that 50-plus is the future of their businesses.” The lack of research keeps many from tra goes, will want to spend their money to make time stand still. (Do we even need to mention Viagra and Levitra ads?) Thornhill says that while there may be some early movers, it will take a mass shift of dollars to really revolutionize the way marketers deal with Boomers. “The only time the market is really going to make a decision about this is when the pain of Boomers taking their money elsewhere hits home,” he says. RELOCATION NATION? Many Boomers are also looking to downsize out of their family-sized homes. 37 CUSTOMER RELATIONSHIP MANAGEMENT | NOVEMBER 2008 Generational Spending http://www.destinationCRM.com

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of CRM - November 2008

CRM - November 2008 Contents Front Office Feedback Reality Check Customer Centricity The Tipping Point Working with the Years CRM on Twitter Virtual Spenders Contact Centers Chatting to Success The Complexity Chasm Required Reading Generational Spending: A Special Report Who, What, Where, When, Y The Slackers’ X-cellent Adventure The Boomer Boom The Matures Endure Boosting Productivity North of the Border Changing the Channel Invicta’s Thrill of Victory Secret of My Success Connect Re:Tooling Pint of View

CRM - November 2008

For optimal viewing of this digital publication, please enable JavaScript and then refresh the page. If you would like to try to load the digital publication without using Flash Player detection, please click here.