CRM - November 2008 - (Page 40)

Generational Spending The Matures The Matures Endure They’re sticking around longer—that means their spending money has to last as long as they do | By Lauren McKay Walter (Haley Joel Osment): Why not see what he’s sellin’? Hub (Robert Duvall): What the hell for? Walter: Well, what’s the good of having all that money if you’re never gonna spend it? —Secondhand Lions (2003) AGE: 63 and older (born in or before 1945) BIGGEST FINANCIAL CONCERN: Cost of healthcare BIGGEST POLITICAL CONCERN: Healthcare policy PREFERRED COMMUNICATION CHANNEL: Newspapers and television { 40 Remember the old TV commercial,“I’ve fallen and I can’t get up”? The catchphrase was at the core of a campaign for Life Alert, a device that signals paramedics of a person’s injury or compromising position. The commercials feature gray-haired actors portraying accident victims who thank the device-makers for saving their lives. The general attitude is one of helplessness, not self-sufficiency. Although the commercials can still be caught on TV from time to time—especially late at night and during reruns of Murder, She Wrote—it’s no longer a prime example of how to market to the oldest consumers, or “the Matures,” as they’re known. As times have changed, so have the techniques employed to reach out to the Matures. The elderly do not want to see themselves represented as feeble, vulnerable grandparent types. As the first Baby Boomers approach retirement, the Matures are becoming more difficult to stereotype and less tolerant of condescension. Marketers seem to have taken notice. One commercial for over-the-counter arthritis medicine, for instance—a product tailor-made for the Matures—features a healthy retirement-age woman. She talks about needing medicine so she can maintain her active, physical, mobile lifestyle. And a full-page article in The New York Times recently featured products that make life easier for the aging consumer, such as the iRobot (which saves the user the trouble of repeatedly climbing a ladder) and the Jitterbug cell phone (which is basically a fuss-free handheld with an enlarged dial pad and screen font). In short, the elderly simply won’t stand for being thought of as old. “If you say, ‘This product is for an older person and is used primarily by older www.destinationCRM.com CUSTOMER RELATIONSHIP MANAGEMENT | NOVEMBER 2008 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

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