How People Market to Seniors

Posted by katie at 10:49 am

Before the Boom

23 Nov, 2009By: Bridget McCreaResponse

Marketers that haven’t already formulated a plan for reaching America’s senior consumers are missing out on an opportunity that’s only going to increase as the nation continues to age. Deserving a second look right now are the Greatest Generation (born 1901 to 1925) and the Pre-Boomer Generation (born 1925 to 1945)

Currently aged 64 and up, members of both generations comprise a large segment of the population that’s often overlooked in favor of the huge Baby Boomer demographic and/or younger consumers.

Consider the fact that during the 18th century, the 65-plus American demographic comprised just 2 percent of the population. Modern medicine, attention to safety and fewer physically demanding jobs have helped to boost that percentage, and more than half the people who have ever lived to the age of 65 are alive today.

With life expectancies hovering around 78 years and a huge number of Baby Boomers following in the Pre-Boomers’ footsteps, by 2050 the number of individuals older than 65 will outnumber those younger than 20 for the first time in history.

By the time that evolution occurs, marketers will surely be allocating the bulk of their resources for targeting older Americans … but why wait? Tackle the learning curve now, says Bob Yallen, president and COO at Encino, Calif.-based InterMedia Advertising, and you’ll be in good shape when the shift takes place.
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“2050 is not that far away,” says Yallen, a member of the Response Editorial Advisory Board. “To get ready, marketers should be taking into account the fact that people are living longer, and work that into their advertising strategy.”

Take technology, for example. While one may assume that pre-Boomers steer clear of newfangled communication methods, Yallen says more of them are embracing the Internet, E-mail and even social networking.

“Whereas five years ago the typical older American didn’t surf the Web, many are now using the same media that younger generations are,” says Yallen. “They’re adapting to technology and using it to become more informed consumers. After watching ads on TV, for example, they take the next step and visit the sponsor’s Web site to get more information and fill out lead forms.”

Older generations also watch more television than any other generation coming up behind them, which makes them an especially attractive target for DRTV marketers.

Yallen, whose firm uses the term “silent generation” for individuals born 1937-1945, says such consumers are 29-percent more likely to be watching TV than overall viewers, and are a whopping 50-percent more likely to be tuned into the TV than individuals aged 35 and younger.

“Because of this, the silent generation is much easier to reach,” says Yallen, who adds that news-oriented stations like CNN and Fox News tend to be especially popular among older adults (with the 65-plus crowd comprising 46 percent of the audience). “As a result, marketers can reach them very efficiently on a cost-per-thousand basis.”

Generationally Speaking

There’s so much hype over the 78-million-strong Baby Boomer generation that both the Greatest Generation and the Pre-Boomers tend to get overshadowed. Assuming that older consumers will somehow get “caught in the advertising net” designed for younger buyers is a mistake, as there are distinct differences between the generations that no marketer can afford to miss.

Take the Pre-Boomer generation, for example. Typically defined as those born during the 20-year period prior to the end of World War II, or from 1925 to 1945. The generation comprises about 50 million people, and is sometimes referred to as the “greatest generation” or the “luckiest generation” (because they were born immediately after the Great Depression and were either too young or too old to serve in any major wars).

About 95 percent of Pre-Boomers are currently retired, with many of them dodging the bullet of the recent recession due to the fact that they already invested conservatively and were residing in their retirement residences when the maelstrom hit. A Pre-Boomer himself, Don Potter, a DRTV pioneer who is now a consultant and blogger (www.pre-boomermusings.com) in Los Angeles, says that the typical member of his generation can’t recall the pain of the Great Depression, but does have vivid memories of World War II and the years immediately following it.

Most Pre-Boomers and members of the Greatest Generation hold dear to their hearts American values that seem to be lost on the younger crowd. “Our elders (parents, teachers and the community) taught us to be patriots, believe in one another and believe in ourselves,” says Potter. “We still cherish these lessons and practice them to the best of our abilities. It was the Pre-Boomers who taught the Boomers, but somewhere along the line, they didn’t latch on to these values the way we did.”

Potter says the ensuing “me generations” became the symbol of status and the generation of “more.” This pleased marketers, and made it easier for them to sell their goods and services. “As the Boomers came of age, there was a huge group of consumers who were eager to buy what others were selling,” says Potter, who wrote a book about marketing to Boomers entitled The 50+ Boomer: Your Key to 76 Million Consumers.

When assessing the key differences between older and younger generations in America, Potter says technology tends to be the great divide. Whereas Generation X, Y and even many Boomers tend to use the Internet to shop, research and network with one another, older generations still prefer a more traditional approach. Pre-Boomers and the Greatest Generation also tend to be more frugal and less impulsive when it comes to shopping, preferring to thoroughly investigate their options before making a purchase choice.

“The Boomers just don’t know how to stop buying,” says Potter, laughing. To effectively reach older Americans, he says DRTV marketers need to use solid advertising tactics that garner attention and create a desire for the product or service, and follow it up with a strong call to action. “Combine a good advertising strategy with a product or service that truly fulfills a need, and you’ll get older consumers to buy,” says Potter, “even if they’re on fixed incomes.”

And remember that Pre-Boomers and the generation that preceded them are considered more “traditional” than younger Americans, says Potter, and still like to pick up the phone and/or take a trip to the local Walgreens to buy products, rather than going online to do it. “Where younger buyers might whip out a cell phone to make a purchase while walking down the street,” Potter explains, “you won’t find many 65-plus Americans doing that.”

The tradeoff comes in the number of television hours viewed by older adults — a fact that simply can’t be ignored by DRTV marketers who are grappling with the fact that myriad other entertainment media are intruding on the television’s position in the typical American household.

To ensure that his client’s DRTV commercials effectively target those television viewers, Yallen says his creative team draws upon the older American’s patriotism, strong work ethic and respect for authority.

“We take a completely different creative approach and segment that audience, whose media consumption is high when it comes to TV,” says Yallen. “We target them on different networks and programs, rather than just using demographics, and typically use longer creative executions based on the fact that they want more information, and typically take longer to respond.”

Yallen says that while the work involved with targeting specific generations can be tedious, the rewards are significant. “Older Americans are very loyal consumers who come to the table more informed and ready to participate in continuity programs,” says Yallen. “That’s very rewarding because we focus on customer acquisition and live by the philosophy that it’s better to acquire a loyal customer than a disloyal one.”

Blocking and Tackling

Reaching the maturing market requires a targeted approach that sometimes starts with the product itself and that includes more than one decision maker, as was the case of the $14,000 walk-in bathtub that Cesari Direct of Seattle recently developed a DRTV campaign for.

According to Tim O’Brien, vice president of business development, the product was developed for the elderly individual who was facing a tough decision: either move into a nursing home, or find a way to adapt a current residence to his or her needs.

“This product represented an opportunity for them to ‘age in place,’ in their own home,” says O’Brien. The campaign included DRTV spots that appealed both to the older consumers, and to their children (most likely Baby Boomers and Generation Xers who are helping with key choices in their parents’ lives). “We market to the children as well because we know that with high-end products, the decision is going to be collective,” says O’Brien, whose firm used a similar, collective approach with a recent real estate lead generation campaign aimed at older adults.

“We used the same messaging strategy for the elderly consumers as we did for their children or grandchildren,” says O’Brien, “once again realizing that important decision-making is done by more than just one person.”

To further appeal to the older generations, O’Brien says the firm offers expanded payment options, knowing that many such consumers prefer to buy with cash and not rely on credit lines. “We offer an electronic check-by-phone program as part of the campaigns,” says O’Brien, who, like Yallen and Potter, says older Americans are learning to use technology to their advantage when searching for, researching and buying products.

“As the years go by, we’re seeing more and more of these folks getting online,” says O’Brien. “They may not be getting on Facebook and uploading videos to YouTube, but they are the typical America Online Web user who uses the Internet to look at family photos and perform other functions.”

With the Pre-Boomer and Greatest Generations collectively controlling much of the nation’s wealth, Potter says the key to reaching them is to not talk to them as if they were “old,” but to instead think of them as much younger, active and vibrant because that’s how they think of themselves.

“Even though they may be chronologically and philosophically at an older age, you don’t want to treat them as older consumers, but as savvy consumers,” says Potter. “They want all of the information in an easy format. They know how to buy, so just lay it out for them and let them make the decision.”

For more information visit Response Magazine