Baby Boomers | The Genuine ScLoHo aka Scott Howard

Where’s The Money in 2023?

by Scott Howard | Feb 27, 2023 | Marketing and Advertising Insights, ScLoHo's Collective Wisdom, The Not-So-Secret Writings of ScLoHo, WOWO Fort Wayne Radio Advertising with Scott Howard

Depending on where you get your news and information, you’ve probably heard a lot of Gloom and Doom stories about the economy.

Some say we’re in a recession, others say “no, not yet, don’t label it with the R word.”

Some blame the President, others blame the previous President, some say Covid, others say… well whatever, it doesn’t really matter.

For those of you who age 35 or younger, your adult lives were relatively stable until 3 years ago, economically speaking.

By 2010, a mere 13 years ago, the U.S. economy was in a growth mode that lasted 10 years. Inflation was down, unemployment was disappearing, stock prices were on the upswing and overall, except for the political bickering, we really didn’t that much to worry about.

Sure, there was and is talk about climate change, human rights, making sure everyone was being treated fairly without bias due to gender, skin color, race, or anything else that needs improvement.

But for today, I’m talking about money and the health of our economy in the United States.

Generally speaking, as a group, we were doing well.

But the impact of Covid related decisions has thrown us into a bit of turmoil and confusion. Shutting down businesses, toilet paper shortages, overwhelmed health care operations. Followed by disruptions in the supply chain for essentials besides toilet paper and eventually rising prices has had an impact on most people.

Those of you under the age of 35 haven’t seen this before and that can create fear of the unknown.

Those of us who are old enough to be your parents, have lived through challenges similar to this and I’m here to attempt to reassure you.

I turned 63 on my last birthday and am at the tail end of the baby boomer generation. When I was a teenager, Jimmy Carter was the President. We had just survived the Watergate years with the resignation of Richard Nixon. Gasoline rationing was going on because we didn’t have enough. Our country recovered and grew in the 1980’s.

The next big crisis I recall off the top of my head would have been September 11th, 2001. The world stopped as all air flight was grounded and we had no idea what to expect. We made adjustments and continued until the housing market took a tumble in 2008 and again, gloom and doom was the mood.

2008 was the year that a widely unknown candidate for the Presidency of the United States went all the way to the White House on a message of Hope & Change. It was during the Obama years that those of you that are 35 or younger first started becoming aware of money and what things cost.

On my team at Federated Media, the youngest is turning 26. She is the first year of Gen Z. I also have three Gen X and two Boomers. The life experiences color each of their perspectives and outlooks on life today and in the future. But each is different too due to factors not related to age.

The original question of this piece is not about attitudes but reality.

The reality of who’s got the money to spend in 2023.

As a generation, the biggest chunk is still with the Baby Boomers, followed by Gen X and then Millennials.

In advertising, there used to be an ideal age demographic that was initially 18 to 34 year olds for a number of years and then shifted to 25-54 year olds.

Nearly all the advertising was targeted to people in this demographic and the question to ask is why?

Baby Boomers were the largest generation ever, spanning the years 1946 to 64 for their birthdays and by the 1980’s most of them were between ages 18-34.

As Boomers aged and started families, the desired demo shifted to the 25-54 year olds and sort of stuck there.

Problem is the youngest of the Boomers are turning 59 this year and have fallen out of favor due to their age for the advertising community.

The exception seems to be all the medical and retirement advertising.

But believe me, the people who have the money to support your business still are the Baby Boomers with over 50% of the wealth and Gen X with nearly 30% according to several studies including MarketingCharts.com.

Marketers like to focus on youth, whether that’s Millennials or Gen Z, but Baby Boomers are the big spenders. A MarketingCharts review of the latest data published by the Federal Reserve confirms that Baby Boomers hold the largest share of US household wealth. However, Gen Xers, and to some extent Millennials, are seeing their wealth climb.

As the General Sales Manager of 4 radio stations in Fort Wayne, Indiana that target our programming to reach people with money to spend, even now, I can help you by connecting our listeners to you and your business so you can convert them to become your customers in 2023. Email me for information: Scott@WOWO.com

WOWO’s Baby Boomers Still Want to Spend Money With You

by Scott Howard | Aug 23, 2022 | Marketing and Advertising Insights, ScLoHo's Collective Wisdom, The Not-So-Secret Writings of ScLoHo, WOWO Fort Wayne Radio Advertising with Scott Howard

6 years ago, May 2016, I wrote an article titled, WOWO’s Baby Boomer Audience Wants To Spend Money with You.

It’s still true.

Despite all that has happened the past 6 years with the economy, with politics, with.. well, you name it… the WOWO Radio Audience has money to spend and they are spending it every week.

I’m getting some fresh research into our audience and the audiences of other media and it is fascinating. I also have more than 6 years of antidotal stories of businesses using WOWO than I had when I first wrote the original story. What follows is what I wrote in 2016 with a few updates.

I’m going to lay this out for you, Mr/Ms Business Owner in the Fort Wayne area:

WOWO’s Baby Boomer Audience Wants To Spend Money With You

A lot of attention is given to the under 50 crowd because, well, people over 50 are nearly dead, Or dead broke. Or drooling toothlessly in their soup, or…

I wonder what other myths you have about Baby Boomers? I found an article that addresses some of them. We’re going to look at them in a second.

First the relationship between WOWO & Baby Boomers. WOWO radio was the radio station we listened to as school kids to find out if we had to go to school or if old man winter caused the school’s to close or delay. As a 6 year old when my family first moved here, we learned that Bob Siever’s was Mr. WOWO with all the answers in the 60’s and 70’s, (my youth).

Now in 2022 WOWO continues to have the most loyal audience in town of adults over 21 years old and the biggest chunk of those 60,000 weekly listeners are baby boomers.

Let’s break some Baby Boomer myths from the article:

Who’s got the money to spend? Boomers accounted for 70% of the disposable income in the United States in 2012, and they will continue to be the wealthiest generation in the country until at least 2030, when they’ll still have nearly 45% of the disposable income. Ten years later, in 2022, Baby Boomers still have more than half the wealth in the United States according to the Federal Reserve.

Here’s 3 more from the article:

1. Baby boomers are not tech-savvy.

Both Steve Jobs and Bill Gates were born in the boomer years, and their generation was the first to experience the massive productivity increases that technology can drive.

Baby boomers are just as tech-oriented as are younger generations. Eighty-two percent of Boomers use Facebook, with 15.5% spending more than 11 hours per week on the site. Boomer women are also one of the fastest-growing categories on Pinterest. They also spend more time consuming and sharing content online than do other demographics.

In 2022, Boomers are also using Instagram, and doing online shopping. Boomers are even teaching their grandkids how to use technology!

2. Baby boomers are reluctant to spend money.

Adults 55-64 consistently outspending the average consumer in nearly every category.

In fact, if taken as their own economy, the 100 million Americans who are aged 50 and over would rank the third largest in the world behind the U.S. and China. When it does come to retirement, however, two-thirds plan to spend more time doing things like shopping, traveling and entertaining.

And some more numbers from 2022:

Baby boomers account for about 38 percent of pet spending. [Source: Pet Business Professor]
Baby boomers increased their spending on new clothes by 28 percent compared to before the pandemic. [Source: Retail Dive]
59 percent of baby boomers are willing to pay extra for socially compliant, sustainable products. [Source: Deloitte]

3. Baby boomers are old fashioned.

A recent study called Baby boomers “media-loving, eternally optimistic, self-indulgent consumers.” Now that they’re rid of burdens like college tuition, mortgages, and child care expenses, they’re looking to re-tool themselves and re-define their lives. Now rid of debts and obligations, they have the means to do it.

My 2022 update: Baby boomers are no longer the largest generation, but they do possess more wealth than Gen Xers, millennials and Gen Zers. With high average spending and a propensity to indulge in luxury purchases, baby boomers have an outsized effect on the overall health of the economy.

Want some examples of Boomers? Boomers are not your elderly grandparents. Prince was a baby boomer. So was David Bowie. George Clooney, Barak Obama, Donald Trump, Bill Clinton, Paula Abdul, Jeff Bezos, Tom Cruise, Tom Hanks, Kenny Loggins, Brad Pitt, Jerry Seinfeld, Demi Moore, Madonna, Oprah … all baby boomers. Not a single, crotchety, old fogy among them.

Adding to the clear proof of Boomers’ immense consumer power, they drive almost 50% of all retail sales whereas Millennials represent a mere 10%.

Here’s the opportunity that you have with WOWO Radio. Want to see how it can work for your business? Contact me.

Is Generational Relatability An Issue?

by Scott Howard | Apr 19, 2022 | Marketing and Advertising Insights, Really? The Personal ScLoHo, ScLoHo's Collective Wisdom, The Not-So-Secret Writings of ScLoHo

We’re going to talk about generational differences today and how they impact our relationships with others that are older or younger than us.

Last month, Mediapost shared a Quick Refresher on Demographics and that was part of the inspiration for this along with some stuff going on in my own life.

First, I’ll reveal me:

Baby Boomer, graduated from high school in the late 70’s. I was alive when JFK was shot but have no memory of it because I was a toddler. During most of the 60’s, I was not aware of the political turmoil or cultural revolutions that were going on. I was just a kid.

Watergate was the first time I really noticed much about political stuff. When Nixon resigned, I was becoming a teen and was more into teen stuff like girls and music than adult stuff. Musically I was into Top 40 and those songs from the mid 70’s to mid 80’s were the foundation for a couple of reasons. 1st, was listening to the radio as a kid and then I was a teenage disc-jockey from age 16 to 25 on the radio for a decade before moving to the advertising side of broadcasting in Detroit in the late 80’s.

My wife is 8 years older than me and most of her friends are around her age, not mine. We’ve been married for a couple of decades and I would tease her about stuff that happened “before I was born”. Yet as we get older, we’ve realized that those 8 years are not as significant compared to other generations.

Our 5 kids (from our first marriages) were all born in the 80’s and most of them have kids so there’s another generation in our family now.

I recall 20 years ago when I took a break from media and marketing and learned how to run a thermoformer in a plastics plant that the people working for me were closer to my kids age than mine and that was one of the motivating factors to return to radio and get out of the very physically demanding factory world.

Now at the broadcasting company I work for, we are hiring people that are 10 years younger than my kids. While it kind of makes me feel old at times, I’ve also enjoyed the role I play as a leader, mentor, and coach. Plus I can still out perform many of the advertising account executives in our company, but that is not my focus.

So as you and I move forward in 2022 and the years ahead, it’s important to understand some of the differences in generational relatability that I’m about to share. A dozen years ago I was a guest speaker on personal branding to a group of Huntington University students and realized that an example I used of TV personality Larry King was unrelatable, so the following year I updated my presentation to fix that.

Here’s the Mediapost story:

In 2018, the Pew Research Center determined that 1997 was the starting date for Generation Z. Anyone born from 1981 to 1996 is deemed a millennial, and anyone born since 1997 is a Gen-Zer.

At this point, the oldest Gen-Zers are turning 25 this year and the rest are teens or younger. (The cutoff for Gen Z births appears to be 2012.)

Among the differences between Gen Z and millennials (also called Gen Y) are:

–       Most Gen-Zers have little or no memory of 9/11. Instead, they grew up with lines clearly drawn between the political parties after the event.

–       Generation Z is the most ethnically diverse generation in U.S. history. The next most-diverse generation is millennials. Some 52% of Gen Z is white, 25% is Hispanic, and 4% is Asian, again according to Pew.

–       The iPhone launched in 2007, when the oldest Gen-Zers were 10. They came of age as social media, mobile computing and constant connectivity were part of the landscape.

–       According to a 2021 survey, the top brands for Gen Z were Google, Apple and Amazon. Netflix, Chick-Fil-A and Vans came in after that. But that survey is far from definitive. Others have put Nike at No.1, Netflix at No. 2 and YouTube at No. 3.

For millennials, the top brands were Apple, Nike and Amazon, according to marketing firm Moosylvania. Google was No. 8.

In other words, there doesn’t yet appear to be a deep divide between Gen Y and Gen Z. That contrasts with the divide between Gen X and Baby Boomers, which was driven by some big differences. Baby boomers currently comprise 70 million people, versus 65.2 million for Gen X, according to Insider Intelligence. That doesn’t seem like a huge difference, but Gen X was marked by a “baby bust” mentality that sported attitudes of cynicism and skepticism after the euphoria of boomers.

Baby boomers also had a clear starting point (the end of World War II) and ending (1964, when the birth rate began falling). Since then, the delineations between generations seems somewhat arbitrary. As a result, those expecting a huge chasm between Gen Y and Gen Z may come up short.

Some additional insight as you consider all of this is to not make broad assumptions about someone because of the generation they were born into. I am much more active than my son when it comes to online behavior. I was also an early adopter compared to folks 10 to 20 years younger than me. I had to push and pull some of my former co-workers to move forward with certain things that they thought were just a fad, but clearly were much bigger and longer lasting. Twitter is the example that comes to mind.

Want to know more or do you have some insights to share? Contact me.

Why WOWO is the Best Choice for Advertising (Part Two)

by Scott Howard | Sep 29, 2020 | Marketing and Advertising Insights, ScLoHo's Collective Wisdom, The Not-So-Secret Writings of ScLoHo, WOWO Fort Wayne Radio Advertising with Scott Howard

I was reading a blog post last week from the Radio Advertising Bureau that includes several facts and figures I am going to share with you in this 2nd part of an ongoing series as to why WOWO radio is your best choice for advertising.

But first, a little comparison of the changes that are occurring in the media and advertising world.

Television viewership continues to drop like a rock.

This month the television awards show that celebrates the very best on TV, the Emmy Awards was hosted by one of the Jimmies. Kimmel or Fallon, most people don’t know who is who since they both host late night talk shows. Let’s see, the Emmys were on ABC, so it was the ABC Jimmy.

US viewership crashed according one headline, to 6.1 million this year. You would think that with all the stay at home orders, it would be up this year. Last year it dipped below 7 million for the first time. This is a trend that has been going on for the past 2 decades. Ten years ago 13. 5 million watched and back in the year 2000, nearly 22 million watched the Emmy Awards.

I just reviewed the list of winners and there were just two winners that I saw from the 100+ awards. The Superbowl halftime show and The Last Dance special series.

I have no intention of watching more TV in the future, there are a few shows that my wife and I will view when they return later this fall, but mostly on our own schedule. Primetime TV viewership is a thing of the past in my family.

Advertising on TV is getting diminishing results.. I’ve had some of my advertising partners complain about this. Sounds like the kind of stories I used to hear from people who relied on newspapers and phone books in the past.

So what about radio? This article from RAB points out that radio listenership remains steady but it also takes a deep dive into the audience that makes up a significant portion of the WOWO radio audience. Baby Boomers.

Have you ever heard of Sutton’s Law? It’s based on the principle that when diagnosing something, you should first consider the most obvious. It is based on bank robber “Slick” Willie Sutton’s response to a reporter’s question: “Why do you rob banks?” His response? “Because that’s where the money is!” This same response could be applied to the question; “Why boomers?” According to Deloitte, boomers will be the wealthiest generation in America through 2030. As of 2019, boomers were among the most affluent households, yet this group is not highly targeted. In fact, only 10% of marketing budgets is set aside to boomers, despite them outspending every other generation by $400B annually.

As a Boomer myself, I know that this is the time of my life that I have been the most financially stable with the ability to make purchases without as much hesitation as I was doing even 10 years ago. It’s a combination of where most Boomers are in their personal life cycle and the fact that there are just so many of us, that will keep Baby Boomers a highly desirable consumer for the next decade.

Born between 1946 -1964, they don’t easily fit into a traditional ad-buying demo, so for the purposes of this analysis, let’s look at one segment – 55-64.

Radio reaches 91% of these adults weekly. When they tune in, they listen for 15.4 hours every week – greater than the adults’ average of 12.8. They are an engaged audience. When it comes to radio listeners in this age group, they are more likely to:

Spend $1,000-$2,000 in home improvements (32% more likely)

Spend $7,500 or more on remodeling (54%)

Spend $120-$149 every week on groceries (22%)

Purchase or lease a $40K-$50K vehicle (26%)

Own a vacation home, farm or investment property (46%)

Despite the pandemic, boomers are still financially stable. Based on a Gfk-MRI survey (August), 59% believe they are in the same shape financially as they were a year ago despite the pandemic. Advertisers should take note to continue to target this group as they are brand loyalists. Based on this same survey, 77% plan on returning to their favorite brands.

When my company temporarily reduced wages by 20% for everyone for a few months this year, the effect on my family was minimal. And as far as brand loyalty, we have done both, stuck with or returned to many of our favorites, but also added a few more options when we are spending money.

Here’s the rest of the article from RAB:

These radio listeners are also ready to go once the pandemic is over. When it comes to purchases, they are ready to return to physical brick-and-mortar locations:

32% more likely to purchase shoes

30% to purchase clothing

23% to purchase groceries

16% to purchase home improvement supplies

15% to purchase furniture

When it comes to boomers, “Slick” Willie Sutton would say the same thing to advertisers as he did to a reporter about why he robbed banks. The key is here is to just simply target them. With reach and high tune-in time, radio is the medium to do just that. It’s obvious. It’s Sutton’s Law.

Every month, I receive updated rating data on local radio station listenership and WOWO radio, with our News/Talk format continues to dominate with the absolute largest audience of grown-ups in our area. Want to invite them to be your customers? Contact me.

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Why WOWO is the Best Choice for Advertising (Part One)

by Scott Howard | Aug 18, 2020 | Marketing and Advertising Insights, ScLoHo's Fort Wayne, The Not-So-Secret Writings of ScLoHo, WOWO Fort Wayne Radio Advertising with Scott Howard

Today I’m kicking off an occasional series of Why WOWO Radio in Fort Wayne, Indiana is the Best Choice for Advertising Your Business. I am calling it an occasional series because, every few weeks I’ll add another article interspersed with the other articles I share each week on this website and the Genuine ScLoHo Media & Marketing Podcast.

While just this year I was named the General Sales Manager for WOWO radio, and this is my 7th year working for WOWO, I’ve been writing and publishing these stories and insights for over 15 years. Pretty soon, I’ll have my 20th anniversary of returning to the media and marketing world in Fort Wayne after having worked in radio in Detroit and other places too.

Recently Marketing Charts.com published a story on the “Graying of America” that caught my attention. I’m a young Baby Boomer and for most of my life, I was part of the most sought after demographic for advertisers. I was part of the Pepsi Generation. Until I turned 55 that is.

See, in my work in advertising, the desired demographic was either the 18 to 34 year olds when the Baby Boomers were that age, and then more recently 25 to 54 year olds were the hot target market.

When the advertising guru’s followed the Boomers in to middle life with that initial switch, many of them forgot what they were chasing. As the Boomers got older, the advertising people stayed with the 25-54 year olds which was foolish.

Why?

Because the age 55 and older people in America are not the same as their grandparents were when they were in their 60’s. We didn’t turn into a bunch of grumpy old men and women sitting around playing checkers and reminiscing about the good old days. We blew that stereotype sky-high.

Boomers have more money, more free time, more overall freedom and they’re not sitting around waiting to die.

Coupled with the misconception of what Boomer are doing, the advertising people ignored the fact that the younger generations are smaller. That’s what this story from Marketing Charts dot com points out.

Over the past 10 years, since 2010 the number of pre-teens has been going down, so has the teenage population and college crowd. There has been 11 percent growth in the 25 to 34 year olds, but less than 2% growth in the 35 to 44 age group. 45 to 54 year old population had a big loss of over 9% in the past decade. So if you are targeting your advertising to 25 to 54 year olds today, there are statistically fewer of them. That mean less people to buy your stuff than a decade or two ago.

When you compare that with the growth of the older population…

55 to 64 year olds grew in size by over 15%; 65 to 74 year old grew by almost 45%; and even the 75 and older crowd grew by more than 20% in the past decade.

Clearly the Baby Boomer population is still alive and kicking, and not just dying off. Some Boomers parents are very active in their 80’s and 90’s.

WOWO Radio has been the most listened to radio station for adults age 25 and older for years and admittedly the biggest chunk of our listenership was age 50 and older. But we’re not our grandparents. We’re upgrading our lifestyles, socking it away for retirement one day and living longer, healthier lives than previous 50, 60, and 70 year olds were.

One more statistic I noticed this summer from our most recent ratings survey was that the WOWO Radio audience is becoming more diverse. We are also getting younger listeners, those between the age of 25 and 50 have grown in the past year. Another trend is the ratio of men and women listening to WOWO Radio. We used to be 60% guys and 40% women 10 years ago. Today it’s nearly 50/50.

Let’s wrap this up with a few more facts and figures from the Marketing Charts report. Baby Boomers have more than 54% of the nations wealth, and if you add it the money from the next older generation, that’s where 75% of the buying power is in America. These people are also the least affected by the fall out of COVID-19. And these are the WOWO Radio listeners.

There you have it, Part One of Why WOWO is the Best Choice for Advertising. Contact me to get started with a campaign to marketing your business.