Meaningful Marketing Messages to Boomers

Meaningful Marketing Messages to Boomers

I have been reading a series from Mediapost, What We’ve Learned About Marketing To Baby Boomers and this month they published part 3.

Why do I care?

First off, I’ve been studying marketing and advertising for 3 decades.

2nd, the radio station I work for WOWO, has a huge Baby Boomer audience and I want to make sure my advertising partners are doing their best to get a return on their investment with me and other advertising they are doing.

And my wife and I are Baby Boomers too.

Me & the Mrs. I’m the taller one!

Why should you care?

Unless you are in the generation that you are marketing your business to, you may not be tuned in to the most effective methods that resonate with the people you want to invite to do business with you.

My kids are adults, which I find kinda weird because I remember when I was their age and it doesn’t seem that long ago.

Anyway, I work with people who are half my age, I have friends who are nearly 20 years older than me and others that are 30 years younger.  It is important to have an understanding of the differences and how you not only interact but market your business to these different groups of people.

The article from Mediapost has 7 observations.  This one has direct application to what I do on the radio:

Gender tends to predispose responses to voice-overs in broadcast advertising

For example, research tells us that male voices are more knowledgeable when describing technical attributes of a product, while female voices are more knowledgeable when describing a product with references to love, relationships, and caring.

Take a moment and read the other 6 and see how you can apply them to your business.

Insight on WOWO Radio Listeners

A couple of tidbits of information that applies to the listeners of my radio station, WOWO, in Fort Wayne, Indiana.

For the past 20 years WOWO has been a news/talk radio station, (out of 90+ years on the air.)

Last month we received results from the rating service we subscribe to and again WOWO dominates with one of the largest audiences in our city.  Even more impressive was the number of adults who listen.

I like to call them grown ups because once you reach a certain age you start doing grown up things like buy a house, start having kids, and buying important stuff.  There’s lot’s of important stuff to buy once you are a grown up.

One tidbit of information has to do with the format of WOWO, News/Talk.  2016 was a huge year for political news with the election, and now as we move through the first couple of years of the Trump adminstration, there is no slowing down in sight.  Nationally the News/Talk radio format was the most listened to in 2016 and the experts predict it will continue.

While it’s nice to have some industry insiders proclaim that, I knew that and you probably did too if you gave it a couple moments thought.

The other tidbit of information I have gathered merges two sources.  When I dig into the radio rating information specifically for WOWO, I continue to see a huge number of listeners who are around the Baby Boomer generation.

To give you an idea of what Baby Boomers look like: Michelle Obama is a “young” Boomer, born in 1964 and Hillary Clinton at age 69 is at the other end of the Boomer generation.

Mediapost published this insight on Boomers which applies to most WOWO radio listeners:

What We’ve Learned About Marketing To Baby Boomers by Jim Gilmartin

Our Understanding of the Baby Boomer Consumer

Mark Twain wrote, “The problem isn’t the things that we don’t know; it’s the things we ‘know’ that ain’t so.” His comment is simply a reflection of a common-sense reality. Today, marketing and selling draw on a lot of things “we ‘know’ that ain’t so.”

For instance: Marketers once “knew” (and many still do) that people 50 and older rarely change brands. Everybody “knew” that once consumers settled in on a brand or a company, they became more resistant to switching to another brand or business as they got older. Research shows that to be wrong. We also learned that consumer behavior is pertinent to the subtleties of marketing, advertising, and sales practices. Here is some of what we’ve learned.

1. As we age, our individualism increases

Baby Boomers are less subject to peer influence than are younger consumers.

Marketing Implication: Keeping up with the Joneses is not as important as it once was; thus, advertising that invokes social status benefits does not play as well in Baby Boomer markets as it does in younger ones. Largely freed from worrying about reactions of others, Baby Boomers tend toward greater practicality in buying decisions than younger consumers.

2. We develop an Increased demand for facts

Baby Boomers tend to be less responsive to sweeping claims in marketing messages as they age.

Marketing Implication: Hyperbole turns them off. If Baby Boomers are interested in considering a purchase, they want unadorned facts. Years of buying equip them with knowledge of what to look for and what information they need for an intelligent purchase. However, they often don’t get to the point of asking for facts until a product has emotionally intrigued them.

3. Our response to emotional stimuli increases

Baby Boomers tend to be quicker than younger consumers to reflect a lack of interest in or negative reaction to an offered product that doesn’t make an emotional connection.

Marketing Implication: Such “first impressions” are more likely to be permanent than among younger people, who are more apt to give a marketer a second chance. On the other hand, you can embed a positive first impression especially deep in the emotions of the Baby Boomer — so much so that he or she is often more disposed to be a loyal customer than the younger consumer.

4. We become less self-oriented, more altruistic

Baby Boomers tend to show increased response to marketing appeals reflecting altruistic values.

Marketing Implication: This tracks with shared middle-age shifts toward stronger spiritual values in which concern for others increases. As their altruistic motivations grow and become more powerful, narcissistic and materialistic values wane in influence. Marketers to Baby Boomers must rethink their traditional egocentric appeals in marketing communications.

5. As we age, we spend more time in making purchase decisions

People experience changes in their perceptions of time, and also the meaning and role of time in their lives as they grow older.

Marketing Implication: For example, Baby Boomers often ignore time-urgency strategies in marketing — such as: “Offer good until —,” “Only three left in stock.” Generally, “time is not of the essence” is a common attitude among Baby Boomers, especially those who have retired.

6. We often project what seems to be contradictory behavior

Sometimes we characterize Baby Boomers as selfish and selfless, penurious and profligate, spontaneous and deliberate, and so on. These different attributes lead some to describe Baby Boomers as contradictory — or at least, confusing in their behavior.

Marketing Implication: Baby Boomers are not different in their conduct; they are sensitive to the context in their behavior. For example, a Baby Boomer may use coupons in a grocery store, after which she drives off in a Mercedes.

This activity is not evidence of conflicting behavior, but an example of the rules of thriftiness applied to basics, and the rules of full value applied to discretionary expenditures. In the first case, the price is the common denominator in consumers’ interest, in the second, there is no common denominator because each person calculates the whole value in a unique manner.

Want to know more?  Let’s talk.

Is There A Generation Gap In Marketing?

Do different generations consume and respond to marketing messages differently?

It’s a question that deserves examining and the big question, Is There A Generation Gap In Marketing?

On one hand, I am not typical of my generation and on the other, I fit in perfectly.

I’m a child of the 60’s and 70’s.  My kids are children of the 80’s and 90’s.  I sometimes forget about the generational differences because I forget either how old I really am or how young they (and their peers) really are.

As usual what often prompts these articles are a series of events that are unrelated but build on one another and this month the topic was Millennials.

Can you count the 4 generations?

Can you count the 4 generations?

My media habits have changed but so have nearly everyone’s due to technology changes.

The dominance of traditional mass media that reached huge percentages of the population at the same time is gone.  The traditional mass media consisted of broadcast TV networks that you would watch without having to pay a cable or internet or data fee for (namely ABC, CBS, NBC, PBS & Fox); Local radio stations (Fort Wayne had no more than 10 and only 3 or 4 dominate stations), and the daily newspapers.

First came the internet revolution and then the smartphone revolution and now we truly live in a different world.

Instead of only being able to reach a mass audience with your message, you can also reach a very targeted audience with your message.

Instead of having to choose from two TV shows that are on at the same time on different channels, I can watch them when I want, where I want and on whatever device I want.

Forget about reading the printed newspaper.  I get my news, even my local newspaper news online.

Radio for me is still a pleasure to listen to, but the number of stations I have available is now close to 30 and if I had satellite radio in my car, my choices would be in the hundreds.  All new vehicles sold in the last few years have offered internet options to replace my radio and on the same token, my favorite radio stations have made themselves available for me to listen to online where ever I go.

The phone book was replaced by Google and I could go on and on, but I risk sounding like an old fogey.

I don’t want to go back to the old days.  Instead I want to help people of the older generations adapt to the marketing options that are now available and at the same time, help the younger generations understand the timeless marketing principles that apply no matter what the advances are now and in the future with advertising delivery methods.

At one of the meetings I was at that inspired this article, there was a young man who was a little too passionate about digital media and overselling it to the detriment of traditional media.  Because I work in both, I plan on meeting with him to see what’s what.  I hope to expand his thinking, not to sell him on the traditional media, but to help him understand the limitations of all media and R.O.I. measurement.

It is true that there is a Generation Gap in Marketing.  Take a look at some numbers from a report I read about Small and Medium Business marketing:

In order to better understand SMBs current marketing strategies, Magisto surveyed 500 U.S. based small and medium sized businesses about their digital/mobile marketing strategies and tactics. Key findings in the report continue.

  • Millennials spend 58% of their marketing budget on digital media; Baby boomers spend only 14% of their marketing budget on digital media, making millennials 3X more likely than baby boomers to spend the majority of their media budget on digital advertising

  • Nearly half 41% of millennials spend the bulk of their marketing budget on mobile media. Less than 10% of baby boomers rely on the same media

and from that same report:

According to eMarketer, 2017 will be the first year in history that digital media ad spending surpasses television ad spending.

When I was in my late 20’s and 30’s the marketing world was also changing and everyone of us, no matter what our generation or age, need to be fully aware of how these changes can impact your business.

Want help figuring all this out?  Contact me.

WOWO’s Baby Boomer Listeners are Online Too

A great article from Mediapost that I read this week was about Baby Boomers defying certain stereotypes, especially when it comes to tech and online activity.

Numbers show that Baby Boomers are a valuable customer that you can reach online

Numbers show that Baby Boomers are a valuable customer that you can reach online

Since 1/2 of WOWO radio’s huge audience is the Baby Boomer generation, it makes sense to share this with you and as WOWO is my radio station that I work for and it also helps explain what I shared earlier regarding Why Does A Radio Guy Also Sell Digital Marketing Solutions.

Here’s a few highlights:

  • Of the many misconceptions about baby boomers, perhaps the one most perilous to marketers today is that those in the demographic aren’t tech savvy. In fact, according to a 2016 Boston Consulting Group survey, boomers’ top 20 favorite brands include Amazon, Apple, Dell, HP, LG, Samsung and Sony. In my own personal experience as a Boomer, I use Amazon weekly and have bought products from Dell, HP, LG and Samsung. (Sorry Apple & Sony).
  • …contrary to stereotypes, aging doesn’t cause us to lose long-term memory. Instead, the change is a reduction in memory recall. For marketers, repetition is an effective way to ensure messages are properly processed and later recalled. This is why the Custom Audience Targeting with Digital Display Ads I offer works well, just like the ads I air on WOWO for my advertising partners.
  • In fact, a study by visual engagement analytics firm Sticky found that baby boomers engage with digital ads significantly longer than do millennials. Again, this explains the success I’ve seen with my advertising partners who are inviting older adults to their websites.

Want to know more?  Let’s talk.

Understanding WOWO Radio’s Baby Boomer Listeners

Another great article from Mediapost about the value of the Baby Boomer generation.  The biggest demographic of listeners to my radio station, News/Talk 1190 WOWO in Fort Wayne, Indiana are the Baby Boomers.WOWOLogo 2016

Here’s some more information to help you understand WOWO Radio’s Baby Boomer Listeners:

…The fact is, adults aged 55 to 64 outspend the average consumer in nearly every category, every year, per the U.S. Consumer Expenditure Survey, despite the fact that marketers obsess over the younger, Millennial segment. According to a 2015 survey by the AARP’s Influent50 in conjunction with ORC International, 40% of boomers agreed that companies aren’t adequately addressing what’s important to people their age…

Here’s additional highlights that apply to WOWO Radio listeners:

Boomers Value Comfortable Living

Today’s aging population aren’t leaving their lifelong homes for retirement communities; they’re leaving them for nicer homes. Better Homes and Gardens Real Estate found that 57% of homeowners aged 49 to 67 planned to move out of their current home. Seventy percent of that group want their new home to be the best in which they have ever lived. They’re looking for new construction, amenities and communities in which they can pursue active lifestyles.

Boomers Prioritize Retaining their Youth

(Boomers) came of age with consumerism, and perhaps more than other age groups, have come to measure self-worth according to external factors. Much of the demographic’s … spending is on products that will help them maintain their youth and energy.

Cosmetics, exercise equipment, vitamins and diet soda are all products in high demand by boomers. Still, when you think of how those products are marketed, the boomer target doesn’t immediately come to mind. For products that do consider boomers in their marketing plans, many do so based on inaccurate stereotypes — a mistake that can backfire, driving customers away from your product to one that doesn’t seem to condescend.

While Nielsen has referred to boomers as “The Most Valuable Generation for Marketers,” holding 70% of the disposable income in the U.S., only 10% of marketing dollars are devoted to reaching the segment.

What we have found at WOWO Radio that if we invite our Baby Boomer listeners to do business with local businesses that have what Boomers want, everyone wins.  As a member of this generation, I know that my wife and I are spending money on 8 (soon to be 9) grandkids, doing home improvements on the house we bought 2 years ago, buying cars, electronics, dining out, vacationing regularly, taking up new hobbies and enjoying life.

Want to invite some Baby Boomers to spend their money with your business?  Talk to me.