by Scott Howard | Jul 15, 2016 | Marketing and Advertising Insights, ScLoHo's Collective Wisdom, The Not-So-Secret Writings of ScLoHo
A marketing tip for those born in the 1970’s, 80’s or 90’s from Mediapost:
Call Me ‘Boomer’
She’s a Baby Boomer. She’s also my wife 🙂
Language in the mature market space can be a minefield, with words like “senior” and “aging” getting a strong negative response.
Some marketers have found ways to dodge the language pitfalls with finesse:
One restaurant I recently came across offers the “Sunset Dinner,” a delicious four-course repast for a very reasonable price. Offered between the hours of 4 and 6 p.m. weekdays, at tables overlooking stunning views of a roaring river, it seemed obvious that this special deal targeted retirees. Many restaurants would have called it an “early bird special,” a well-worn term certain to make a customer feel ancient. However, “Sunset Dinner” sounds appealing and romantic.
As other marketers struggle to avoid alienating stereotypes about Boomers as this demographic heads into retirement, there’s good news: According to a 2015 Pew Research study, you can actually just use the word “Boomer.” This generation actually likes its nickname.
The study found that Boomers are more likely to embrace their generational label than any other age group. A large percentage of Boomers actually feel that their label fits them.
Seventy-nine percent of Boomers identified with their label, versus 18% of the silent generation, 58% of Generation X, and 40% of Millennials.
Boomers also had the highest percentage of those who think their label is a good fit.
Thirty-one percent said it applies to them “very well,” and 39% said “fairly well,” for a total of 70% positive reactions.
The other generations lagged behind in terms of thinking their labels apply:
Silents: 14%; Gen X: 38%; Millennials: 30%.
Some other interesting facts in the study:
- Boomers and the Silent Generation were generally more likely to see themselves in a positive light than Gen X and Millennials.
- Boomers were the most likely to see themselves as environmentally conscious.
- Boomers tied with Gen X as most likely to see themselves as entrepreneurs.
It’s interesting that Boomers’ positive view of themselves also extends to their nickname. Although many words are red flags for mature market consumers, the next generation of retirees doesn’t seem to mind the B-word.
Considering that roughly 10,000 of this generation will turn 65 every day for the next 19 years, it’s nice to know that the term “Boomer” may resonate more positively with them than labels like “senior citizen” or “retiree.”
by Scott Howard | Jun 13, 2016 | Marketing and Advertising Insights, ScLoHo's Collective Wisdom, The Not-So-Secret Writings of ScLoHo, WOWO Fort Wayne Radio Advertising with Scott Howard
WOWO Radio has more Baby Boomer women listeners than any other Fort Wayne radio station by at least 10,000. Â That was one of the items I pointed out in our last article.
Baby Boomer women control the biggest pile of consumer spending still and for the next 7 to 10 years. 
Let’s continue with part 2 in a series from Mediapost, How To Connect With Baby Boomer Women. Â Here’s the highlights that I can help you and your business with WOWO radio:
1. Don’t forget the purchasing power of self-employed Boomer women. Recognize that she is working and wants to find meaning through work as long as she can.
2. Avoid using the word “retirement.” She wants to connect with her aspirations through the increased freedom to choose how and where she will contribute through the full utilization of her skills and abilities.
3. Engage her in dialogue; she wants to establish an authentic relationship with you and your company.
4. Don’t make assurances on which you can’t deliver. Tell her what you’ll do for her, not how great you, your product or company is.
5. Listen to learn what is motivating her. The most important question you can ask is “What are you hoping your planning for the future will allow you to achieve.”
6. Don’t be afraid of a spiritual slant in your messaging. Survey results show 44% of Boomer women are turning to sources other than organized religion for spiritual guidance.
7. Although not very happy about it, she can laugh at the physical effects of aging. You can successfully use a “women like her” to comment humorously on conditions and circumstances only one of her own would fully understand.
8. Baby Boomer women are more active than you may think. Your images should reflect her full level and range of engagement in life.
9. Avoid using a single relationship to define her. She may be managing health care for her parents but she’s not only a “caregiver.” She’s also “grandma” but she would define her life much broader. The brands of suppliers who best support her multi-relationships underlying her purchases will win her business.
10. Cater to her desire to learn. Link your brand and products to opportunities to learn more about issues and concerns she faces every day. Her focus has shifted to experience, rejuvenation and personal growth.
11. Don’t talk down to her. What she didn’t gain through formal education she gained through experience. Insult her intelligence at your peril.
Want to know more? Â Contact me.
by Scott Howard | Jun 10, 2016 | Marketing and Advertising Insights, ScLoHo's Collective Wisdom, The Not-So-Secret Writings of ScLoHo, WOWO Fort Wayne Radio Advertising with Scott Howard
A few years ago when I started on the WOWO radio advertising sales team and I was sharing information about the WOWO listeners, I kept running into women who would say, “I’m a little unusual because I listen to WOWO.”
I pointed out to them that they were in good company. Â Look at these numbers from our last rating survey:
Total Weekly WOWO Listeners age 12+: 107,000
Total Weekly WOWO Female Listeners age 12+: 44,000
Total Weekly Female Listeners age 45+: 34,000
That last number is important. Baby Boomer Women are the ones that have the buying power that most businesses want.  Of all the radio stations in Fort Wayne, Indiana, WOWO has more than any other station by at least 10,000. 
Last month Mediapost shared an article, How To Connect With Baby Boomer Women and I’m sharing the highlights because these are the Women of WOWO that I can help you reach.
1. If she feels your authenticity, that you have really listened to her and you genuinely care, she will reward you.
2. They love products that make them feel more creative and helps them connect to their friends and family.
3. If you are looking for better-educated women with more discretionary income, you will find her online. She is not just a passive observer; she is quickly adopting the internet usage patterns of younger generations and posting content herself.
4. She is free to choose the “best of” from all stages of her life, as well as incorporating new products, services and behaviors.
5. Marketers in search of aspirational messaging are advised to look higher up Maslow’s pyramid toward new levels of simplicity and altruism and away from icons drawn from the assumption that she spends money only to gain the approval of others.
6. Boomer women are more than six times as likely to make purchase decisions based upon their personal values.
7. Perceptive marketers recognize that the Boomer woman knows she has entered and is transiting through a new lifestage and will reward them for recognizing her special needs and interests.
8. Market to her through women like her. Keep in mind that women want to know that the person offering advice or inspiration is someone from both the gender and lifestage that has personally advanced through the same lifestages and transitions.
9. She doesn’t aspire to be ignored. They don’t like ads that never feature women 50+.
10. Show her respect by providing her the facts. A product example is Olay anti-aging products. Olay used an abundance of useful information and straightforward facts about their products with extensive reviews and ratings from other women rather than clever imagery.
That’s just the first 10. Â Mediapost shared a follow up article this month that I’ll share the next time.
by Scott Howard | May 18, 2016 | Marketing and Advertising Insights, ScLoHo's Collective Wisdom, The Not-So-Secret Writings of ScLoHo, WOWO Fort Wayne Radio Advertising with Scott Howard
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, Â Or dead broke. Â 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. Â 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. Â 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 2016 WOWO continues to have the largest audience in town of adults over 21 years old and the biggest chunk of those 100,000 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. 
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.
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.
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.
Want some examples of Boomers?  Boomers are not your elderly grandparents. Prince was a baby boomer. So was David Bowie. Johnny Depp, 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. Â Want to see how it can work for your business? Â Contact me.
by Scott Howard | Oct 30, 2015 | Marketing and Advertising Insights, ScLoHo's Collective Wisdom, WOWO Fort Wayne Radio Advertising with Scott Howard
Over the weekend, I was catching up on my email inbox and discovered this article about Baby Boomers from Mediapost.
Over half the audience to my radio station, WOWO radio is age 50 and older, nearly 80,000 weekly listeners. Number two according to the rating survey is WLDE with less than half that amount. Â Here’s why you as a business owner or marketing manager should care:
10 Key Facts Savvy Marketers Know About Boomers
Driving revenue in today’s ultra-competitive marketing landscape requires clear-thinking and objective decision-making. Chasing Millennials has proven to have limited payoff because that generation continues to have limited financial means. On the contrary, the case for Boomers and older consumers as the lifeblood of the American economy continues to grow. According to the U.S. Census, Americans 50+ now spend more on consumer products and services than those under 50.
Here are 10 more key facts making the case for Boomers as the most valuable generation for marketers today:
1. 50+ spend more per capita. People 50+ are responsible for 51% of all consumer spending. They represent just 45% of all adults, so we know they spend more per capita than younger adults—so much for the notion that spending slows down after age 50.
Boomers know how to have fun!
2. 50+ spend more across a variety of mainstream segments.That people 50+ spend more on healthcare than younger consumers is no surprise, but they are also responsible for a greater share of spending on new cars and trucks (57%), personal care products and services (53%), household furnishings and equipment (52%), and entertainment (51%).
3. 50+ spend more than Millennials and Gen X. People 50+ spent 3.3 trillion on consumer goods and services in 2014—that’s $200 million more than was spent by people under age 50.
4. 50+ were critical in lifting us out of the recession. Since the recession, consumer spending among people 50+ has increased $726 billion, while spending among people under age 50 has dropped by $238 billion, a clear indication the 50+ age group ushered us out of the recession and is keeping our economy stronger now.
5. 50+ continues to be a rapidly growing population. Over the next ten years, the 50+ population will grow by 15.2 million — nearly 3 times the rate of the 18-49 population, ensuring that the 50+ consumer will only become increasingly relevant across most product and service categories.
6. 50+ have a higher net worth. The median net worth of people 50+ is $304,000, which is 75% greater than it is for people age 18-49, $174,000.
7. 50+ own a majority of all investments. People 50+ own over 60% of all investments, including 68% of mutual funds, 70% of stocks, 76% of money market funds, and 89% of annuities.
 8. 50+ support brick-and-mortar businesses. Over the past 3 years, 50+ have been kept a broad range of brick and mortar retailers in growth mode. During that period, Walmart gained 5.7 million more customers age 50+, 8 times the growth (700,000) of their 18-49 customer base. Other big brands garnered significant increases in 50+ customers, while watching their 18-49 customer bases drop, including: Home Depot (up 2.6 million 50+, down 2.1 million 18-49), McDonald’s (up 2.4 age 50+, down 7.6 million age 18-49), and Kohl’s (up 1.9 million 50+, down 1.9 million 18-49).
9. 50+ are avid online shoppers. Outside of using email, making purchases is the #1 online activity among people 50+. Much of this is happening on mobile devices. Half of all people 50+ now own smartphones, with double-digit growth over the past 2 years occurring among people 50-59 (+52%), 60-69 (+92%), and 70+ (+127%).
10. 50 will soon be the age of the average American. The average age of American adults is now 47, just 3 years shy of the age at which they will age out of the coveted 18-49 demo. By 2025, the average age of the American adult will be 50.
Due to our culture’s obsession with youth, Boomers will continue to cede the media spotlight to Millennials, but it will be a long time before they give up their spot as our nation’s dominant consumer group. Savvy marketers will prioritize evidence, not popularity, when deciding the best way to deliver profits and grow share of market.
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