| James D. Clark President and CEO Daniel Memorial Inc. Nonprofit | John Hirabayashi CEO and President Community First Credit Union of Florida Financial services | Mary Kellmanson Group Vice President of Marketing Winn-Dixie Stores Inc. Supermarket retailing | Jan Korb CEO BroadBased Communications Inc. Marketing | |
| What percentage of your target market consists of Boomers, those age 46-64? | It is a large segment (of supporters) that we cater to. I think most of our market we would consider to be in this age range. We do lots of things, including working with our consultants, to really address that market and make sure that we have the kind of messages that they are interested in. | We typically reach out to people who are starting a new relationship with a financial institution, looking for a home or auto loan, or in need of a student loan or accounts for their children. That certainly includes Boomers, many of whom are still raising children, putting them through college, or buying cars and homes. In addition, many Boomers are either retired or planning for their retirement and are very interested in investment services products. So, for purposes of investments, we specifically target Boomers in our marketing because they are the segment of the population most likely to be interested in the service. | Research shows that Baby Boomers represent the generation with the greatest buying power in the history of the United States and account for 40 percent of total consumer demand. Our market falls in line with that percentage. | BroadBased focuses mainly on the B2B (business-to-business) market. As such, our audience profiles are often focused on particular jobs within an industry. The age of the person holding the job title we are targeting does not often come into serious consideration. When marketing to consumers, however, the age of the target is one of the first things considered when developing a strategy. |
| How critical is it to your industry to market or appeal to Boomers, and why? | Obviously very much, because we know that more wealth will pass from one generation to the next with the Boomers than at any time in the history of man, so that is one of the reasons that we are looking at making sure we have that age group on our board, and we also are looking at Boomers’ kids that we can get involved with us. | The credit union has a mission to serve the needs of its members. Our membership has an average age of about 47, right in the Boomer age range. That means we have to be attentive to the needs of this age group. We don’t look at them as exclusively retirees, or seniors with limited incomes. If there is one thing we know about Boomers, it is that they are difficult to pigeonhole into a single description. Older Boomers, those born in the late 1940s and early 1950s, have much different needs and are in a different stage of life than those born in the late 1950s and early 1960s. | It is extremely critical to market and appeal to Boomers as they have the most discretionary income of any age group. Due to the economic downturn, Boomers have sharpened their focus on receiving more value for their shopping dollar without compromising the quality of the food they buy, and we are focused on providing that for them. | The importance of the Boomer audience varies among my clients. For sure, high-end services providers, such as wealth managers, estate attorneys, cosmetic dentists, cosmetic surgeons, travel planners and the like, certainly value and market to the Boomer audience, and older. |
| Because of the economy, Boomers are spending less money and retiring later. How has your business or industry been affected? | I really can’t say that we have that much, but we are seeing younger volunteers than in the past. One of my colleagues pointed out from an Associated Press report that as the recession drives an increase in community service, Baby Boomers with ideas about how they want to help nonprofit and community organizations are remaking the face of volunteerism. Among older workers, charity and volunteerism experts say, people in their 40s, 50s and 60s are increasingly seeking to use their professional skills as volunteers. | We have seen an influx of members who are interested in making sure they are covered for their retirement. Our investment services reps are meeting every day with members who want to be sure that they take the right steps to recover from the steep drop in the markets that affected their 401(k) plans. This is a very serious concern for many people who are close to retirement. At the same time, the segment of retirees who are dependent on CD income has also been hard hit by the recession, and we have seen some shift away from CD investments into other products, such as money market and high yield checking accounts. We are also seeing changes in the borrowing habits of Boomers. Given the uncertainty in the economy, many are less comfortable taking on additional debt. | There is no doubt that the recession has affected our entire industry. Shoppers of all demographics are turning to us for creative ways to stretch their food budgets without sacrificing quality. Boomers have shown increasing concern for the foods they eat, and are willing to spend more time on reading nutrition labels and understanding how their food is produced. We serve as a source of this information for our customers, particularly in the Boomer category, who are asking more questions than ever about how to shop and eat for a healthy lifestyle. | I have witnessed several clients experience a dip in activity over the last couple of years, but it hasn’t impacted them too severely over time. Businesses have had to learn to operate more efficiently while waiting for consumer confidence to return. Disposable income is not yet back to the levels it used to be and individuals are still postponing nonessential purchases. And when they are ready to buy, they are looking for a deal. |
| What is the biggest difference between marketing to Boomers and to Gen X and Gen Y customers? | I think that social networking and the web, we are certainly using those activities a great deal more and in fact we have younger people on our technology committee. One of the things we are trying to do is make sure that our marketing, particularly social networking marketing, is having an impact. And also, we are looking at those other two generations in terms of bringing them in sooner with some of our committees. | Probably the biggest difference is which media are used to market to each group. Each group has grown up in wildly different media environments. The Boomers grew up with television (color TV became widespread in the 1960s), cable TV and radio. Gen X was the first to grow up using computers and e-mail, and Gen Y communicates via mobile devices (smart phones, iPads, etc.) via texting and through social media networks rather than e-mail. In addition, their expectations are different. Boomers are very loyal consumers as a rule, they tend to stick with the same brands over many years. Gen X and Y have much less brand loyalty and they are very quick to see through phony promises or glossy but insincere messaging. Gen Y in particular demands transparency and they listen to their peers about products and services, rather than relying on advertising for their information. | Interestingly, we have found that our Boomers and Gen Y customers are turning more and more to social media as a means of gathering and sharing information. Blogging is especially popular, but we also have customers using Twitter, Facebook and other forms of digital media. Gen X tends to remain loyal to more traditional avenues, like the weekly ad circular. | Boomers still respond to traditional methods of advertising like newspaper, radio and TV. That generation is also beginning to embrace social media and “Word of Mouth” (WOM) is coming into play, but nowhere near how WOM affects Gen X and Gen Y. These groups are increasingly harder to reach through traditional means because they watch shows online and download their own music. They skip ads. They get information from each other through social media and texting. You have to be much more strategic in capturing Gen Y’s attention. |