Baby Boomer Insights

How Boomers have shaped 40 years of political conventions

Today marks 111 days until the 2008 Democratic National Convention.  It may be the most significant meeting of the donkey party since the Chicago convention in 1968. Obviously, it is historic because the two frontrunners are a white woman and a black man. But it's also noteworthy because of the role Boomers played - and continue to play - in shaping elections.

In 1968, as "leading Boomers" were exiting college, the Convention was interrupted by protesters, who used the occasion to loudly register their belief that racism threatened the very democratic process and that the United States' involvement in Vietnam was immoral and wrong in every way. 

They organized sit-ins,  love-ins and protests around the country primarily by word-of-mouth. You might say they created the original social networks.  And their hair and clothing styles, symbols and lifestyles were how they expressed their support of an attitude as much as how they were defined as a generation.

These Boomers believed they could change the world - and they did in many ways.   Thanks in large part to the Boomers of '68, the 2008 Convention will be the realization of a dream - a gathering in which either a white woman or a black man will get the nomination as the Democratic candidate.

But along the way, Boomers have changed too - and that's something a lot of marketers fail to realize. The very ones who carried picket signs, used recreational drugs and rocked out to the Beatles grew up.  Many now look back on those times as  a snapshot in time, rather than what defined them for the rest of their lives.

In fact, according to the Boomer Insights Study conducted by Strategy One and Edelman in 2007, almost a third of Boomers don't even identify themselves as Boomers, in part because they associate the Boomer generation with the folks who eschewed wealth and resented the establishment. But that was before they became the most affluent generation ever, running the most successful companies on the planet.

That doesn't make Boomers hypocrits. It simply means we've discovered other ways to affect change and we've used our education, brainpower and energy to  develop the technology that has made it possible for a white woman and a black man to be truly heard. Blogs, cell phones, web sites, and sophisticated Internet strategies are the electronic version of sit-ins, picket signs, petitions and protests. Tear gas doesn't hold a candle to a Boomer with a computer and an Internet connection!

So, what does this mean to you? If you want to reach Boomers, understand first of all that we aren't a large tribe that thinks and acts alike. On the contrary, we're all about choice and individualism and we expect to be approached with respect for our experience and intelligence.

What definitely hasn't changed since 1968 is that we still want to make a difference in the world and will use whatever means are available and necessary to be heard!

Boomers as entrepreneurs: we'll rule the future of business

On Friday, I got the opportunity to speak at one of my all-time favorite conferences, the annual meeting of the Women Presidents' Organization. The impressive group is made up of women entrepreneurs around the U.S. and Canada who run companies that collectively generate $8.3 billion in annual revenue. These aren't hobbyists - they're serious, smart business executives who really know their stuff. To the person, everyone I met was very impressive  and inquisitive.

The theme of the conference was innovation and my presentation was about how to generate great ideas that drive innovation. I argued that the best ideas often come from process and explained the seven steps Edelman uses to arrive at some of the ideas behind our best campaigns. (We call it the Pioneer Thinking Roadmap and it is a very thorough, facilitated process that works regardless of the size of the company.)

Attendees also heard from one of my all-time favorite authors and big thinkers, Malcolm Gladwell, who introduced the world to the concept of the tipping point.

One thing I especially enjoyed about this particular conference is that most of the women are boomers who are very enthusiastic about their companies and very willing to share their best practices with one another. I learned, btw, that 68% of WPO members do business with one another.

Maybe part of the kinship I felt was driven by the fact that my own company, Edelman, is a privately-held boomer-led company. Sure, we have our share of Gen Y and Gen X, as all agencies do, but for the most part, the senior management is made up of boomers who have extensive experience in business and a thirst for independence and creativity. Even the folks who run our digital practice are boomers, a fact that surprises those who assume only the "kids" understand or care about the digital revolution.

Boomers play a very important role in  business growth and will continue to do so for the next couple of decades. Already, 50-year-olds make up a quarter of the workforce and a full 40 percent of the self-employed. Look for this trend to grow in the coming years as boomers retire from Corporate America to start their own businesses. Perhaps you've heard it said we don't retire, we rewire.

So what are the implications of this rewiring? It is significant and includes, among other things:

> Companies with a large boomer employee population need to have strategies in place  to tap into this brain trust in a way that ensures skills transfers before the "brain drain" occurs;

> Companies that service small and medium businesses need to understand that these businesses will increasingly be run by smart, experienced boomers who will be demanding, creative and very inquisitive. They'll want to do business with people they believe are as smart as they are.

Perhaps the most important insight of all is that no one in any generation should assume retirement looks a certain way or that boomers are eager to abandon the corporate workforce just to travel and watch the grandchildren. We're just as likely to start travel companies that specialize in multi-generational travel!

In other words, what I witnessed at WPO is a glimpse into the future, one that includes independent thinkers who will run the economic engine and be very choosy about where they buy their fuel. Are you ready for them?

Boomers want style (even in mundane items) as a part of aging well

My husband and I just returned from a long weekend in the North Georgia mountains, where we took a little getaway to celebrate our 26th wedding anniversary. It was perfect convertible weather and we had a blast driving curvy mountain roads, eating in great restaurants and shopping in unique gift stores.

During our shopping treks, I couldn't help but notice a couple of interesting trends. I saw a lot more items clearly targeted to Boomers and seniors, including nostaligic posters, old tin toys, electronic brain games (right next to the kids' games!) and things like "ageless memories" books. By far, my favorite thing, though, was the countless number of very stylish walking sticks and canes.

Just a couple of years ago, these same shops carried wood carved walking sticks made from native trees and they didn't vary much. They clearly were all about function. This time, though, I saw all kinds of colorful, whimsical walking sticks, some of which carried little tags noting they were specifically for "hikers who seek style." That's code for "I don't want to look like I need this thing." In other words, Boomers and seniors can now hike with the grandchildren (or each other!) and use the walking stick or cane as a fashion accessory as much as for an assistive device.

I'll bet I saw 150 different styles in the course of a day. I even commented to Ralph that these walking sticks in particular would make a fun, interesting thing to collect.

To my way of thinking, these stylish sticks represent so much more than a fun, novelty item in a mountain gift store. They signal an overall trend we're seeing with Boomers. We're traveling more, trying new things and doing both with gusto and an eye toward companies and web sites that recognize that we don't want to defy age so much as we want to age well. We see no reason why we should have to sacrifice style for usability.

That's why you're seeing such a rise in everything from stylish, functional kitchen items to funky reading glasses.

Does your company provide or manufacture a common, functional device for Boomers and seniors? If so, are you keeping it relevant by making it stylish (or at least making the packaging attractive)? Maybe it's the device itself that needs a little spiffing up. Or perhaps you can start with the carrying case.

The point is that Boomers aren't gong to give up style for function as we age. We're still all about customization, personality, fun and above all graceful aging.

How wealthy consumers use social networks online: marketers should pay attention to their specific requests

Recently, I've noticed a huge uptick in the number of sites that let you "opt out" of having your information shared with others. In other words, you have to specifically tell the wizard behind the curtain that s/he CANNOT share your information; otherwise, you've totally lost control over who sees your data and acts on it. Your life is for sale.

Well, listen up, marketers. If you're targeting wealthy consumers, just know that according to a recent WealthSurvey by the Luxury Institute, 65% of wealthy consumers hate having to opt out. What's more, they'll disconnect from a site they believe will use their personal data without their permission.

No big deal, right? It's not like wealthy people (and boomers make up a large portion of this group) hang out in social networks.

Wait! Not so fast! It turns out that these wealthy Americans (those with an average income of $287k and an average net worth of $2.1 million) have membership in 2.8 social networks with an average of 110 connections. That means we've seen a huge increase in the number of wealthy consumers using social networks  -- from 27% in 2007 to 60% in 2008. Moreover, the number of wealthy consumers 55+ using social networks has grown five-fold to 49%.

I've seen evidence of this firsthand. The number of people in these categories who have reached out to me via this blog or through LinkedIn (the second most popular social networking site for the weathy, behind MySpace) has grown tremendously just in the past six months. I'm often pleasantly surprised to learn who's online and wanting to connect.

It seems almost counterintuitive that "rich" people would be online. Someone asked me recently, "Don't they have people who do that for them?" I replied, "Sometimes. But often they have 'their people' doing other things, which frees them up to spend more time online."

Whatever their motivation, marketers need to keep in mind that reaching wealthy consumers isn't all about exclusive events, parties and fancy direct mail. Check out the Luxury Institute site, by the way, to learn even more about the expectations of the wealthy.

Here's the bottom line: you can no longer assume you know how boomers and especially wealthy ones, think and act. That's why my company spends so much effort helping companies identify their Bull's-eye Boomer (tm). After all, why spend a fortune just to hit the outside rings when there's plenty of data now to help hit the bull's-eye every time?

Boomers hit the road in RVs and take the grandchildren with them

Despite gas prices already reaching $4 a gallon in some parts of the country, more than 8,000 people showed up in at the Georgia National Fairgrounds last week in Perry GA for Rally 2008, the world's largest gathering of RV enthusiasts. From reports I've seen, Boomers made up the largest number of attendees.

That's not surprising when you consider that Boomers love to travel and often want to take the grandkids with them. A recreational vehicle often satisfies the need to have the comforts of home with the flexibility of driving to your vacation destination.

There are seven types of "campers" and all were featured at the show, ranging from pop-up tents on wheels, essentially, to very luxurious tricked out 42-foot mobile homes that can set you back $750,000. Last year, Ralph and I toured an RV at the annual boat show (go figure) that listed at ONE MILLION bucks and got six miles to the gallon. Whew!

When I was a kid, my family camped all over the southeast. Mom and Dad piled the five kids into a Chevy station wagon towing a pop up camper my father had made and we visited every state park in Georgia and most in Florida during our summer vacations. We met hundreds of interesting people in the campgrounds and it was during this time we learned to love lake swimming. We cooked outdoors and used public restrooms. And not once did we watch TV while we were camping. (Most of today's TVs have multiple high def televisions!)

My Mom, a school teacher (and by that, I mean 100% of the time... she couldn't even tell you the time; she had to explain the time) insisted we tour the state the summer before we each entered the 8th grade because that's when we'd be studying Georgia history and she wanted to give us a head start. God bless her. Every road trip was the opportunity for learning. Meanwhile, Daddy saw it as a chance to teach outdoor skills that included using the river to chill milk and nailing a fish to a tree to scale it.

I think that's the difference in my parents' generation and Boomers. They were the original do-it-yourself types and Boomers are more the do-it-for-me types. That's why we think camping today takes place in a vehicle that can cost more than the homes we grew up in.

But they have something in common too. When all the kids were grown and gone, my parents bought a nice fifth-wheel RV and starting taking the grandchildren on trips. So our kids got the advantage of learning in the comfort of air conditioning.

Here's the lesson for marketers in all this: you can't assume that even in a soft economy that Boomers will be tighter with our money and forgo non-essential items. We put great value on enjoying our money and sharing it with family.

Frankly, I really like the trend of camping as a way to bond with family and create new memories. That's worth waaaaaayyyy more than $4 a gallon!