Commentary
Marketer, Heal Thyself
- by Anne Mai Bertelsen , April 12, 2010
It's not a new lament; it's certainly been written about here and acknowledged by advertising industry watchers. But, as I left the meeting, it occurred to me that perhaps the problem was not the young agency creatives or the media planners but the Boomer experts themselves: perhaps, our own marketing practices contradict the very advice we dole out, serving only to reinforce rather than dispel stereotypes of what it means to market to Boomers.
Perhaps, if we want to convince the youthful decision makers, we should start with ourselves. We should look at our own sites, blogs and advice to see if we are "walking" the talk. Are we following our own advice?
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Not consistently. Here's what my unscientific sampling of Boomer expert sites found:
- Copy and creatives that equate a Boomer with a senior -- even though studies show that Boomers hate being labeled "senior." And, they hate it because they don't think of themselves as "seniors." Our society equates being a "senior" with being "retired," sitting on the sidelines of life. With a life expectancy of 78-80 years for Boomers, it's no wonder that Boomers believe there is still much more of life to live. Furthermore, Boomers are planning on working longer -- yes, some because they need to -- but many because they want to. They are definitely not looking to be retired. So, don't call a Boomer a senior.
- Advice that highlights fear, not aspiration, to motivate Boomers. The most effective advertising is aspirational in nature -- it speaks to what we desire to be -- productive, physical and valued; it doesn't scare us with fears of what we might become -- old, infirmed, obsolescent. Yet, so many experts forget that important marketing wisdom and instead highlight fears that Boomers have of aging. But, as a generation, we are not fearful; we are challengists. We challenge medicine, technology, society and politics to be better. And challengists are aspirational by nature. It's why they believe things can be better.
- An assumption that aging is a destination, not a journey. Our parents' and grandparents' generations looked at aging as a journey with a definite destination -- retirement. Given the struggles of their lives and the lower life expectancy, "retiring" was a badge of achievement. For us, "retirement" will be the start of a new phase -- perhaps of a new career, a new passion, or more time to devote to a lifetime passion. And, it most definitely is part of a journey, not the final resting spot.
- A heavy reliance on nostalgia, not progress. While it is important to understand the historical political, societal and cultural changes that helped shaped Boomers' psyche, it is equally important to remember that Boomers are a forward-thinking group -- and have been for most of their lives. It's this forward thinking that wrought important societal, political, and cultural changes -- and will continue to bring changes as we enter new phases. We are not nostalgic for the "good old days" but rather look forward to what's next -- whether it is in our personal or public lives or products we embrace.
This is not to suggest that all Boomer experts are guilty of all these transgressions. There are some terrific practitioners who are walking the talk and helping companies successfully marketing to Boomers. But, as a good friend and young creative director told me, it's hard to get excited about a target audience when the adviser is not. There's nothing sexy about selling products to a target that's old, retired, and fearful.
So, the next time you are frustrated at your inability to convince the young creative director or media planner or marketing client to include Boomers in their campaign, ask yourself if you are abiding by your own advice.
I couldn't agree more with ALL of your points. I'd like to know who you think (advertisers/experts/practitioners/advisors) are doing a good job of marketing Boomers.
Esther Surden
http://techandboomers.blogspot.com
The real answer is that you need to hire Boomer creatives and Boomer marketers to market to Boomer's.
Cause w/o fail, most of the workforce 39 and under make the assumption a Boomer is old, retired and fearful. They don't even listen to what a Boomer says, usually they are automatically dismissed.
And you have then what we have right now happening in the marketplace which is a collosal failure to create a call to action.
Lots of foolish choices being made by people who really don't have the chops to make things happen. Keep em in tech and social media and bring em up the ranks.
News has the same problem. Whoever they're replacing quality journalists with just don't have the same integrity, the same knowledge, or the same breadth and depth of thinking.
Seriously, no wonder we're all in trouble.
I coyldn't agree more with the markting aspect. So many advertisements are clearly not aimed at my demographic group it's silly. Not to mention the ones that are targted at my demorgaphic that just plain miss the mark. From a company perspective, our target audience is the 50+ active crowd. It's really, really hard to get young buyers to think that someone with a strand of grey hair just might be interested in being fit and staying active.
Is going for the bucks out of style?
Anyone who has watched a Superbowl in the last five years knows that nostalgia (a.k.a. classic rock) can attract and motivate the Boomer market. Lead halftime acts have included The Who, Bruce Springsteen, Paul McCartney, Prince and Tom Petty. These casting choices were not an accident.
When marketers lambaste "nostalgic marketing," I wonder if these critics have ever personally created nuanced advertising using nostalgic themes and empirically demonstrated that the techniques do not work (a.k.a. brand awareness, positive predisposition to buy, unaided advertising recall, increasing sales performance, positive brand identity).
It can be done badly — and has — but sophisticated nostalgic ads, based on nuanced insights, can be among the most resonate and memorable.
New in-depth psychological research from China and Europe validates the value of nostalgia in marketing communications: 1) depression and loneliness (negative mental states) can be mitigated by social networks; 2) nostalgic narratives can function AS social networks; 3) nostalgia addresses momentous, value-forming past events; 4) nostalgia often involves heroic themes and redemption, from dismal situations to triumphant; and, 5) nostalgia can help maintain health in aging.
Effective nostalgic advertising isn't just a trip back to the good old days, but a powerful way of connecting core values with present situations and future expectations. This has been done masterfully by BBDO for GE's healthymagination campaign, which I've recently critiqued: http://bit.ly/9JoICz.
Brent, thanks for sharing your thoughts. I'm not "bashing" all nostalgia -- and I might disagree with your assessment of the Superbowl stars. Some of them have been good but I would say the Who this year was painful.
Nods to nostalgia can be very effective as you noted in your piece; I'm objecting to the blatant use of it as if somehow if just hearing a Motown tune is suppose to open my wallet. And, a steady diet of nostalgia is a disservice to consumers -- not just Boomers.
We agree: throwing a Motown tune into an ad as merely an attractant demonstrates lack of nuanced sophistication, and some marketers have fallen prey to the allure of such a simple solution. Notice the GE ad did not even use a classic rock sound bed, although the creative director could have gone that way. Why not? The man's voice and story carry the advertisement as if a Walt Whitman poem. It's not about rock but about message resonance and delivery.
Pay attention to the new research about nostalgia, Ann. Marketing can become a form of healing (and nostalgia the healer), which, again, GE demonstrates with its new spot.
As far as The Who is concerned, I'm not their fan today and wouldn't have selected the group. But the string of classic rock acts during Superbowl halftime points to wide market acceptance of Boomer culture in the context of a multigenerational audience situation.
Not surprised Boomers object to "senior." The term was adopted because my mother's generation objected to being called "elderly," which newspapers, full of Boomer writers and editors would use to describe people in their 60s. She was in her mid-70s at the time and was 91 when she died in 2001.
What goes around, comes around.