Your Brand Is Missing The Largest Share Of Wallet And Their Vote

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If you are a Presidential election Super Pac or committee, selling destinations, travel or autos, don’t miss the wealthiest U.S. demographic, Baby Boomers ages 48 – 66. They consume online media at a rate of 15 hours or more per week, longer than Gen X or Gen Y and spend more each month online. 

Which demographic shows up to vote? 

For the first time, people over 45 years of age represent a majority of the voting age population and they vote. In the 2008 election, the U.S. Census Bureau reports, 59% of all Baby Boomers voted, with older Boomers being more likely to vote than younger ones. Boomers over age 55 had a voter turnout of over 70%. (Source Gary Halbert) 

Do you sell a travel destination or cruise trip? 

As marketers, we know that consumers ages 45 + have the desire and resources to travel. Boomers grew up with travel options as highways expanded and plane technology improved. Boomer consumers purchase 80% of the luxury travel and over 60% have their passports. There’s pent-up demand for travel from years of recession and travel planning is beginning to rise. 

Which demographic group influences or makes 80% of household decisions?

Baby Boomers. According to Marti Barletta, once the college bills are out of the way and children are on their own, the discretionary spending power of 50-plus women soars. They spend 2.5 times what the average person spends. Women are the primary buyers for computers, cars, banking, financial services and a lot of other big-ticket categories. Boomers purchase 62% of autos, now that’s a big ticket item! 

Baby Boomers grew up with a love of cars, travel and involved with politics. The three categories of business is just a partial list of the spending power this demographic enjoys. It should be noted that Baby Boomers purchase 94% of CPG, purchase most health related and garden products and spend billions on grandchildren. Is your brand engaging them and getting your share of wallet? 

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2 comments on "Your Brand Is Missing The Largest Share Of Wallet And Their Vote ".

1. Paula Lynn from Who Else Unlimited
   

   commented on: July 16, 2012 at 1:28 p.m.
   The largest portion of newspaper, yes newspaper, readers are boomers. Just sayin' some advertisers are missing a boat.
2. Marti Barletta from The TrendSight Group
   

   commented on: July 24, 2012 at 3:15 p.m.
   Nancy - Thanks for the acknowledgment - and for all your excellent writing on Boomers. Loved this article's factoids on luxury travel purchase and passports! Just amazing how marketers remain so oblivious. Almost makes you wonder if it's some sort of "willful blindness," to borrow Margaret Heffernan's book title. It's not the facts aren't clear here, right? I can't wait until some major player wakes up and "discovers" Boomers. Wait, I think Nielsen "found" 78M Americans 50+ just last year! It was sort of hilarious actually, how they started crowing about their remarkable revelation, when so many of us have been banging on the media door for years!

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