Media Options: Eons.com Catering To Boomer Tastes

When Eons.com was launched last July, the venture was based on the notion that aging baby boomers needed their own place to hang out on the Web. Seven months later, it appears that founder and CEO Jeff Taylor's bid to create a MySpace for the mature set is paying off.

In addition to social networking staples such as profile pages and blogs, Eons packages a range of content and features carefully tailored to the 50-plus crowd. Try finding an obituary section or a longevity calculator on Facebook, for instance.

To date, the site has drawn more than 500,000 unique visitors a month and 125,000 registered users, according to Eons' internal tracking. comScore Media Metrix puts Eons' monthly traffic at about 250,000, while Nielsen//NetRatings has it considerably higher, at more than 800,000--highlighting how widely traffic estimates can vary for smaller sites.

Taylor, best known as the founder of job site Monster.com, has done his part to bring boomers to Eons through the medium they grew up with--television. As pitchman-in-chief, he has appeared in spots that have aired on cable networks including MSNBC, CNN and The History Channel. He also pops up in brief online videos on Eons that introduce the site's various sections.

"We're already ahead of plan and on our way to a couple of million unique visitors by the end of the year," said Taylor. Eons isn't aiming for a MySpace- or YouTube-like audience. The goal for now is a more modest 5 to 10 million users, "which is still fathoms larger than anything that's been put together for this age group," said Taylor.

Venture backers are piling in. Eons this week announced a $22 million second round of venture capital funding led by Charles River Ventures. That's on top of the $10 million it raised last year from General Catalyst Partners and Sequoia Capital, which also participated in the second round.

Underlying investor confidence in Eons is the assumption that the massive demographic shift of boomers to their golden years represents a golden opportunity. The 50-plus crowd controls 50% of all U.S. discretionary income and has 65% of household worth, according to a recent Barron's cover story titled "Geezer Power," citing data from Deloitte & Touche.

Eons wants to be the online hub that connects marketers with the spending power of that group. The site kicked off with a half-dozen founding sponsors including Hyatt Hotels & Resorts, Humana, Verizon Wireless and Liberty Mutual. Taylor said he's now talking to another 100 advertisers spanning health and beauty products, travel, and entertainment about doing business with Eons.

For its part, Humana said it has been satisfied with its sponsorship of the site's health section to date, and is exploring other ways to take advantage of the site's features and content. The same goes for Verizon Wireless. To that end, Taylor plans to integrate e-commerce and branding opportunities more closely into the site based on user habits and feedback.

So far, Eons' specialized interactive tools appear to be among the most popular aspects of the site, according to Taylor. That includes things like its longevity calculator, a section for entering a list of "LifeDreams," of which members' top 100 are ranked on the site, and a "LifeMap" feature for charting important life events online.

Eons' own search engine, dubbed "Cranky," which ranks and rates results with input from the site's users, has also proven popular. "We want to take the things that this group aspires to and wrap a set of resources around them," said Taylor. Because one in 10 Eons users have listed going on a cruise as one of their "LifeDreams," for instance, the site could potentially develop a campaign with a cruise line tied to that feature, or within its travel section." There are amazing ways for advertisers to work within our system," said the effusive Taylor.

Not everyone is sold on a coming boomer bonanza online, however. David Cohen, executive vice president of digital communications at Universal McCann, described the social networking space for adults as "interesting," but said the agency is still focused on a younger demographic online.

"We don't have many clients that are going after that group," said Cohen. "One of the challenges in that age segment (50-plus) is that brand preferences are already solidified." He explained that marketers typically want to go after younger consumers whose tastes are still forming.

To date, Cohen said he's also had more contact with Gather.com, another new social networking site aimed at adults but not as focused on boomers 50 and over. Launched last March, Gather has a looser feel and a greater emphasis on groups and user-generated articles and photos.

Neil Sequeira, a partner at General Catalyst and Eons board member, said it may take agencies longer to come around to the benefits of marketing to boomers online.

"It's shocking to me that people think this demographic is not attractive to advertisers," he said. "This group of people are living longer and leading full lives."

That means e-commerce vehicles or direct response campaigns on Eons may ultimately better suit its users than strictly brand advertising.

When it comes to areas such as travel, health and fitness and financial services, "transactions are very important for this age group," said Sequeira.

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