Extra! Extra! Newspaper Publishers Refocus on Boomers

Faced with steadily declining readership -- as much as three percent in the past year alone -- daily newspapers have been desperately redesigning themselves to appeal to a broader cross-section of subscribers. Some publishers have finally figured out that they're only hurting themselves: alienating the Baby Boomers and Silent Generation readers who still do read newspapers.

Writes Joe Strupp in Editor & Publisher:

Some papers are finding that recent efforts to overhaul their daily print product with full redesigns, more "lite" news, cutbacks in story length, pages, and newshole, and even changes to the size or design of the paper's flag often elicit a backlash.

While editors and publishers caught up in the redesign craze claim that changes are needed to attract new subscribers, they may be losing their best customers by chasing non-readers — and chasing away confirmed readers. Statistics show that baby boomers (those between 44 and 62), are the largest demographic of loyal print readers in the U.S.

At last, publishers are figuring it out: They are in the news & information business, and they publish two products (newspapers and web sites) aimed at distinct markets (Boomers/Silent Generation and Gen X/Gen Y). The newspaper market is slowly dying out but it's still lucrative: Boomer readers have as much discretionary spending power as all other generations combined. Publishers need to milk that cash cow as long as they can before ol' Bessie tips over. With luck, they will have developed a business model by then that allows web sites to create their own content and remain profitable.

Boomer Project bottom line: Publishers need to make newspapers the best they can be for Boomers and seniors, and make web sites the best they can be for younger generations. Trying to make the two distinct products all things to all people will take newspaper companies straight to the media graveyard.

(Photo credit: American RadioWorks.)

Here Come the Simplifiers

John Quelch, an associate dean at the Harvard Business School, foresees the rise of a new type of consumer in 2008: the "middle-aged simplifier." This group consists of well-off people who are turning their backs on conspicuous consumption and the accumulation of stuff. They don't define their social status by the size of their McMansions or the number of range Rovers in their garages. They value experiences over material possessions.

Writing in a Harvard Business Publishing blog, Quelch does not analyze this phenomenon in generational terms. But a generational dimension is implied. He notes that the group includes "empty-nester baby-boomers ... who are tired of heating unused spaces in cavernous mansions, now preferring smaller houses with architectural character and intimate spaces, more charm and less maintenance."

This analysis is consistent with Boomer Project research findings that today's Boomers define their self identities less by how they compare to others -- "keeping up with the Joneses," as it were -- and more by their own internal compasses.

Quelch identifies four salient characteristics of the Simplifiers:

• They have more stuff than they need. The temperamental opposite of pack rats, they want to purge themselves of excess possessions.


• They want to collect experiences, not possessions. They'd rather dine out, go on an adventure travel or learn a new sport than buy a vacation home, with all the responsibilities and headaches it entails.


• Their stuff embarrasses them. Big, gas-guzzling cars and big, electricity-guzzling houses convey conspicuous consumption, which in the era of rising green consciousness, is deemed irresponsible, if not downright anti-social.


• Their wealth is so assured it no longer requires conspicuous display. "They reject the marketer's continual pressure to spend more money on possessions rather than on education, health care and other social goods."

The Simplifiers pose a huge challenge to the marketers of traditional consumer goods. As the number of Simplifers grows, suggests Quelch, expenditures on stuff by this group will lag rising incomes. Consumer goods multinationals may find richer rewards focusing on emerging markets where "stuff" still has allure.

(Hat tip: Dick Stroud at 50-Plus Marketing.)

Five Things Retailers Need to Know about Boomers

We were recently interviewed for the June cover story for STORES magazine, the trade publication of the National Retail Federation.

You can read the entire article here.

The "five things" are:

1. Boomers have two faces -- that is, there are leading edge and trailing edge Boomers, and because they are at different life stages, they have different needs from retailers. Don't treat them as a single group.
2. Single Income = Multiple Prospects -- fully One-third of Boomers – some 25 million people – head up single-income households. Careful, though: that doesn’t mean there’s only one person in the household, just one less person. More importantly during these difficult economic times, single-income households don't have brand preferences that are as strong as dual-income households. That means retailers trying to gain share from a competitor might be more successful luring uncommitted single-income Boomers. But what retailers out there are marketing to single-income Boomers?
3. Boomers are Zealots About Media -- they consume it all, but do so differently than younger consumers.
4. Grandparent Boomers are Nana from Heaven -- over 37% of Boomers are already grandparents. The average age of a Boomer who is a grandparent is 53. Oprah is 53. We're not talking about Estelle Getty from The Golden Girls. We're talking young, vibrant, active spenders -- especially on their new grandkids. Opportunities abound.
5. Target the Pepsi-Turned-Pepcid Generation -- There is a large underserved "middle market" of Boomers (McKinsey calls them "U-Boomers"). Figure out how to target them and you'll be in business.

Let us know what you think of the article, and tell us about any retailers you've come across that seem to understand the Boomer opportunity.

Misunderstanding Boomers Is News

Today's AdAge.com includes a story called "The Misunderstood Generation" about new research conducted by Edelman on Boomers.

The main learning appears to be something we've talked about -- being a "Boomer" doesn't make someone part of a affinity group, with similar likes and dislikes. It's simply a label used by demographers for those people born between 1946 and 1964. It includes some 78 million people, or one out of three adults in this country.

We use the term "Boomers" to get marketers to pay attention to this group, now that half of their members have crossed the AARP Line -- age 50. For the last 40 years, marketers ignored anyone over 50. With Boomers that age and older, marketers aren't sure what to do. Part of it is driven by the problem that Boomers themselves don't know what life after 50 is going to be like.

The Edelman research supports that, and apparently offers some insights about where to go from here.

Any marketer who thinks that group can be lumped into a single segment must not be that smart to begin with. Edelman's study, according to the article, identifies different segments within the Boomer cohort, including one that isn't wealthy, ready for retirement or very brand loyal. Our sense from the story is that Edelman , not surprisingly, are not interested in that group, which is about half of the 78 million. Instead, they want to focus on the

"...influential "bull's-eye Boomers," a term Edelman coined to describe Boomers whose opinions are well-respected and often solicited. The study showed that bull's-eye Boomers are typically wealthy, highly educated empty-nesters who are actively engaged socially, tuned-in politically and heavily involved in their community. Acting on research that indicates Boomers listen to other Boomers, Edelman believes bull's-eye Boomers carry a lot of influence."

Those of us who have been in marketing and advertising for a while will recognize that this approach is about focusing on the influentials, creating brand evangelists and relying on word-of-mouth to build brand preference.

The difference is that there isn't any talk of "age" of the "bull's-eye Boomer," because age doesn't matter when targeting Boomers (life stage, life style and other things are much more important than chronological age).

To be honest, other than our own work over the last five years, this is one of the first reports of other work being done in the marketplace to help marketers get a sense of what to do with Boomers.

Let's hope some marketers heed the advice.