THE BABY BOOMERS : Why Grey Matters; Over the hill at 50? Retirement on the horizon? That is SO...

Today's 50+ market - the baby boomer generation - is ready to carry on forever. Forget change-of-life; baby boomers are changing lifestyles, often embracing new careers. Retirement is for seniors.

Nielsen Panorama Q4 2006-Q3 2007 data, defining baby boomers as 45 to 64 years old, indicates an

Senioragency NZ research shows people over 45 control 71% of the nation's wealth with those over 50 controlling 65% of disposable income. By 2021 the over-50s market will have grown by 27%; at the other end of the scale the under-20 market will have shrunk 5%, says md Chris Schultz.

But how well is the boomer generation understood by advertisers and marketers?

"Baby boomers are discussed a lot," says Lisa Ralph, business development manager at ACP Magazines. "And both the boomers themselves and those targeting them are often turned off by the term.

"With over 40% of Kiwis aged over 40 today, we looked at how the baby boom has affected the balance of our population - over 48% will be 40 plus by 2016 - and found essentially that boomers are not being targeted by marketers.

"When they are, it is too often around the negative aspects of aging - like incontinence and blood pressure - not the positives, like their having the financial freedom to travel and enjoy their lifestyle, being comfortable in their own skin."

Senioragency NZ is part of the first international network specialising in baby boomers and beyond. "We're all boomers in the agency - you've got to be," says Schultz. "To know them is to understand them.

"We're in an industry where the average age is 28 years. Agencies are very much focused on the sexy, the now and winning awards. Targeting boomers at the end of the day is a business decision. It'll be clients, senior management and business owners, not agencies, who'll make the move to recognise them."

However, DraftFCB media chief Derek Lindsay believes marketers are targeting the baby boomer group. "They may not always be referring to their target audience specifically as baby boomers but the group is clearly being provided for and marketed at."

Lindsay cites categories, including new cars - particularly high-value European models - home improvements, anti-aging skincare products, travel and holidays, financial products and entertainment as among those attracting the above average disposable income of "some but not all" baby boomers.

"In addition there are a number of advertisers who will target a broader group which includes them. Baby boomers on their own are not targeted specifically because sales and consumer data will highlight a broader audience and for a lot of brands appealing to a broader audience should help to drive a greater volume of sales."

"Basically the model that agencies use needs to be updated," says Evergreen Marketing Communications director, Lauren Edwards. "Not only are consumers doing things later in life than they did in the '60s - in 2006 the average age of a first-time mum was 31; in the '60s it was 23 - there's also the myth that all major life changes have taken place by the time you're 50 and that during the second 'half' of life, you have fewer events driving purchasing periods."

Baby boomers, says Edwards, lead a life vastly different to that of their parents, with blended families, high divorce rates, children staying at home longer, care of grandchildren and often care of elderly parents, extending household and family purchasing well into the 50s and 60s. "Then there is the boomer attitude towards spending which is quite different to the seniors' post-war thriftiness."

Nowadays, 50 is the new 30. It's the baby boomer mantra. (Google it, and you'll come up with 128 million results - including a report which states "women in their 50s, once considered over the hill, are now considered desirable and sexy".)

"It's driving me insane," says Media 360's Dale Spencer. "And don't you always notice it's people over 50 saying it. Perhaps it's some sort of positive self-reinforcement." But he acknowledges baby boomers are too big a group to ignore and mostly a great opportunity missed.

"There is no doubt that this generation is vastly more active, participates in more things, spends more and is more influential than previous generations of this age."

Generations X and Y are still the main focus for most advertisers, says ACP's Ralph. "Because of the baby boom in the 1960s, over 55,000 more people will be turning 50 and 60 in the next 10 years, while only 24,000 will be turning 20 and 30.

"By targeting only the young, you are talking to an ever-decreasing demographic." Ralph suggests that by moving the All People 25-54 demographic out 10 years, marketers would encompass the increasing population bulge and with that attract a far greater disposable income.

"Some of the best campaigns we've seen have been trans-generational," says Lauren Edwards who cites Dove and Air NZ as examples of very successful work that attracts all ages and actually taps into generational differences.

"The key is to approach the mature market as an extension of your current activity. Certainly with 820,000 households aged 45+ in NZ, it shouldn't be thought of as 'niche'."

Wired

Today, 85% of Kiwi baby boomers have access to the Internet (75% have Internet access at home), 33% have a broadband connection and 40% made an online purchase in the last year, according to Nielsen Panorama figures which also suggest this is the fastest-growing group online.

Online lifestyle magazine <A HREF="HTTP://GrownUps.co.nz" TARGET="_BLANK">GrownUps.co.nz</A> caters specifically to the 50+ generation and founder Richard Poole says it currently attracts around 50,000 unique visitors a month. "Not only from people 50+ but also their children searching out 'safe' websites for parents who may be new to the computer, or getting information on their behalf."

GrownUps.co.nz offers the visitor a mixed bag with travel and health information and discussion groups top of the popularity list. It's an audience that prefers 'tactful' advertising, rather than banners, says Poole. "Visitors seem to prefer to read about products and benefits within the site rather than click directly out from banners. The site also allows people to read at their leisure then comment and even discuss the brand with fellow GrownUps."

Poole says some advertisers, particularly in the finance and travel sector, have been with the site since its inception and he reports growing interest from areas such as telecommunications and health and wellbeing products, "as the myth that people over 50 aren't online is proved incorrect".

Radio active

Baby boomers may be the first television generation, but for the most part they cut their teeth on radio. Sometimes literally.

But boomers are really two generational subsets, 49-60 and 43-48, says David Brice, The Radio Network's director of programming & marketing. "The common unifying cultural touchstone between them is the influence of music and in particular rock 'n' roll."

Boomers, says Brice, are the new customer majority. "It's taking the marketing fraternity time to work this out. They control half the spending and index well above the norm in many categories." And they don't stop spending because they're 50. "These people pay cash for a new LCD," says Brice. "An enticing customer profile you would think business would be falling over itself to target."

RadioWorks also has the ears of the baby boomer. "From our own research and focus groups we know the music is a potent connector with this lot," says group marketing director Katie Mills. "We present them with a couple of brands [Solid Gold and The Breeze] that they can relate to and play the music they love."

And, she says, they're seeing more targeted campaigns designed for boomers, "from breakfast cereal to property investment".

The growth in the group can't be ignored, says Mills. "This is the do-it-for-me generation. They want to spend their cash. I think there's a tendency to over simplify boomers. They are a disparate group and the first to experience fragmented media."

Linked to ink

The Nielsen Panorama data confirms baby boomers are heavy print consumers - 47% read the newspaper at least six days a week and 46% read six or more magazines.

And like radio, magazines targeting the boomer are looking at two different groups of readers. "Reader feedback told us 50-year-olds -the new 40 - do not want to be referred to in the same category as 60 and 70-year-olds," says Rebecca Harris, is general manager of Target Media, publishers of 50+Living, a free publication distributed nationwide.

She says the result has been the development of two new titles - Retirement Today, to be released in May, and ForeverForty. "Advertising support is growing. Slowly agencies and advertisers are coming around to this market and its impact on spending in NZ."