Today, one out of every nine Americans is over 65, and, for the next 19 years, nearly 30,000 boomers will become seniors every single day. But in an age where 50 is the new 30, boomers don’t feel constrained by their age and marketers should take notice. I recently attended the What’s Next Boomer Summit in Chicago along with 400 other marketers interested in reaching this consumer (our Depend client also presented a case study on our work for The Great American Try On). Here are some key takeaways for targeting this age group:
- Age and frailty don’t sell. Age is just a number right? When 60 year olds are asked what age they feel, the average response is 45. And this only increases slightly as people get older. Boomers are active and are concerned with looking cool too!
- Boomers and millennials are a lot alike. Surprising, yes? You may think these are two very different target audiences but they actually share many of the same values. Hot topics like green work places, flexible schedules and work/life balance are very important to both segments.
- Entrepreneurs at heart. More boomers create start ups today than 20 somethings. Their motivation comes after spending many years in corporate America and wanting to embrace their creative sides.
- Don’t waste their time. Boomers have a lot of life to live and are extremely sensitive to anything that wastes their precious time.
Today’s boomers are different from every generation before them. Take some time to get to know them if you want to capture them as a target.
Image courtesy of Depend
Great idea from our client P&G and Omnicom partner agency Ketchum PR for Gillette razors. They conducted a survey that revealed nearly one out of three women have avoided kissing a guy because he had facial hair. So to demonstrate the benefits of Gillette razors, they are launching Kiss & Tell, a live experiment where women will reveal what they prefer best: first kissing their man with stubble, then kissing without following an on-site shave.
To reinforce Gillette Venus’ best-in-class technology, MMC brought beauty editors on a guided tour of how razors are made at the Gillette World Shaving Headquarters in Boston, Massachusetts.
Editors were able to experience “the Venus difference” through a look at Venus’ history and in-depth explanation of the technical innovations that make Venus a global leader in female shaving.
Image courtesy of Marina Maher Communications LLC
Image courtesy of Secret
On Thursday, September 20, 2012, MMC launched Demi Lovato as the new ambassador for Secret’s Mean Stinks program to kick-off the second year of the Mean Stinks anti-bullying movement. Demi surprised 9th grade students at The Young Women’s Leadership School of East Harlem during a special anti-bullying assembly to announce her partnership and the start to a ‘drama free’ school year. Demi joined the assembly to share her personal experience on overcoming bullying and met with a group of students to hear their stories and discuss how they can “Gang Up For Good” to inspire change at their school. Sporting a blue pinky nail, Demi inspired students to join her in taking the Mean Stinks pinky swear, promising not to participate in or enable bullying at their school or among their friends this year.
In just 24 hours, the story has already generated more than 109 million media impressions. Announced with an exclusive People.com story, the news has spread among top-tier outlets including Access Hollywood, WWD.com, NY Daily News, Perez Hilton, E!, US Weekly, Hollywood Life and many, many more. Tune-in to Extra tonight at 7PM EST for even more Demi & Secret Mean Stinks excitement.
Actresses Cloris Leachman and Sherri Shepherd are busting out their comedic chops to find the humor in menopause by headlining the Poise brand’s Hot Flash Road Show, a comedy tour making stops in New York and Los Angeles this fall.
The Hot Flash Road Show is part of The 2nd Talk (http://www.the2ndtalk.com/), an effort led by the Poise brand to start a conversation about menopause and help women approach this life stage with confidence.
The comedy tour will pair Cloris and Sherri to encourage women to have The 2nd Talk and help normalize the menopause conversation during stops in New York at Florence Gould Hall today, September 21, and in Los Angeles at the Brentwood Theatre on Friday, October 5.
MMC arranged media interviews with Cloris and Sherri to help launch the Hot Flash Road Show, which has been featured on “Good Day New York,” “Watch What Happens Live” and in AdAge.
Learn more about the Hot Flash Road Show and register for free tickets by visiting www.Poise.com/RSVP.
Image courtesy of Marina Maher Communications LLC
Today, MMC supported Sanofi US in announcing the FDA approval of Auvi-Q™ for the emergency treatment of life-threatening allergic reactions (anaphylaxis) that happen quickly and may cause death. Auvi-Q is the first-and-only compact epinephrine auto-injector with audio and visual cues that talks users through the injection process during a life-threatening allergic reaction. The incidence of anaphylaxis continues to rise in the U.S. and approximately half of patients and caregivers of children at risk worry that others will not know how to use their or their child’s epinephrine auto-injector The novel device is the size and shape of a credit card and the thickness of a smart phone and fits comfortably in a pocket or small purse. You can read more about Auvi-Q here and here.
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This past weekend, MMC leveraged the captive audience at BlogHer ’12 to showcase the Poise brand’s latest program, The 2nd Talk, which offers women a new way to talk about menopause. Poise also launched the first-of-its-kind line of over-the-counter products that provide comfort from menopause.
The Poise exhibit included phone booths where women listened to The 2nd Talk, and a Chill Lounge to relax in. Bloggers were also invited to share their thoughts about menopause, speak with experts and sample the new products. On Friday evening a select group of influencers and their friends were treated to a girl’s night out featuring the improv comedy troupe The All Girl Revue, which incorporated menopause and aging in their routine and had the audience in hysterics. Women also had the opportunity to speak with psychologist, aging expert and Poise brand advocate Dr. Vivian Diller.
The event and exhibit got women buzzing online about Poise. More than 75 tweets throughout the events focused on menopause. Twitter highlights include multiple tweets from @Raelt, @LisaLFlowers, @audreyvp and @QponJunkie.
Click here to watch Poise Senior Brand Manager Akrit Malik discuss The 2nd Talk, the Poise brand’s new program to support its first-of-its-kind line of over-the-counter products that provide comfort from menopause.
