Golden Oldies

This isn’t your father’s retirement.

As the 75 million-plus Baby Boomers approach their 60s, marketing to seniors is taking another new spin. Baby Boomers, famous as the most active and free-spending generation in America, are as diverse and sophisticated as any other age group. That’s got marketers rethinking their pitch to seniors, with more targeted messages for sub-segments and no patronizing tone. And it’s got makers of mainstream products paying more attention to the demo.

“You still see ads that demean older people. But for the most part we’ve gotten away from the ‘Help, I’ve fallen and I can’t get up’ syndrome,” says John Nielson, vp-manager of Code 50, Minneapolis. Parent Colle & McVoy launched the over-50 division this August after it bought senior specialist Sandcastle Group, Minneapolis, in 2000. (Nielson was a Sandcastle co-founder.)

The 2000 U.S. Census found 13.3 million Americans between the ages of 55 and 59, 10.7 million 60 to 64, 18.1 million 65 to 74, 11.7 million 75 to 84 and 3.3 million 85 or older.

But a “senior” defined by traditional milestones is younger than ever: The average age of first-time grandparents in the U.S. is 47 years old, according to Nielson. Washington, DC-based American Association of Retired Persons (AARP) now targets prospective members at age 49. That change prompted AARP to get a facelift this year with an aggressive mass-media image campaign whose tagline, “Your voice, your choice, your attitude,” wouldn’t sound out of place in a Mountain Dew spot targeting teens.

Marketers are finding that it’s better to define “senior” as a mindset — or rather, as a collection of different mindsets, with the usual factors of household income, education, and family size overlaid with data on health, employment status (retired or working), and whether or not they have grandchildren.

“It used to be that all our health expo attendees were 66 to 70 years old,” says Bill Anderson, president of Expo Marketing, Inc., Fort Myers, FL. “Now, you’re seeing three groups: Snowbirds — Baby Boomers between 52 and 57 who are affluent and have homes in Florida and up North; Baby Boomers between 50 and 60 who are also taking care of their parents; and the 65-plus crowd that still has to stretch its dollars.”

Anderson says an emerging fourth sub-segment is former military personnel who retired while still in their 40s, started a second career, retired again, and are now starting a third career to stay busy.

Then there’s what Cary Badger calls “the Sandwich Generation.”

“They’re taking care of both their parents and their children,” says AARP’s director of marketing and database services. “There’s a lot of stress for this generation.” Asian and Hispanic boomers feel a particularly high level of stress due to strong family traditions, he adds.

Money Matters

Much of the stress is financial. That prompted American Express Financial Services, Irvine, CA, to address Boomers’ retirement concerns with corporate seminars and direct mail tagged, “We’ll help you get there.” Code 50 handles.

“The biggest change for us is how we reach our audience,” says Bob Britton, AmEx director of finance, education, and planning. “These people don’t lead a sedentary lifestyle anymore.”

The travel industry, too, has expanded the way it caters to seniors. This summer, Santa Clarita, CA-based Princess Cruises teamed with Minneapolis-based Häagen-Dazs Ice Cream for a Passport to Indulgence sweepstakes awarding Caribbean trips for two. Consumers mail in entry forms located under pint lids and on bar packaging. The campaign runs through March 2002. “We’re targeting seniors who want to enjoy life,” says vp-marketing Todd Putman. BEN Marketing, Stamford, CT, handles.

Princess also targets seniors with heavy direct mail, tailoring offers based on interests and abilities. Many mailings use a large typeface and bright backgrounds to make reading easier for the visually challenged.

“In the fall, kids and their parents go back to school and work, but the seniors are still prowling around,” says Bob Perlstein, president of Atlanta-based Sports & Entertainment Direct, which next year launches a “Snow Bird” sampling program at campgrounds nationally. The agency is signing up over-the-counter pharmaceuticals, insurance companies, and other marketers. “The over-50 crowd makes camping and RVs a lifestyle,” says Perlstein.

Exotic destinations are wooing older travelers, too. The Turkish Tourist Office tapped Code 50 to improve its targeting, and the agency’s research found that the average age of the 500,000-plus Americans who visit Turkey each year is, in fact, 61 — higher than the tourism office expected. “As people get older, they become more interested in collecting experiences than accumulating things,” explains Nielson.

“This demographic is highly educated and they have a high income,” says Levent Demirel, acting director for the North American Turkish Tourist Office, New York City. “They’re very interested in our culture and historical sites.”

In response to the findings, the tourism office tweaked its broad advertising approach, and this year ran a $4.5 million campaign that includes print ads in publications such as Travel & Leisure and The New York Times, and local TV spots in cities such as New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, and Miami.

Healthy, Wealthy, and Wise

Some marketers are making senior-specific brands more relevant to Boomers. Take AARP: “Our name was very well known, but much of our target audience felt it just wasn’t appropriate to their needs yet,” says Badger. “We rarely use our full name because today virtually half of our members are still working.”

Magazines are the cornerstone of AARP’s marketing program. In April, the organization began supplementing its flagship Modern Maturity with My Generation, a publication specifically designed for Baby Boomers. While My Generation contains many cross-over topics such as managing finances and staying healthy, its tone is more upbeat and contemporary. “Slim-Fast is advertising in the latest issue, and Jeff Bridges is on the cover,” says Badger. “That’s not something you’d see in Modern Maturity.”

AARP also launched Modern Maturity Working Edition to target 55- to 60-year-olds still in the workforce.

Health pitches have changed, too. Mead Johnson Nutritionals took its Boost Energy Drink on the road this spring in a fleet of branded vans to sample the nutritional supplement to seniors. The vans stopped at venues including the Senior PGA Tour, tennis tournaments, and senior health expos. Evansville, IN-based Mead, a division of Bristol-Myers Squibb, handed out samples and coupons at each event while offering incentives such as free bone density tests (a $70 value). EventNet, Ft. Lauderdale, FL, handled.

While the program performed well for Mead, budget restraints may prevent a repeat. “It was a good grassroots effort, but I’m not sure we’ll do it again,” says Boost brand manager Jeff Martin. “We’re changing our strategy to speak directly to healthcare professionals rather than consumers. That’s more of a budget issue than anything else.”

Health — both nutrition and exercise — is still a strong hook. Look for more marketers to develop programs around health expos and tailored exercise programs such as mall-walking clubs. EventNet’s Senior Mall Walking Tour distributes samples to as many as 200 seniors per day, per mall.

Watch for expos to keep growing as well. Expo Marketing Inc. hosts 10 senior expos and two health fairs in Florida, drawing as many as 13,000 attendees in large cities such as Orlando and up to 10,000 in smaller markets. Even Expo Marketing’s five home and garden shows draw a mostly 50-plus crowd, even though they’re targeted to all homeowners over 35. While most expo sponsors are local marketers, Anderson is talking to national brands, including insurance and banking, about sponsorships for 2002.

So much for retirement.