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Four Generations, One Workplace
May 11th, 2010Generational differences and similarities have become a hot topic among media, considering that this is the “first time in American history that four generations are working side-by-side in the workplace,” according to a Forbes article published last week. My last blog post had a very similar theme, comparing Gen Y to it’s preceding generations. However, in my previous post, I focused on the methods marketers are using to reach these groups; for this one, I am focused on how these groups are working together.
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The Generational Divide?
April 28th, 2010Ever since I began working in the Public Relations industry a little more than two years ago, I found it odd that there was not more “buzz” around the importance of marketing to my generation – Generation Y (those born in the 80s and 90s). Marketers seemed to be primarily focused on the baby boomer generation (the approx. 77 million Americans born between 1946 and 1964) and Generation X (those born between 1964 and 1980). Don’t get me wrong, there were tons of messages, marketing and advertising campaigns targeted directly at us Gen Y’ers, but it seemed that all of the “How to market to…” “Why you should be targeting the…” “The importance of reaching the…” articles and books were about the generations before mine. I can understand why, considering that baby boomers hold the highest discretionary income, therefore the most spending power (not to mention being the largest % of business owners and huge influencers) and Gen X making up much of the mom population of younger children and often being the number one decision maker of the household when it came to purchasing decisions. Still, I wondered – “Don’t they realize that ‘we’ will soon be the top decision makers for the business and household?; that ‘we’ will be graduating college and working our way to earn ‘top executive’ positions?; that ‘we’ will be parents soon?”
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Florida Boomer Lifestyle Conference Makes the New York Times
April 23rd, 2010Michael Winerip, Generation B columnist with the New York Times, came down to cover the 2nd Annual Florida Boomer Lifestyle Conference. He stayed with us the entire day and wrote a great recap column of his key takeaways from the Conference. Below is a summary from his column. You can read his full column here and be sure to pick up the print edition on Sunday, April 25.
- Reinvention was the overall theme of the Conference and research unveiled by Schwartz Consulting Partners showed why:
- 39 percent of boomer households in Florida had someone who’d lost a job in the last five years
- 34 percent had experienced hospitalization
- 15 percent had a mortgage larger than the value of their home
- Almost half surveyed agreed or strongly agreed that they plan to work through retirement
- Some good news for Florida businesses – 74 percent of Boomers plan to stay in Florida
- It may sound bad that a quarter of Florida Boomers are now living with a parent or adult child, or both, but savvy marketers will find opportunity in this statistic by developing and marketing services and products that can meet these new challenges boomers and their families are facing
- Two speakers in particular – A.D. Frazier and Pat Deering – urged unemployed Boomer workers to not go back to working for The Man, but take control of their own lives by becoming an entrepreneur, self-employed or buying a franchise.
- With more elderly people staying in their homes longer, whether out of necessity or choice, speaker Laurie Orlov, founder of Aging in Place Technology Watch, shared that emerging technology and products are being developed to assist seniors in the home. Products like home monitoring and movement sensors, health alarms, computerized pill dispensers and GPS devices.
Companies Target Baby Boomers’ Changing Tastes
April 22nd, 2010Each year, we produce the Florida Boomer Lifestyle Conference with ChappellRoberts, a fabulous advertising agency in Tampa. Our 2nd Annual Conference just took place last week on April 15. It was an amazing day filled with informative content, a packed house of attendees, inspirtational speakers and we generated lots of media coverage. The conference is all about providing insights from expert speakers on how to successfully market products and services to the all important and enormous Baby Boomer generation, which is 78 million strong.
You know you’re on to something when BIG name brands like Pepsi and General Mills shift their marketing strategies to include targeting to this age cohort. Both companies recently announced a refocus in advertising to Baby Boomers. It turns out Boomer consumers eat the most cereal and snack more than other age groups. Research also shows Boomers are looking for healthier food that has less salt, fat and sugar and more fiber. So what is General Mills and Pepsi doing to become more successful among this group? They’re altering their products and developing new products that meet the wants and needs of Boomers.
Companies have been advertising to Boomers their entire lives so why change that now just because they’re no longer in the all-important 18-35 age range?
Read more on how companies plan to target Baby Boomers here: http://www.cnn.com/2010/LIVING/homestyle/04/16/food.marketing.boomers/
Discount Extended! Get 30% Off Conference and Workshop Registration Thru April 9
April 6th, 2010We have extended our offer of 30% off on registration for the April 15 Conference (save $58.50 off the $195 early rate) and another 30% off the Pre-Conference Workshop on April 14, “How to Live, Survive and Thrive in the New Gig Economy” (save $28.50 off the $95 regular rate).
To get the discounts, simply enter in the COUPON box on the registration form FBLCSAVE for the Conference and PCWSAVE for the Workshop. Discounts will be reflected on the checkout page. Hurry! Click HERE to register and save now!
