by Anne Mai Bertelsen, MAi Strategies-

For many years, marketers have shied away from targeting Boomers — particularly older Boomers, i.e., over 50 — on the theory that they were less affluent, less likely to try new products and less willing to switch brands.

Now, it appears, marketers are having a change of heart driven in part by the recession and in part by changing demographics — a change of heart that Stuart Elliott nicely summarized in his New York Times piece last week. Big marketers such as Target, Chrysler, Kraft Foods, L’Oreal and Procter & Gamble are discovering that older consumers, during this economic downturn, have not curtailed their spending to the same degree as younger consumers.  Even media outlets are reaping the benefits of an older audience:  CBS with its 60 Minutes and CSI iterations is first in network ratings; AARP and Family Circle magazines have seen less degradation in number of advertising pages.

Like so many other trends started by Boomers, it’s not entirely surprising that marketers would finally discover older consumers because of this generation.  The oldest of the Boomers is turning 64 this year; the youngest 45.  The Boomers have long been an attractive marketing segment:

• 78 million+ members
• $10 trillion (estimated) in discretionary assets – transferred to them by their dying parents and grandparents
• $2.3 trillion annual average spend on consumer goods and services

Boomers’ brand loyalty is up for grabs.  According to research conducted by Nielsen, only 20% of Boomers had a higher brand loyalty than younger age consumers.

Re-Think Strategy

But for marketers to capture Boomers, they need to re-think their strategies — beginning with the media mix.  Boomers are multi-media consumers.  They watch television, they listen to the radio, they read newspapers and magazines, they are digitally literate.

According to STORES, BIGResearch and the Boomer Project:

• 95% watch TV, with 77% of their viewing occurring between 7:30 pm and 11 pm.
• Two-thirds subscribe to cable TV and are most likely to watch Discovery Channel, A&E, the Food Network, ESPN and Fox News.
• They dislike reality shows.
• 76% listen to the radio - more than any other demographic.
• 49% listen to the radio during morning-drive time.
• Radio programming preference varies, from oldies to country to talk formats.
• 57% read their local daily newspaper regularly.
• 68% read their weekly community paper.
• 87% surf the internet, spending an average of 123 minutes online daily.
• 93% regularly or occasionally use the internet to research products before they buy them.
• 46% say online searches are triggered by traditional advertising or an article they’ve read; 45% are prompted by television or other broadcast media.

Boomers are also engaging in social media sites like Facebook and seemed to be over-indexed on Twitter

Additionally they need to undertake research to gain insights on Boomers’ attitudes, motivations and passion points.  While each generation has defining moments, the Boomers witnessed an incredible sociological and technological transition from the first television sets in American homes to space age exploration to racial integration to anti-war demonstrations to the advent of the internet and mobile technologies.  These events color and shape their identities, their insights and motivations.

For those marketers who make the effort to smartly court Boomers with integrated marketing campaigns that meet Boomers in the channels they use, on the content that they carry about, they will be happily in the black –  like ebeanstalk.com, an online retailer of learning toys for children whose sales are up 65% this year driven largely by the Boomers.