In our newsletter of August 2011, we highlighted the issue that the world should be preparing for the fact that a large segment of the world population—those born shortly after the second world war—have or will be reaching retirement age soon. Not only will this development have an impact of the transfer of wealth, which has been the topic of several newsletters, but it will also have an effect on the overall global commercial landscape. Most of the time when we address the future we tend to limit ourselves to technological developments, such self-driving and self-parking cars or how the developments in the field of mobile devices and apps will transform the way we receive, manage, and control information flow. But we also need to look had how marketing could change in the future, based on the increasing Boomer Senior population.

As is the case with many other developments, there will be no “one size fits all” with regard to financial management of one’s resources. Depending on where you are, the demographic landscape, might look different. The percentage of Boomers will be different in the various countries and continents around the world. One important variable is the age of retirement. In addition, the historical life expectancy of the country or region changes the demographic landscape a lot. As things stand now Japan and Europe will have the largest population of Boomers, followed by the Americas, which will have a more balanced distribution of age groups across the population. Finally, the developing countries and continents, such as India and many African countries, which have overall, younger populations, will have larger numbers of retirees. However, one thing will stand out for sure—a great deal of the world population with financial spending power will consist of active Boomers.

There are certain aspects of business and marketing which, if taken into consideration, might increase the chance of success for those who want to tap and exploit the benefits of this commercial opportunity. The Boomers are the segment of the global population that created the greatest wealth and, as mentioned above, the anticipation is that a large percentage of Boomer Seniors will remain active after they reach the retirement age. So in conclusion we can state that this segment of the world population will maintain robust buying power and should seriously be considered when drafting future business and marketing plans.

Some of the reasons why we believe that this segment of the global population will become an important factor for commercial consideration are based on the following:
Boomers live longer.
Advances in medical science and health-care have led to it that in general they live longer.

Boomers are more active.
No more “rocking chair” for the Boomers; these folks are more active because they feel healthy and have more free time, and they have the financial means to do what they want.

Boomers use technology.
The Boomers are computer literate and use email and social media platforms to exchange information and ideas with family and friends.

Boomers retire later.
Boomers have a tendency to remain part of the workforce—some by choice and others to make ends meet; they also choose to continue to work because work helps to keep the mind alert and the body active.

There are certain aspects of business and marketing that might increase your chances for success if taken into consideration when addressing this group. Some of these issues might include:
Techno-savvy but still like print.
While the younger generation has the tendency to move from print to virtual advertising venues, it is important to know that Boomers still like to read the newspaper over coffee, so print advertising would work for this group.

Get it in their hands.
As far as being more commercially viable, coupons and other sort of buying incentives should preferably be sent by traditional mail rather than asking a Boomer to access your site and click a download button to print them out.

Boomers want a website to be usable.
It might sound contradictory with the previous points but Boomers are computer savvy; they do make frequent use of their computer. Be sure to make your website accessible and attractive to all visitors—including Boomers. Keep it easy-to-use, make sure the text is large enough to be easily read, and where possible focus your message on helping seniors improve their quality of life.

TV is a popular Boomer pastime.
Boomers watch TV, so consider TV ads in your marketing mix.

Boomers listen to the radio.
As opposed to the younger generation who tend to listen to music downloads, Boomers listen to the radio. Therefore marketing via the radio can also be effective.

In summary we can state that Boomer Seniors have both time and money to spend. Go where they are and offer what they want or need!