Oldies but goodies
Marketers, take note: Baby boomers have lots of money to spend
What's hip. The boomer generation has transformed every age and stage it has passed through. As children, boomers ushered in disposable diapers and strained spinach in jars. As teens and young adults, they introduced long hair, tie-dye clothes, and rock-and-roll music to popular culture. When they became parents, carmakers rolled out minivans and SUV s. Today, market researchers are at work studying the likes and dislikes of a generation in midlife with the notion that they'll also transform what it means to be retired. "Marketers are just beginning to grasp the nature of a society where 1 in 3 adults will be 50 or older by 2010," says Green. "We have to completely reinvent ourselves in understanding the middle-aged and older markets because they're critical to business success in the future."
For starters, boomers expect their 60s and 70s to be a time of rediscovery and reinvention, a period when they can pursue hobbies and try new things. "Half of all boomers live in households where the kids are gone," says Steve Audette, a marketing executive in the meals division of General Mills Inc. "They're rediscovering what it is to be single or a couple again." That's why the food company's Progresso soup commercials feature older adults learning Japanese or taking a pottery class. General Mills also targets empty-nest boomers with Pillsbury dinner rolls and Green Giant vegetables that are packaged in resealable freezer bags to allow for several small portions.
A fun job. During their retirement years, most boomers also say they expect to work--but on their own terms. "When I retire, I hope to expand the volunteer work I currently do, take a part-time job at Barnes & Noble or Borders--more to stay active than for the money--and spend more time traveling and going to museums," says Mary Medland, a 52-year-old freelance writer in Baltimore. Medland's intentions are echoed in a recently released Merrill Lynch study that found that 76 percent of boomers said they will probably hold down a job in retirement, and a majority of that group said they expect to cycle back and forth between leisure and work. "Retirement for this generation will be redefined as a turning point," says Ken Dychtwald, president of the San Francisco consulting firm Age Wave. "Somewhere near 62 or 64, they'll leave their primary career and maybe even enjoy the luxury of a year off. Then they'll launch into a new chapter in their lives," says Dychtwald, who helped Merrill Lynch--which recently unveiled a marketing campaign aligned with those expectations--conduct the study. That new chapter might be a volunteer stint or low-stress part-time work or the "fun" careers they've always wanted to pursue.
Research also shows that boomers don't necessarily want to high-tail it to warmer climes like Florida and Phoenix upon retirement. Instead they want to stay put in their hometowns and close to children and grandchildren. Retirement community developer Del Webb has noticed. Owned by Pulte Homes, it has begun building communities for 55-and-older adults near cities like Chicago, Cleveland, and Detroit, with biking and jogging trails, craft studios, bird and wildlife preserves, and in one South Carolina village that will open in 2006, a canoe and kayak station on the Catawba River. "You can commune with nature in retirement without necessarily having a 9-iron in your hand," says Pulte spokesman Mark Marymee.
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