| Encouraging Outbursts Missing the Mark on the Over 45 Market By Kathy Lehan |
| Are companies missing the mark when it comes to meeting the needs of the over 45 market? Absolutely! Consumers over 45 years of age, specifically the aptly named "Baby Boomers: (those born between 1946 and 1962) are feeling slighted by many companies. Boomers comprise between 79 and 96 million individuals in the United States today. More than half of the population is expected to be over 50 by the 2010. This segment represents a very lucrative opportunity for many products and services, and not just retirement funds, senior homes and dentures. But the problem is product designers don't know how to design for this segment, because Boomers are not their parents. Most Boomers have a potential longevity greater than their own children or grandchildren. Their numbers represent an estimated $29 billion annually to the U.S. economy. It may be time for marketers and product designers to give them the attention they deserve. Boomers have more discretionary income than any other age group yet they don't spend at the rate younger consumers do. Why? Unfortunately, product designers don't seem to understand that it is lack of interest in certain products, it has more to do with design modifications. Most new products don't meet their needs. Many marketers and product designers fail to understand the increasing limitations of people as they age. Here are seven specific areas where companies are missing the mark with Boomers: 1. Packaging. Package design and user friendly packaging becomes essential to retain or capture the over 45 market. With the advent of safety seals, the over 45 consumer has had a harder time getting into packaging. All bottles and containers with inner safety seals should include a tab big enough and textured enough for less agile fingers to pull it off. Consumers should not have to use a knife to wrestle the top off their yogurt so they can eat breakfast. Hard plastic casings may provide a deterrent to shoplifting in the store but it may not be worth slicing open your hand trying to open it. This aversion to packaging wrangling causes some over 45 consumers to switch brands. 2. Quality. Boomers grew up with high quality products and have watched the quality decline over the years. Most women over 45 don't want to wear a shirt you can read the newspaper through because the fabric is so thin and cheaply made that after five washings it disintegrates. Boomers remember when quality products meant you could rely on the products to perform as promised. Quality clothing means flawless design, straight seams, and thick material that drapes well and holds up to multiple washings. Boomers are willing to pay for quality because they are not as price driven as younger consumers. 3. Classics. Many Boomers like the old products and still use them in their daily lives. But then one day they discover that the company they purchased their product from no longer provides service or replacement parts for it and they are forced to abandon their reliable product for a cheaply made, but not cheaply priced, replacement. Boomers want manufacturers to service and repair products they sold, regardless of product age. To not honor this relationship with the customer creates ill will among consumers who value integrity and honesty. 4. Change for no reason. Change for change sake is not always a good thing. The recent federal regulation requiring everyone to switch to digital televsion or lose their signal is an example of unnecessary forced change. Boomers remember when such a requirement would have been grandfathered (i.e., phased in over a period of years) so those who could least afford it would not be harmed. Companies no longer value all consumers, only those "upscale" customers they feel will yield more profits. This planned obsolescent may be a great way to sell more product but it backfires. Many Boomers wait to buy new products because this year's great idea gets scraped or changed next year. So Boomers wait and wait and some learn to live without new products. [Next page... Page 2] |
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