baby boomer marketing strategies
AARP: The Magazine — has long since replaced “Modern Maturity”
“Senior citizens.”
“Retirees.”
“Aging.”
“Golden Years.”
“Silver Years.”
“Mature.”
“Prime Time of Life.”
Seven terms that a very perceptive academic journal article (by Kaylene C. Williams of Cal State-Stanislaus and Robert A. Page of Southern Connecticut State University) warns marketers against ever using when trying to appeal to baby boomers.
I would add another: “elder.” (See my post on why the non-profit tour operator Road Scholar was wise to change its name from Elderhostel.)
Why? I’ve made this point in previous posts and will make it again: most boomers — some of whom are turning 67 this year — do not consider themselves old. And if they secretly think they’re getting old, they don’t want to admit it, even to themselves.
Remember, leading-edge boomers, who came of age in the 1960s, didn’t want to trust anyone over… Continue reading
RVs for sale — and baby boomers are buying.
The recent news that the Winnebago company — which makes motor homes — nearly doubled its profits in the 2013 spring quarter is just the latest indication that the baby boomer recreational vehicle boom is in full gear.
Winnebago motor home sales jumped more than 50 percent in the same quarter, while trailer sales jumped 10 percent.
Some 9 million U.S. households — 8.5 percent — now own RVs, and the number is growing rapidly. One out of every six U.S. households say they have future plans to buy an RV.
Baby boomers — the youngest of whom are now nearly 50 years old — are Winnebago’s and other RV manufacturers’ biggest customers. And with many of the oldest boomers (now 67) retiring or nearing retirement, they’re devoting more and more time to travel.
RV owners average more than a… Continue reading
Captain Cook Cruises’ 130-passenger vessel sails through Fiji. Photo by Clark Norton
Possibly due in part to recent bad publicity about large ocean cruising vessels gone wrong, travel agents are seeing an upsurge in interest in small ship and river cruising, according to an internal American Express Travel survey released during a recent cruise industry conference in Vancouver.
The survey of 250 Amex agents showed that 38 percent of them ranked small ship cruises as their highest-demand voyages, followed by megaships at 31 percent and river cruises at 27 percent.
This dovetails with my own surveys of baby boomer travelers, who have often told me they would never consider taking a cruise — until I ask about small ship and river cruises. Then I often get this kind of reply: “Oh, those are different — I’d try them.”
Megaships carrying thousands of passengers — with their myriad on-board activities, entertainments,… Continue reading
Boomers on a ROW Adventures river trip. Photo from ROW Adventures
If you want to know how important boomers are to adventure travel tour operators, ask Peter Grubb of Idaho-based ROW Adventures, which was named Travel and Leisure’s top tour operator for 2012.
“VERY important,” Grubb told me, especially since most of ROW’s international trips are comprised primarily of members of the baby boomer generation, now aged 49-67. International trips may range from sea kayaking in Baja and whale watching in British Columbia to snorkeling in the Galapagos and venturing to Machu Picchu. Boomers, he notes, often have more time and money to spend on such trips than other groups.
Boomers also join many of ROW’s domestic adventure trips, which include rafting, hiking, kayaking and canoeing in the Pacific Northwest and beyond. (ROW began as a small Idaho river-rafting operation 34 years ago and has expanded rapidly over the past… Continue reading
Sailaway to Alaska aboard the Disney Wonder. Photo from Disney Cruise Lines
When my wife and I took a Disney cruise to Alaska last summer — sans kids, who are now grown — we weren’t sure if we would feel out of place on a Disney vessel. We had enjoyed all the usual Disney entertainments when our kids were young, but how would we fare as a couple on the Disney Wonder, sailing through Alaska’s Inside Passage?
Would we be overwhelmed with small children in the swimming pool and dining rooms, and besieged by roaming Mickeys and Minnies?
We needn’t have worried. While Disney cruises are certainly as family-friendly as you would expect, with far more kids sailing with Disney than on the average Alaska cruise, Disney is expert at balancing the needs and desires of different ages and interests — just one way in which they are expert… Continue reading
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