A co-worker of mine asked me the other day if I'd heard about the tsunami that was about to hit. Normally our conversation is about popular music or sports, so his weather statement caught me a bit off guard.
Then he forwarded me a recent post from InsiderRadio.com that brought things into perspective. His reference was to the "Silver Tsunami" that is gripping the nation. The trend is that as the US is getting older, the once coveted 25-54 demographic is losing the Baby-Boom generation. As of January 2019, all Baby-Boomers have exited, moving on to the 55+ age range.
The article suggests that advertising agencies and marketers need to rethink who their target should be going forward. Instead of targeting the 25 - 54 age range as in the past, it is time to think older and follow the money. And as Baby-Boomers age, they are aging with all the money! OK, maybe not all of the money but enough that they can't be ignored.
Tom Peters was one of the first business gurus back around the start of the millennium to talk about the need to focus on where the money was regarding marketing dollars, and that you cannot ignore the aging Boomer population. That trend is only intensifying as Boomers get older. Baby Boomers control 50% of the wealth in this country today, and 28% of retail spending based on findings from Deloitte Insights.
The grip on the cash that Baby Boomers have is not something that they are planning to relinquish anytime soon. Their current net worth of 50% of the wealth only drops 5% over the next 12 years. This is good news potentially for traditional media who continue to struggle in this ever-increasing digital age.
Baby Boomers have embraced digital, and I'm not suggesting that you shouldn't do digital campaigns for this segment. But I think Baby Boomers more so than the generations that have followed are holding on to traditional media. The best example is the newspaper audience.
Newspapers continue to struggle with maintaining circulation numbers. That issue is pretty universal. But the losses are a result of the industry's inability to attract the next generation of readers. This is a long term problem, no doubt. But in the here and now, I believe this is an opportunity.
Newspapers are strongest in the older demographics, especially Baby Boomers. What was once a vehicle to reach the masses is now becoming a vehicle to reach a specific target. And the good news is the target that newspapers reach happens to be the most lucrative segment in the marketplace, and it will be for another generation.
Market research budgets are a thing of the past for most media companies, but there is still at your ready resources that you can use to show newspaper readership. Which you should then match up those readership numbers with the wealth index for this country, and remind advertisers and agencies of the power of the Silver Tsunami.
In Indiana, data from the Hoosier State Press Association's 2017 Readership Study provides you with excellent data on the value of newspaper's older audience. The study, conducted by American Opinion Research found that 74% of adults in the Hoosier state over the age of 55 read a printed newspaper on a regular basis. That strong readership number coupled with a simple explanation about the Silver Tsunami is a powerful combination when talking with media buyers.
This reminds me of Ronald Reagan's debate with Walter Mondale during the 1984 presidential election. Reagan, at the time the oldest president in history emphatically told the audience, "I will not make age an issue of this campaign. I am not going to exploit for political purposes my opponent's youth and inexperience." He turned a potential negative into a huge positive, catching the audience and his opponent off guard.
Newspapers have the same opportunity. The perceived negative of the aging audience, at least for now, is still a positive opportunity. Newspapers continue to serve the wealthiest and most influential group in this country better than any other media outlet around.
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