A momentous paring of powerful demographic events has just occurred — the 65+ are the fastest-growing segment of our population — and every 8 seconds, a “leading edge” boomer is having a 66th birthday in 2012. And remember, there are 80 million of them out there. Corporate America is unprepared for this demographic revolution.

As baby boomers join this fast moving parade to seniorhood, the market is being redefined by a generally more wealthy, demanding consumer. Cognizant of substantial revenue at stake, advisors, marketers, advertisers and sales professionals are striving to understand and connect with their mature target market. In doing so, it is essential that your differentiation and segmentation are based on more than just age.

Older consumers are not one simple category, and should not be approached as such. Instead, successful marketers will segment their mature target market into sub-groups, according to health status, life stages, socioeconomic circumstances, values, generational cohort and personal histories. Keep in mind, your own age and life experience as a marketer will influence your ability to empathize and understand the life changes that define your older customer.

For instance, a person’s health status has a dramatic influence on their perspective. Chronic conditions are a natural part of the aging process and your mature target market will include people dealing with a very wide range of issues, some more serious than others. They may suffer from arthritis, impaired vision, changing metabolism, cardiovascular disease, osteoporosis, menopause, prostate problems, Alzheimer’s, or some combination of more than one of the above. Are these customers sick or well? They’re both, and they will in most cases manage these conditions seamlessly for many years. Communicators with any segment of the mature market should be mindful of the influence these evolving conditions will have on their customers’ needs, perceptions and choices.

Research has also shown that consumers’ life stages have perhaps the most profound impact on their thinking and behaviors. Life stages define the way people look at the world at any given moment. For example, some mature market consumers are dual income and have kids at home. Others may be empty-nesters enjoying their new found freedom whose adult child just lost a job and has moved back home. Your target customer may be a grandparent, retired but still working part-time. Older seniors may be struggling with the loss of the spouse; this may leave them with financial concerns or symptoms of depression, even if they never dealt with these problems previously.

Another may find that their caregiving responsibilities for a loved one in another state occupy nearly every waking thought. Nearly 50 million Americans define themselves as “caregivers” today. This is a massive area of need and opportunity currently being overlooked by many companies.

The point — at any given moment, your customers defining life stages will determine the messages they will tune into, the advice they need or the products they will buy.

The bottom line is this — with every “life change” comes an array of important “life choices”. It is critical to understand your customers’ “life changes” so you can be there to participate in their important “life choices”. These are “triggering events” and it is critical that you are prepared to engage clients at these life-choice moments.

Understanding how these scenarios define and influence your customer is essential to serving them as effectively, conscientiously, and profitably as possible. Don’t gloss over available data on your target market, but incorporate it into strategy and, where possible, conduct your own research into developing lifestage driven profiles of the customers you seek to reach.

Jo…Cost transparency is both a big topic and a core problem in HC. It is one I have a very strong personal POV on. I’ll briefly give you what I feel is the core message for patients/insureds and providers.

American consumers have almost no understanding of what “healthcare costs”. Unlike other major expenditure’s in their lives where they comparison shop to the dollar, (think auto, air ticket, appliances, hotels, rent, contractor bids, etc.), most consumers, until recently, never or rarely asked what a therapy, new drug, another test, 10 sessions with a PT, an extra night in the hospital, etc., will actually cost. Historically co-pays have been so low for the well-insured they haven’t asked and still don’t to this day. Providers? Well let’s just say they tend not to offer.

This has begun to change over the last number of years. Fewer consumers are “well-insured”. The biggest change has come from the millions of self-employed who now purchase high premium/high deductible individual insurance. They’ve had an awakening — all it takes is that first trip to an ER, that first question to your MD about “generic vs brand”, that first decision about whether to do the MRI or settle for the X-Ray, etc. — as they often pay the first $5k of cost, this consumer has started asking questions.

Healthcare providers are quite unprepared for it, but millions of the “new” consumers I refer to are going to be asking about prices, looking for second opinions, questioning care plans, insisting on the generics, etc. They are even looking for prices to compare procedures internationally (medical tourism). It is absolutely critical that this new consciousness regarding HC costs emerge from how we implement HC reform or we will have achieved very little. I think for millions of consumers who have been shielded from cost consciousness, this is about to change, they are about to “get smart” about HC shopping. All they have to do is ask their self-employed neighbor with individual insurance how it’s done.

Many think that better information on quality and cost (transparency) will be enough along with HSA’s, pay for performance, technology, etc. to motivate this consumer evolution– I think it will still require the act of pulling money out of their billfolds to bring about this change. Now if we can just get physicians and hospitals to join the parade….??? Bruce Clark

Now that the oldest baby boomers are on the verge of retirement, panic has erupted over the future of Social Security – and investment markets. In recent years, most retirees have sold out of stock shares and attempted to generate a flow of current income with low-risk bonds and certificates of deposit. There has also been a trend of downsizing homes, as retirees snap up smaller holdings in regions that are sunnier or, in some cases, closer to family. Some analysts and commentators have tended to assume these trends will continue apace as baby boomers become the retirees of tomorrow. So far they’ve been right as we witnesse a bear market accompanied by a near collapse of the housing market.

While this vision of the future is plausible enough, baby boomers have turned their entire collective existence into a kind of homage to the unpredictable and the unexpected. In other words, stock market and real estate investors would be wise to avoid premature judgements: the generation that drove the longest bull market in American history may not be ready to pull up stakes and assume the senior citizen mantle just yet.  The fact is that baby boomers almost certainly will not retire as early as expected, or at least will hope not to.

A widespread lack of savings among members of this generation, in part a product of their lifestyle, also means boomers must work longer to enjoy the choices they have made and that to which they’ve become accustomed.   It’s not just a matter of baby boomers living in luxury. A significant number have put off families until middle age; another hefty portion have had second families in recent years. This means many will still be putting kids through college at age 65, and therefore might not be ready for retirement at the usual age. And the standard retirement age, once 65, has increased.

Congress has raised the age at which full Social Security benefits are available: it is now 66 or 67, depending on the year in which one was born. Of course, how long full benefits will exist is now anyone’s guess. For the youngest boomers, only recently turned forty, assuming Uncle Sam will pick up the slack no longer makes sense.

On a brighter note, increased longevity means 65 is just not as “old” as it used to be.  In the eyes of many, 80 might be old – but there’s no reason why a 65-year-old should slow down just because tradition dictates it.  So, financial concerns and extended life spans mean many baby boomers will stay within the work force for longer than expected. On the other hand, a recent decline in average retirement age suggests some are moving in the other direction. Some boomers took early retirement packages amidst corporate downsizing crises; the job market had slowed, and getting out seemed the only option, whether they liked it or not.

Whether they retire early or late, however, the point is that baby boomers are likely to stagger their retirement over a much more protracted period of time than did earlier generations. Slotting boomers into an unsuitable mould will leave a lot of observers confounded.

Dr Bruce Clark joins with Health Strategies Group to offer corporate leaders and decision-makers tools for responding to this change.The population of the U.S. is rapidly aging and the impact of genomic medicine is growing significantly. These two trends, and their “tributaries”, will transform the future of health care as we know it. Insofar as healthcare is an industry, and healthcare providers must stay competitive — questions abound regarding the best means of preparing for these “disruptive” new scenarios.

Companies want to know how to keep their board members and executive team on the cutting edge with regard to transformative currents shaping the future of health care. To answer this dilemma, Initially developed for and presented at The Governance Institute, this half-day “executive briefing” features the nation’s leading authorities on genomics and aging and is now available for your organization’s board retreat or other executive strategy session.

The expert faculty of genomics and aging experts is led by Bruce Clark, D.P.H., co-founder of Age Wave and Impact Presentations Group. Considered one of the nation’s foremost authorities on the business implications of an aging society, Dr. Clark’s team is well equipped to educate company decision-makers on topics such as the new supply in genomics medicine and demands of the new mature consumer.As waves of discovery in biotechnology and genomics gain force, significant implications arise for all health care sectors. Genomics topics include: the convergence of genomics, robotics, and nanotechnologies; widening use of genomic drug interventions, reclassification of therapeutic modalities and the revolution taking place in testing and personalized medicine. Topics addressed in the “New Supply” module include: how reform will redefine the private health insurance model; the rise of an “ownership” society; the impact of the substantial expansion of services available; skewing of optimal and cost-effective assessments of health status; greatly activated consumers.

Through this discussion, attendees will receive a broad and detailed picture of biotechnology today and how it fits into the context of our health care system.That context also includes an increasing number of mature Americans – and, in particular, more mature Americans spending more on healthcare (including discretionary spending). The “New Demand” module will include: Generations of Medicine, a multi-media exploration of who we have been and who we’re becoming; explanations of four trends that will transform the future of healthcare and two trends changing the healthcare consumer; new research on the defining characteristics of the “new mature consumer”; health information technology and the older consumer; what the longevity revolution means for the concept of growing old; the use of consumer choice models and retail health markets; the task of healthcare decision-making in a multi-generational society, and ten crises health care leadership will face in post-reform America.

For more information please contact bruce@drbruceclark.com.

The baby boomer generation begins turning 65 in 2011 – which means most boomer workers with retirement savings accounts will soon be eligible to withdraw their stores without penalty. The generation that’s powered the last few decades’ GDP and kept the workforce going strong will soon take its leave from the workplace. What will this mean for labor in the United States over the next several years?

Worries abound that the baby boomers’ retirement en masse may result either in worker shortages or increased rates of outsourcing abroad. The Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM) has attempted to present a reasonable and plausible forecast in its recent Future of the U.S. Labor Pool Survey Report.

According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the overall national workforce will grow by 12 percent by 2012. However, the percentage of workers aged 55 and older will increase by 49.3 percent. Many baby boomers may remain in the workforce to age 65 or beyond – but eventually, when they retire, HR professionals will be faced with the dilemma of replacing them.

According to some analyses, too many of those entering the workforce lack core competencies – a serious issue that will further complicate the staffing difficulties presented by boomers’ retiring. Many HR professionals in both the private and public sectors are slow to acknowledge a rocky road ahead. Only half of HR departments surveyed provide skills training for permanent staff on an ongoing basis or are researching how pay scales can be modified to remain competitive. This may be because only a quarter predict the flood of retiring boomers will be a problem to their organizations (though 43% say it has the potential to become a problem).

The SHRM’s survey found that almost no organizations questioned have plans to relocate; however, 17% have looked to fill jobs overseas, and another 17% intend to explore outsourcing possibilities in the near future. In part, this may be because of a perceived lack of skills in the domestic labor pool. About half of responding HR departments said they find new workers entering the workforce lack overall professionalism, written communication skills, analytical skills or business knowledge.

What can be done about these sobering concerns? The SHRM’s report uncovers a number of problem areas within the US labor force, and creative solutions will be integral to addressing fundamental obstacles before they become a crippling problem for business and industry. The retirement of the baby boomers is at a critical juncture for the US economy and the way it is handled by various sectors will go a long way towards determining the future of the nation’s competitive edge.

The senior population of the United States is set to double by 2030. This increase in mature citizens will mean multifaceted change for our society, and also new challenges – particularly with regard to how seniors live. Making the transition from complete independence to life under some kind of continuous care is difficult for most people, but the assisted living market is booming as more individuals realize its benefits. Assisted living communities help aging people retain as much independence as they are able to manage, and receive help with whatever they are no longer capable of doing themselves. Families can feel less worried than they would about a loved one living alone, yet not guilty in the way that many do when loved ones are in nursing homes.

This MarketLooks report from Kalorama Information is taken from a larger report on The Long-Term Care Market. It provides a detailed analysis of the U.S.assisted living market as it appeared in 1999, with data on market size and forecasts, competitor analysis, and analysis of trends for each segment of the market, as well as a market overview. From a business analysis point of view it is also an illuminating brief, offering information on payment considerations, mergers and acquisitions, disease management, and accreditation and quality control. Profiles of leading players in the US assisted living market are also provided.

While the data from this report dates back more than five years now, it is (at its reduced price) still a great tool for industry companies seeking a comprehensive picture of the US assisted living market, both in terms of understanding where it’s emerged from in recent years, and tracing the trajectory of its growth and development. The assisted living market is one of the fastest-growing areas in building and development today, and companies new to the arena, in particular, can benefit hugely from learning about its context.

The baby boomer generation, so famous for its youthful verve, is greying – and the day of retirement, for many boomers, is here or soon to arrive. In Canada, some executives are worried. The generation that’s powered the last few decades’ GDP and kept the workforce going strong will soon take its leave – how will managers replace key staff departing over the next 5, 10 or 15 years?
Robert Half International, Inc., a specialized staffing services firm, recently conducted a sweeping survey of 100 executives at large Canadian companies. The study found that 61 per cent of respondents were “very” or “somewhat” concerned, while a still substantial 38 per cent were “not very” or “not at all” concerned about the challenges boomers’ retirement will present.

Max Messmer, chairman and CEO of Robert Half International Inc., said there will likely be shortages of skilled workers as members of the baby boomer generation hang up the towel. Tenured employees carry with them years of valuable experience that cannot be passed on in a simple training course or apprenticeship. The retirement of waves of baby boomers will mean losing, in essence, years’ worth of industry contacts, practical know-how and subtle skills.

However, respondents were also asked what steps their firms are taking to compensate for the loss of baby boomers to retirement. A full 89 per cent of the survey respondents said they are taking steps to deal with the retirement of key staff over the next decade. These specific measures include training and professional development, succession-planning, employee recruitment, and enhancing mentoring programs.

Some organizations are even aiming to retain the expertise of some retirees by inviting those who leave the company to continue working as consultants and trainers. Since many baby boomers are reluctant to exit working life entirely, at least in the near future, such schemes could prove mutually satisfying.

Messmer added that companies not yet taking action should try to guarantee the quality of future leaders by instituting succession plans and singling out high-potential employees for professional development opportunities. The baby boomers’ retirement will mean massive readjustments for business and society, in Canada
and elsewhere – but foresight and resourcefulness can help soften the blow.

Most web sites are still built for the young, by the young. But mature internet users are among the most attractive target markets around – so your web designer should be well aware of how branding to 50+ online consumers is accomplished.

Though web activity is increasing fastest in the 50+ age group, many companies with active online presences are failing to modify their approach. Brand values need to be clearly conveyed on websites, in email newsletters, in online order forms and online checkouts. But if you tailor your expression of these values to a teenaged or twenty-something target market, you risk squandering the interest of the very lucrative consumers in the 50+ range.

It’s not easy to accomplish effective branding online. Unlike a television, radio or print marketing campaign, which can be timed and styled like a sort of performance, a website is, often, only as good as the internet connection and web browser used to view it. An inexperienced web user may also fail to appreciate the impressiveness of an impeccably-designed site; problems navigating are frustrating and can alienate a visitor in spite of your best efforts.

Fortunately, good web designers can usually work around the possibility of poor technology and user inexperience – if you emphasize that’s what you want. Web designers may be, quite naturally, inclined to try out new features with a high “wow” factor. As appealing as whistles and bells may be to web or programming aficionados, older internet users have been shown to prefer simplicity. If your target market is mature consumers, consider scaling down the display in favor of user-friendliness. If your target market is broad and encompasses all kinds of web users, you may need to compromise.

Indeed, designers don’t always understand the way mature internet users differ from younger ones, which is understandable – it’s not their job to understand. Most sites are built by the young, for the young. If your branding is targeted partly, primarily or exclusively at mature consumers, it’s up to you to communicate the need for age-appropriate web branding.

The number of older people using the Internet varies widely by country. In the US nearly 70% of 55-64 year olds are users, while in Spain only 11% are connected. But new older users are coming online everywhere, and once people are connected to the internet their age becomes less of a factor in determining their level of use. Internet users 50+ shop online just about as much as younger users, and often spend more hours surfing the web each week. Plus, the over-50 internet users are the wealthiest and best educated of their age cohort. For many companies, they are a prime target market.

Marketing professionals tend to misunderstand or misjudge exactly what the differences are between their youthful and mature target markets. For one thing, while it’s inaccurate to assume mature people are enfeebled, the truth is that reaction time slows and eyesight diminishes with age. Websites interested in courting mature consumers should stay away from small print, therefore, and from too much rapid-fire flash features. The US Financial Services industry found that web users over 55 took 40% longer and made 20% more errors than their juniors. Research by Nielsen Norman, the web usability consultants, found that web users over the age of 65 took 66% more time completing tasks than those aged 21-55. Yes, younger people tend to have more experience using the web, but this rate of difference is also tied to physical aging.

Considerations about the age of your target market should also play into the style of language you choose, the content of text and your choice of iconography. For mature market consumers, web sites should be simple to use and deliver what is required in as fast and painless way as possible. Fail to meet this requirement and you are probably trying site visitors’ patience. Research suggests that people 50+ are dissatisfied by the majority of web sites in this regard.

Look at it this way – the world’s most popular web site may also be the easiest site to use: Google. Its home page contains 37 words and lots of blank space, and it hardly changes from year to year. But most companies aren’t so focused on simple and consistent structure. As web pages expand and get “improved,” they lose their structure and become harder to use.

A home page jumbling color, images and links is sure to overwhelm the majority of visitors, and mature market consumers in particular. Too much choice and movement can make it difficult for older people to concentrate and navigate. Pop-ups are especially disastrous, but business can be damaged even by menus that are not mindful of the purposes for which visitors are using the site. “Dynamic menus” are especially unsuited to a mature target market – people with dexterity problems can have difficulty getting the cursor to go where they want, and this prevents them from making any selection off the menu.

When building a web site to gel well with your mature target market, there is a long list of do’s and don’ts regarding color, color combinations, images, fonts and font sizes. Many designers don’t recognize that mature market consumers necessitate different style choices. But if your company is committed to attracting mature market consumers online, your designers must do more than post photos of smiling couples with grey hair. Every element of design style can be categorized in terms of its suitability for an older target market.

Begin by determining that your web site will be essentially age neutral; make this one of the top one or two aims in building or modifying the site. Unless you make a specific point of achieving age neutrality, it’s an issue that will go on being ignored. A good way of testing how well your team understands this issue is to set a few simple questions as guideposts:

• Of the people using the web site, how many are 50+?
• Is the Web site’s copy and iconography age neutral?
• Does the site’s menu and navigation structure take account of best practice rules for older users?
• Is the use animation likely to delight or annoy the older person?
• Has the site been tested with an audience of older people?

Most companies, setting out to answer these questions, find they are at sea. Age aware marketing simply hasn’t forced its way to the fore of marketing teams’ consciousnesses, especially not in regard to website management. But this will surely change soon, since the mature market is the single most lucrative and fast-growing target market around. If you accept arguments about the economic importance of older consumers – which are now quite common and very persuasive – then optimising your web site for their needs should be a no-brainer.

Dr. Bruce Clark has emerged as one of America’s foremost visionaries and authorities on the business and marketing implications of the new consumer. In 1986 he cofounded Age Wave, Inc., a leading marketing communication firm specializing in baby boomer and mature consumers. He also cofounded IPG, a firm created to help guide organizations in marketing customer service and alternative futures.

At Age Wave and IPG, Dr. Clark developed his award-winning concept, “Experiential Learning”. By combining the best in modern presentation technology and cutting edge research, he has been able to create an indelible “experience” in learning, and sets a new standard for keynote presentations and corporate education.

Dr. Clark has introduced many groundbreaking business initiatives in financial services, healthcare and retailing, among other industries. He has helped many of today’s industry leaders formulate a new approach to mature market service and segmentation. He appears frequently on national media and is sought out as an authority on the future demands and challenges presented by the “new” consumer.
Among Dr. Clark’s most prominent accomplishments have been several television projects including his award winning production of the 20-part PBS series “Caring for an Aging Society.”

In his entertaining and commanding presentations, Dr. Clark combines a dynamism and wit enriched by his research-based knowledge of healthcare and the financial services markets.

Keynote Presentations:

• The Reinvention of Retirement: Unlocking the Post-Recession Code
• Preparing for the Second Half of Life: A Women’s Issue
• The Future of Healthcare and Retirement: “Geriassic Park” or Shangri-La
• The Future of Financial Services in the Age of the New Mature Consumer
• The High Net Worth Consumer and the Cyclic Life
• Life Change/Life Choice: a New Approach for Financial Advisors
• The Future of Healthcare in the Age of the New Mature Consumer
• The Impact of the Longevity Revolution on 21st Century Service
• The Implications of the Adult Lifestages for Financial Advisors
• Maximizing Opportunities in the Mature Market
• The Age Wave: Middlescence and Beyond
• Managing a Multi-Generational Workforce
• Face-to-Face: Communicating with Older Adults
• The Reinvention of Retirement: Preparing for the Second Half of Life

While we are living longer and better than ever, we are simultaneously heading toward a future in which chronic disease, frailty, and a variety of long-term health problems will be pervasive. From mass dementia and the caregiving crisis to intergenerational equity and “Geriassic Park,” we are heading into uncharted ground. As our 50+ population grows by 10,000 per day, and the 65+ grows from 34 million today to 70 million by 2030, our emphasis on community-based care services will need to grow dramatically. These consumers will be both “sick and well.”

Healthcare is on a collision course that will redefine the industry. Healthcare leaders must prepare for the events that have converged to create healthcare’s “Perfect Storm”. Five defining healthcare trends:

• The Impact of the 2010 Healthcare Reform Act and the Economy – Somebody pushed the “reset” button on life as we know it. Healthcare reform has resulted in unprecedented social division and distrust. The economic events of the last 2 years have permanently changed the HC landscape and the dust has not settled yet.
• The Demise of the Patriarchal System – Just as Americans have had to assume the burden of financing their retirement, they are now confronted with the additional burden of financing an ever-increasing portion of their family’s healthcare.
• The Healthcare Cost Explosion – Healthcare is currently nearly 16% of the GNP, and nothing we do will prevent it from reaching 20% in the years ahead. The challenge is: how will we prevent it from reaching 25%?
• 80 million “New Mature Consumers” – 80 million baby boomers are entering their high-utilization years with unprecedented service demands, a redefinition of quality, and little in common with the previous generations’ “reverential” approach to their healthcare providers.
• Technology and the Impact of Genomics – Advances in technology are a familiar story in healthcare. But when combined with breakthroughs in biotechnology, we find ourselves in uncharted territory. From the revolution in genomic medicine and advances in medical devices to new diagnostic tools and treatments, technology will explode – all in a context of unprecedented media scrutiny and bioethical concerns.