The Apple Of A Boomer's Eye

The other night while watching CBS's "The Good Wife," I saw Apple's newest iPhone television spot, "First Steps." In the storyline, a young mother is talking about her child's first steps, which she then records and sends to her mother and grandfather. The tagline, "We would never have shared all that without the iPhone," brilliantly signals key multi-generational benefits of the 3GS iPhones: capturing and sharing important family milestones.

That ad got me thinking about Apple's other marketing efforts targeting Boomers. We often think about Apple -- with its emphasis on beautiful design and cutting-edge technology -- as a young person's brand. Certainly, one could draw that conclusion watching iPod commercials -- particularly from a few years ago. But, Apple also seems to have realized the potential of marketing to Boomers long before its technology and lifestyle brand competitors -- who are myopically focused on the youth market.

For example, back in 2006, Apple launched the "Get a Mac" campaign created by TBWA Media Labs. That campaign, which ran through 2009, featured two friends, Mac and PC. When the campaign first broke, many thought that Mac, the jean wearing, laid back hipster was the younger friend to PC, the dweebie, pudgy -- albeit likeable -- middle manager always dressed in a suit.

But, in fact, as we would learn over the course of the campaign, Mac and PC are the same age and their friendship dates back to their childhood (confirmed in the "Flashback" spot). And, in "Broken Promises," when PC revisits Windows operating systems launches -- appropriately garbed in the historically correct sartorial trends -- we learn that Mac and PC are part of the Boomer generation. (What Gen Xer was in a suit at the release of Windows 2?)

What's striking about these two campaigns -- for the Mac and the iPhone -- is that Apple bucks the trend of how many companies market to Boomers. Consider:

• Absence of "senior" visuals: None of these campaigns uses an "older" actor to visually represent a Boomer as so many television and print advertisements do (think: pharma advertisements). Mac and PC are represented as being "middle-aged" -- somewhere between 30 and 40-ish. In iPhone ads, the iPhone is the visual hero; only the actors' voices are present. In "First Steps," only the baby is shown; voices allude to the other actors. Given that many Boomers don't believe that they are "old," this non-senior casting is spot on.

• Absence of "senior" copy: The scripts never allude to age; there are no direct references to "now that we're of a certain age," common in so many advertisements targeting Boomers. Instead, Apple focuses on communicating the rational benefits of owning and using its products -- albeit highlighting Boomers' desire for technology that helps simplify and mange their lives. For example, a Mac is virus-free and easy to use, right out of the box. An iPhone lets you connect easily with what's important in your life -- your family.

• Authentic, clever story-telling: Apple uses story-telling to illuminate how technology helps a Boomer's life in an authentic and often humorous way. There is no staged, corny encounter between couples on the merits of a product over dinner or between spouses before they go to bed. Those conversations don't really happen in real life -- and Apple's creative team gets that.

Of course, it helps that Apple products deliver on the advertised promises. They have won over Boomers with their thoughtful designs, intuitive user interfaces and inclusion of technologies that make Boomers' lives simpler or more rewarding.

Maybe that's why Boomers represent a third of iPhone users, half of Mac users and the leading group that pays $99/year for one-on-one training in Apple's 284 store locations. Given that Boomers control 50% of all discretionary spending in the United States and that they are expected to outspend younger generations by $1 trillion on technology purchases in 2010, it's a smart strategy.

Meet the Boomers

As a follow up on a recent Research Brief about Millenials, here's an appropriate analysis of the Boomers, an earlief generation, according to Dr. Bob Deutsch of marketing firm Brain Sells. The Baby Boom generation is classified as people born between 1946 and 1964, meaning the oldest Baby Boomers turn 65 in 2011. Boomers are still vital and evolving even as they approach retirement age, concludes the report.

In the US alone, more than 3.5 million babies were born in 1946. Our conception of Seniors, what Boomers soon will be, is highly stereotyped, says the report. Baby Boomers can be labeled Pragmatic Idealists. As a demographic they are a glass-half-full group. They feel they can make things the way they want them to be, or at least engage with the forces at work to tilt the odds 51% in their favor. Even in our constrained economy, Baby Boomers still seek, and assume, growth, all the while acknowledging new limitations in resources.

Deutsch says understanding the following three basic life structures is critical to capturing the Boomer market:

• The developmental history of Boomers casts them as characters that possess a self-expansive nature primarily devoid of cynicism. The Baby Boom generation embodies a vitality that makes them survivors, even if they can't always be thrivers.
• As Boomers age, home range will become more important, and getting settled in new spaces, such as a smaller, closer-to-town abode or a move to a warmer climate, will require adaptation to new interpersonal and larger social arrangements. In addition, Boomers will develop requirements for new types of mundane services, particularly in the domains of finance, healthcare, and personal care.
• As people age their nostalgic yearnings grow, says Deutsch, making them more receptive to advertisers and marketers use of what researchers call a "longing for positive memories of the past." Moreover, nostalgia can make Boomers feel that not so much time has passed between then and now, making them feel young again. Nostalgia should be considered as one marketing aesthetic to attract Boomers.

According to thereport, In interviews Boomers say things like:

• "We now have more responsibility... "
• "Anger, in the long run, just hurts you."
• "Maybe ‘now' is an opportunity... to re-evaluate who you are and where you are going."

In sharp contrast, Gen-Xer's are losing hope in the ties that bind hard work to success, says Deutsch. They see their future as "closing." This mentality foreshortens their vision of themselves, others, and the world. Their orientation, about almost everything, is defensive:

• "Money makes the world go around. Now I have less money. Now I have less hope." "I feel better when I see someone worse off than me."
• "I gotta fight for everything, and I don't have a lot."
• "What's the point?"

Key Boomer attitudes and perceptions that are important for marketers, says Deutsch:

• Boomers are at a time in life when they really don't want to compromise their authenticity.
• For Boomers, process is at least as important as the end result. They want "the ride"
• Boomers like to inspire others. Help them feel helpful
• Boomers have been around long enough to know there are few absolutes, little is black or white
• Accentuate personal style over rote action or blind ritual
• Boomers are oriented to the human dimension, that's the only real thing. They can see the humor in most situations
• What Boomers really dislike is felling put upon by arbitrary power, feeling trapped, conned, boxed-in, and being thought of as one of the masses
• Boomers are both creative and conservative ("A beautiful garden is wild and tended")
• Boomers go for what gives voice to things they are thinking and feeling, but haven't fully worked out yet
• Boomers respond to what stands out by its presence, not its loudness. What shows them it really listens and, therefore, understands

And, according to trendwatching.com in its recent list of Top 10 Consumer Trends for 2010 reported by Marketing Charts, several general societal trends closely match with Boomer trends. These include a need for companies to be transparent and honest about their efforts to conduct environmentally sustainable business practices and genuinely collaborate with their customers rather than try to dictate to them. In addition, consumers are increasingly using social networks as part of everyday life and respond well to products and services which have a charitable component.

Meet the Boomers