How to target the baby boomers

This month I’ll go off piste and instead of answering one of your questions, I will highlight a key trend that I think is worth extensive consideration. In the last year or two, I have crept into the 50+ box on data forms, and find myself the target of ‘50+ marketing’, with advertising for Saga Holidays, mushy food (well not quite) and Retirement Villages, at a time when I am still full of beans, raring to go and have plenty I still want and have time to get round to doing.

The big problem is that the people who are writing the marketing messages that are targeted at me, are probably no older than 25 (excuse my stereotyping) and have extremely limited experience, knowledge and understanding of my generation – the boomers.

If you haven’t already guessed, this is a pet peeve of mine. Boomers are the ones who pushed boundaries, broke rules and set new standards, and are now the ones with disposable incomes and the time and energy to spend it. We are a lucrative target audience, but we’re usually loyal and stalwart too, meaning if you can win us over, you’ll likely be laughing all the way to the bank. Of course, I am generalising massively here, but I urge all hoteliers to consider how to target this generation who are outgoing, independent, fun-loving (usually), not afraid of a challenge and are a wonderful juxtaposition of experience and luxury led.

Not only are Boomers a potentially lucrative mid-week stay market, with the time, money and inclination to travel, but they also offer lucrative day-part targets if you market it well. New research from NPD Group recently highlighted that over 50s spending at lunchtime hit £6bn in June alone, with 1 billion visits, up 6% from 2008 and up 12% in terms of monetary spending. The same research highlights that overall the lunch market was up by 3% for the year to June 2017, with over 4 billion lunchtime visits into restaurants and eateries. Boomers are predicted to account for 2.2 billion visits by 2019 or 53% of total lunch visits.

I’ve always rather loved the description that my generation are ‘The Unstoppables’. The ones who never gave up, who changed how things are done, who did things differently; but in the same way that millennials is not a catch-all for the behaviours of everyone under 25, neither should ‘over-50s’ be used to represent an ageing, ‘past-it’ demographic. Women for example can expect to live until they are between 82 and 85, so at 50, we’re perhaps just over hallway through our life. My generation also holds 75% of the country’s wealth, and according (ironically) to a survey by Age UK, two thirds of us are fed up of being targeted with age based advertising and/or feel we are being negatively portrayed.

So how can you capitalise on the Boomer Bucks?

Stop trying to target us, and instead create an environment where we feel content and happy. This will help buy our loyalty. Commonly, looking at behavioural data of the demographic, our focus is not on age, but on brand characteristics. Quality is a key factor, and we tend to have and hold brands accountable to higher standards. This means we’re looking for great service, a varied menu, interesting and new flavours, but maintaining our creature comforts alongside chic sophistication; things which we are not afraid to pay for if the balance is right. Of course I am again falling into the trap of generalising an audience, but it is also worth noting that behavioural data regularly shows this generation to be almost totally varied and unique with behaviours attributed to the individual far more so than other demographics.

Brands would be wise to start asking how they can target this demographic, without ostentatiously blaring offers for the over-50s. Staff training and development will be paramount and so too will having an established and reliable offering as part of every day-part. One of the most interesting things I read is the importance of aspirational messaging; appealing to the individual characteristics of your customers and guests and engaging across a variety of different marketing mediums – print, social media, digital and television – will all be vital for targeting this lucrative audience.

This feature first appeared in the October 2017 issue of Hotel Owner