Disproving Age Bias, In the Groove Captures Untapped Potential of Active 50+ Female Consumers

As argued during the recent Jack Myers Leadership Conversation Why Boomers are Booming as Media39s Next Big Ad Spending Surge link here to the ondemand video it is only when the industry dismantles the siloed straight jacket of demographic overclassification that we will begin to capture the full impact on both financial revenue and EBITA and social outcomes that only true inclusion can deliverThe 55 demographic typically ignored by media buyers even when Boomers are the dominant consumer target has twelve times the net worth of the average millennial household accordingly to Susan Feldman founder of In the Groove wwwgetinthegroovecom who spoke with Myers during his Leadership Conversation series about the motivations that led to the successful launch of her ecommerce site targeting the active 50 female Yet Madison Avenue and advertisers are besotted with Millennials and Gen Z while research indicates that they have less disposable income and 52 in this cohort are now living at their parents39 homesFeldman founded In the Groove after she successfully sold One Kings Lane to Bed Bath ampamp Beyond in 2016 The site promises quotA Lifestyle Destination for AgeDefying Womenquot In the Groove is a highly curated and personalized online shopping experience providing women with fashion recommendations from what stylish mask to wear to lifestyle topics covering the best in clean ampamp green cookware forget the TeflonThe Leadership Conversation also featured advertising creative legend Keith Reinhard and Boomer experts and bestselling authors Ken Dychtwald and Peter Hubbell The group emphasized the sheer size and might of the boomer audience with around 103 million people over the age of 50 across the United States 75 million being baby boomers and 28 million coming from the silent generation ages 75 According to the US Department of Labor quotby 2024 nearly 1 in 4 people in the labor force are projected to be age 55 or overquotThere were a number of myths dispelled making the case for marketers to move away from perception and mediabuying bias to factbased evidence that marketers who target them prove there39s a lot more groove left in the average boomer39s buoyant and eclectic lifeFact 1 Baby boomers hold the wealthAlmost 70 of the total net worth in the US is held by consumers aged 55 see graph below In addition statistics show that approximately 70 of all disposable income in the US belongs to baby boomers and they make up the largest segment of consumers Unlike millennials baby boomers are the wealthiest generation in history amp8211 and will remain that way until roughly 2030Fact 2 Baby boomers are digitally savvyBoomer are embracing digital with most smartphone owners aged 50 to 59 quotusing their phones to check email get directions browse the internet and see news with more than half also using their smartphones to play games and make purchasesquot according to an AARP studyHavas39 2018 Meaningful Brands study found significant uptick in the online presence of over55 consumers with 68 of them also buying online every month This is supported by what Feldman has observed with her digital clienteleThe top three online activities for the older generations areUsing search engines 96Using email 95Shopping for products or services 92Fact 3 They are the decisionmakers and big spendersBoomers spend and they spend big in our consumer economy amp8211 in fact they specifically spend more than the average customer in almost every category making up more than 700 of the nation39s disposable income according to Nielsen and other sources as we stated earlier Although some sectors including financial services luxury goods and pharmaceuticals tend to recognize the importance of the older generation as a target audience there is still room for significant improvementThe numbers below tell the story convincingly where we see over 40 of consumer purchases controlled by baby boomers across a number of sectors including women39s apparel personal care groceries and over 50 for books and pharmaceuticals In particular older women are spending over two and a half times more compared to other demographics according to Feldman She reminds us quotWomen are the decisionmakers in their household and importantly they are open to trying new brandsquotGiven 55 consumers are both the most loyal customers and have the most spending power advertisers need to recognize that boomers are vital to brand growthThe harsh reality is that they are not well targeted by many brandsamp8211only about 50 of US advertising targets people over 50 Yet they comprise over 750 of the wealth in the US according to Havas Group Boomers spend an average of 203 on each online purchase far surpassing the average spend of their millennial counterparts This underscores not only how engaged boomers are online but also how serious they are about their purchasesFact 4 They are engaged brand switchers and not price consciousAccording to Feldman and the customer learnings she has observed her female boomer customers are willing to switch to new brands if they feel they will deliver a superior experience If we look at the B2B segment and among business owners one of the largest demographics is made up of baby boomers who as a coveted demographic are often willing to switch brand allegiance and look beyond price as a purchase criteria This same discerning attitude in evaluating products is what Feldman observes among the buyers at In the Groove where there is a level of calculated wisdom in the purchase decision that goes beyond the sale of the dayAmong shiny new startups we are always going to see an obsessive frenzy towards youthful and hip consumers but even these DTC or challenger brands need to be reminded to tap into the lucrative and easily accessible media users over 55 amp8211 as this segment may well be their ticket to gaining early advocates in their startup growth trajectoryConclusionThe opportunity for the road ahead is to stop putting customers in silos and instead look at campaigns that integrate across generations and ensure they are grounded in the universal human principles of belonging and mutual respect As the Fitbit and Subaru commercials showcased during the panel demonstrated there are creative ways to be inclusive in the storytelling be quotagenosticquot and drive results for the full brand portfolio quotCreativity is not only the domain of the youthquot as Peter Hubbell reminds us but disruptive thinking means getting away from quottyranny of the ORquot and focusing on the quotgenius of the ANDquot according to leadership expert Jim CollinsFeldman highlights that twenty percent of In the Groove39s Instagram followers are millennials and there is a keen hunger for intergenerational sharing and learning At the end of the day it is about embracing diversity in the full sense of the word racial gender age disability sexual orientation and any other basis of grouping individualsAlso read Ken Dychtwald and Keith Reinhard on Creating a Cultural SeaChange to Combat Ageism by Oriana SchwindtClick the social buttons to share this story with colleagues and friendsThe opinions expressed here are the author39s views and do not necessarily represent the views of MediaVillagecomMyersBizNet

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Disproving Age Bias, In the Groove Captures Untapped Potential of Active 50+ Female Consumers

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Raquelle Zuzarte

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Disproving Age Bias, In the Groove Captures Untapped Potential of Active 50+ Female Consumers

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Raquelle Zuzarte

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