Where's the Money? An Exclusive Interview with Age Wave’s Ken Dychtwald

Back in the 1970s a young Dychtwald hadamp160an epiphany amp160amp8220I became intrigued by older people their point of view what it was like to see life from the vantage point of 80 90 or 100 years the depth of perception they hadamp8221 he recently shared with MediaVillage amp160amp8220I couldnamp8217t understand why we lived in a society where there was so little regard for older people whenamp160in some ways they might be the most interesting among usamp8221This soon led to the formation of Age Wave and work in demography where aging trends especially with the Boomer generation would act like amp8220a pig moving through a pythonamp8221 changing American attitudes and spending patterns along the wayIn this interview he explains why companies that ignore or undervalue the Boomer generation do so at their perilCharlene Weisler amp160Give me a lay of the land in the area of population maturityKen Dychtwald amp160There are three driving forces amp160One is the birthrate amp160In the US our birthrate has been hovering at about replacement level for the last several decades amp160While we are doing better than the European nations which donamp8217t have enough young peopleamp160 We are not a young country anymoreamp160amp160Another driver is longevity amp160When Social Security was drafted life expectancy was 63 amp160When we signed our Constitution life expectancy was 45 amp160We never envisioned there would be soamp160many old people amp160We didnamp8217t set up our culture language governing oramp160benefits to engage or handle the needs of hundreds of thousands of older peopleamp160amp160The third engine is the most dramatic amp160We have this huge postWorld War II baby boom beginning in 1946 where the boys came home from the war and 92 of all women who could have kids did 4000000 a year for eight years amp160This Baby Boom generation is an age wave that will reshape the center of gravity for society and pull it towards the second half of life more than it has ever been in historyWeisler amp160Describe Boomers and how they differ or not from other generations before and afterDychtwald amp160Boomers are the beneficiaries of more longevity than any other generations of Americans amp160While there has been a great deal of talk about income inequality we are about to see increasing longevity inequality because there are more and more ways that people can buy their way to longer life or buy their way to greater health that people with fewer resources canamp8217t afford amp160It is not inconceivable that there will be some Boomers who will live to 150 or more amp160They will likely be the billionairesThe Boomers will also mainstream a new paradigm for work learning and leisure throughout oneamp8217s life amp160Previous generations lived what I call a quotlinear lifequotamp160 You learned then you worked like crazy for forty years and then if you had a little bit of longevity you had some retirement time amp160We busted up that model when we changed majors in college changed careers a few times and often had more than one marriage amp160So the idea of reinvention is not uncommonamp160 What you will see mainstreamed and younger people like this model too is a more cyclic model of how to live one39samp160lifeamp160like going back to school at age 45 and learning a new career amp160A more balanced life across a lifetime will become the modelYou will also see the rise of female power and influence amp160Women outlive men so as we become an increasingly elder society it will become increasingly controlled by women amp160Over the past decades women haveamp160outpacedamp160men in all sorts of things such as education amp160It has not been fully unleashed but in years to come the aging of the population will converge with female powerI also see more uncertainty amp160Since the 1930s there has been more security for older people from Social Security and then in the 1960s Medicare amp160During World War II unions negotiated for pensions amp160Powerful lobbying organizations such as AARP stand and protect the interests of older people amp160Todayamp8217s older people have benefitted from the growth of the stock market amp160But that is not the demographic equation we are heading into amp160We are going to have more older people and fewer younger people amp160amp160There wonamp8217t be enough younger people to shoulder future costsamp160 It is not supportable and not sustainable amp160I think that you will see that a lot of the guarantees of security evaporate in this Boomer generationBoomers will mainstream the next purpose of maturity amp160What we saw in the 20thamp160century was a huge focus on the medical breakthrough that allows more people to grow older and live longer but never really created a role or purpose for these individuals amp160Boomers are trying to discover a sense of purposeThe last thing isamp160Boomers are not especially good at putting a good PR spin on themselves amp160My parentsamp8217amp160generation was hard working and obedient amp160They were drafted and served in a war and then they built America amp160But they were also a profoundly racist generation and their treatment of women was almost unfathomable amp160Yet they are called the Greatest Generationamp160 I donamp8217t think Boomers will get that kind of treatment amp160I think they will be thought of as selfindulgent and irresponsibleWeisler amp160How do we change the advertiser and media mindset that undervalues older AmericansDychtwald amp160Most people in business are driven by shareholder valueamp160 Where can I make the most moneyamp160 Perhaps the most untapped opportunity is hiding in plain sight amp160Back in my grandparentsamp8217amp160and parentsamp8217amp160time when modern media was emerging on the sceneamp160people were pretty set in their ways amp160You werenamp8217t changing your toothpaste brand when you were 50 or buying a new kind of hair product at 70 amp160That is called brand loyalty and people were determining what product references were from the age of about 15 to 25 amp160So you needed to heavily load your targeting of people between those ages because if you could capture them then you would have them for life amp160Conversely why bother marketing to 50yearolds because they have already made up their mind about everythingWell we all know in business today thatamp8217s all bullshit amp160There are a lot of products I am buying today that didnamp8217t exist before amp160There was no software when I was 20 amp160And I have a lot more money and freedom now than I had before to do whatever I want amp160People who are 40 50amp160or 70 are no longer brand loyalamp160 They are reinventing themselves and very eager to try new thingsThat linchpin of the 3960s and 3970s is a problem because it is a lie amp160Everyone in business knows that like a wink and a nod amp160Why will the market move towards a redefinition of age breaks amp160Because like Willy Sutton said that is where the money is amp160It wonamp8217t be in all categories but there are a few like financial services leisure health medical beauty and wellness that will soar amp160Seventy percent of all of the wealth in America is held by people over 50amp160 So you can spend a lot of time and energy creating apps for 23yearolds but guess what amp160they donamp8217t have any moneyClick the social buttons above or below to share this story with your friends and colleaguesThe opinions and points of view expressed in this content are exclusively the views of the author andor subjects and do not necessarily represent the views of MediaVillagecomMyersBizNet Inc management or associated writers

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Where's the Money? An Exclusive Interview with Age Wave’s Ken Dychtwald

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Charlene Weisler

"About That" with Carl Mayer: Corinne Casagrande (Episode 8: Consumer Spending) - By Carl Mayer

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Where's the Money? An Exclusive Interview with Age Wave’s Ken Dychtwald

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