what makes baby boomers wise to new product launches? · launch marketing report 2019: the baby...

1Launch Marketing Report 2019: The Baby Boomer’s Perspective

What makes Baby Boomers wise to new product launches?


Foreword.Baby Boomers. There are 12 million in the UK making up a sixth of the population, a figure that is predicted to swell in the coming years. They account for 80% of the UK’s wealth and one in five are millionaires. The same picture can be seen in both Australia, with Baby Boomers accounting for 25% of the population and 53% of its wealth, and the USA with 76 million Baby Boomers making up 25% of the country’s workforce.

However, despite these enormous numbers, our research in 2018 showed they were the least engaged age segment when it comes to launches. A worrying insight and one which we felt demanded further investigation to find out why and how we can help our clients launch successfully to this important segment.

Baby Boomers should be the perfect audience. They have disposable income and generally time to absorb new product and service launches. They have experienced incredible

change in terms of technology and society throughout their life, more so than any other generation in the past century.

We commissioned independent research across all of our office territories in the UK, USA and Australia to discover whether this audience age segment really do shun launches or is there something deeper going on. We interviewed a total of 3,000 Baby Boomers, 1,000 in each territory and found some surprising results.

The results are detailed in this White Paper and illustrate a clear path to making the most of launching products and services to this dynamic, prosperous and exciting segment.

Nick Lawton. CEO, Five by Five.


Hypothesis.01


Research conducted in 2018 and published in our ‘Launch Marketing Report: The Consumer’s Perspective’ revealed that the iGen (17-26-years-old) consumers are the most attuned audience segment to new product or service launches, with over half (52%) stating they were aware of a new launch in the last 12 months.

Conversely we discovered that awareness dropped to just 25% amongst those over 55-years-old, the generational audience segment named Baby Boomers.

It’s an important statistic given that this audience segment accounts for 80% of UK wealth (£4.7 trillion) in total and individually one in five are millionaires*; in the USA there are 76 million Baby Boomers and they will account for 25% of employees by 2020 and in Australia they account for 25% of the population and own more than 53% of its wealth.

Launch awareness declines with age.

* Source: Financial Times, January 2019


**HuffPost December 2017/Daily Telegraph 2018

They have the disposable income that many other audience segments struggle with. They take holidays, buy cars, require more medical products and typically eat out and drink a great deal**. They are perfect consumers for all types of products and services, so why are they not as engaged with launches as other segments?

Median wealth by age group.

600

500

400

300

200

100

0

08-10

25-34

35-44

45-54

75-84

65-74

55-64

2006-08

£(‘0

00)

Year

10-12 12-14 14-16

Sources: ONS; Netwealth © FT

Age range


Attitudes towards marketing and

02

advertising.


We started by understanding their views towards marketing communications.

Our original research suggested that Baby Boomers are not natural innovators; the first people to purchase a newly launched product. It suggested they either had a total disinterest in new products – an ‘if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it’ mentality or a cautionary approach built over years of disappointment with new innovative products not living up to their promise. Either way, it was clear that in comparison to other audience segments, they just weren’t as interested in launches. We wanted to dig deeper to understand why and how this manifests itself.


As expected, the majority had a poor opinion. This is always the first response. Very few people will admit to enjoying being persuaded or sold to. The biggest rejectors were Australians, which could well be a result of political campaigns prior to the Federal Election in May 2019. Timing is everything and this could be a caution for those considering a launch during a political campaign. We dive deeper into their preferred media channels later, shedding light on their gut reactions.

2 Sources: ONS, Wikipedia, This is Money.

Positive

Negative

UK USA AUS

0

20

40

60

80

Perc

enta

ge o

f res

pond

ents

(%)

When posed the question; ‘What do you think of advertising you have recently seen?’


Innovators

50

30

40

20

10

0

Early Adopters

Early Majority

Late Majority

Laggards

AUS

USA

UK

Roger’s Adoption Curve

Baby Boomers tend not to be Innovators. In fact, in all three territories this picture was the same. They wait until they have seen that a product or service has been launched and begins to become established before buying it themselves. We’ve used the Roger’s Adoption Curve to demonstrate this lag.

Typically you would expect a much larger segment of Innovators (2.5%), but our research suggests that Baby Boomers tend to enter the market at the Early Adopter/Majority stages instead. This implies that they rely heavily on word of mouth, new product reviews and recommendations before they consider committing to a new product.

This chart backs up our findings that there is a hesitancy for Baby Boomers to embrace new products.


Once they feel that the product has been launched and is ‘safe’ to purchase, they embrace it whole-heartedly. This is true across all three continents, with the UK being that little bit more eager to embrace early on. Unlike other audience segments, Baby Boomers surprisingly have fewer Laggards; those that usually end up buying the product because the older version no longer works.

We looked at this again, but excluded all Innovators and focused on Early Adopters onwards. It showed an interesting trend, as now the USA Baby Boomers were the ones who actively engaged the most, suggesting that they really do need the reassurance of a product being launched and viable before their interest is piqued, but having done so they dive straight in, whereas Baby Boomers in the UK and Australia remain more cautious. This could be down to media channels and advertising weight, or it could be a social behaviour. Either way, it suggests that to win the hearts of this audience they need to be convinced first that the product/service is viable and has longevity before they will commit.

This impacts media channels, which we looked at next.

Early Adopters Early Majority Late Majority Laggards0

10

20

30

40

50

AUS

USA

UK

Roger’s Adoption Curve

Perc

enta

ge o

f res

pond

ents

(%)


03Media channels.


Our initial research showed that 44% of all consumer segments relied on ‘traditional’ media, mainly TV, to learn about launches. As we expected, this figure is higher with Baby Boomers, a convincing 56% vs 39% of those that learn about them through digital media and just 5% through experiential.

When we looked into this further, we found that TV was by far the dominant channel for Baby Boomers to learn about launches, followed by websites (as expected) and word of mouth. The importance of word of mouth supports the earlier findings that Baby Boomers tend to hang back until a launch has been established and someone that they trust recommends the product or service. This is classic herd mentality and lends itself to social norming (usually the unwritten social behaviours that are to be expected in a society or a social group) techniques such as testimonials and real life examples.

Traditional values and ‘traditional’ media.

UK USA AUS ALL0

50

100

150

200Traditional

Digital

Experiential

Media channel overview.

Perc

enta

ge o

f res

pond

ents

(%)


When analysed by territory, the importance of word of mouth and web is particularly strong as key supportive media channels to TV. When analysing the tertiary channels, social media is strongest in the USA and relatively weak in the UK and Australia.

Media channel.

0

200

400

600

800

UK USA AUS

TV

Social

Printed

Web

Email

Mail/leaflets

Word of mouth

No.

of r

espo

nden

ts

Product/service categories and media channels.

There are certain product/service categories that stand out in the Baby Boomer’s mind when it comes to launches. This differed by region.

In the UK, the main categories were mobile, automotive, utilities and food. Utilities is exceptional in the UK given the deregulation of the market and the emergence of so many energy providers, particularly recently in the green energy sphere.

UK products and services.

TV Social Print Web Radio Email OOH WoM

50

100

150

Mobile Car Utilities Food0

No.

of r

espo

nden

ts


The channels change for each product category with TV being the most popular for each, but more so for mobiles and utilities. The web is particularly strong for utilities, probably due to the power of price comparison websites, but in this category word of mouth again is extremely important. Social media is consistently strong across all sectors.

When we compared this with the USA, the most distinctive difference was that utilities was replaced with healthcare. The NHS in the UK made this a low priority, but in the USA where healthcare is a product subject

to consumer choice, it ranked within the top four for new launches. Food was the standout category though with TV leading the way by being the most influential medium. Food also had a strong digital presence with both web and social being important channels alongside word of mouth. TV dominates all other categories as expected, with the same combination of web, social and word of mouth playing supporting roles.

Mobile Car Food Healthcare0


50

100

150

USA products and services.

No.

of r

espo

nden

ts


Australia swaps utilities and healthcare in preference for the internet (as in internet providers) as the fourth category. The focus for mobile (the most prominent category) is very much on TV with email as a significant channel as well.

In the other categories, it’s similar to the UK and USA in terms of channel preference and mix, though with a slightly more equal mix amongst all the channels.

Mobile Car Food Internet

0

25

50

75

100

125


Australian products and services.

No.

of r

espo

nden

ts


Life events.

04

At present we are working with the industry standard of segments defined by age, however at Five by Five we hold the belief that the age-old standard means of identifying and segmenting audiences by purely socio-demographic means is becoming outdated and in need of a reboot.

One way of achieving this is by looking at the major events in a person’s life and determining what effect this has on their attitude and behaviour towards buying products and services. This, we believe, is intensified when it comes to launches and has a significant impact on an audience’s decision to purchase.

We asked how the major life events appropriate for this age group affected their consideration and decision to engage with a launch of a product or service.

The main events across all three markets (in order of priority) were: • medical procedure• retirement• moving house • adult child moving out of home.

The emphasis varied from region to region. Taking the top four events and matching those against the top five product/service launches in the UK, we found that for car launches the primary factor for being attentive was retirement. This was also key for changing mobile phone and/or network. Internet, utilities and food launches were mainly affected by having had a medical procedure. On the surface this seems random, but when analysed more closely makes sense. Diet and heating requirements probably would change post medical procedure. To a lesser extent the Baby Boomer trend of dating and marrying later in life has an impact, particularly on car purchase and mobile phones, whilst the trend of the ‘boomerang generation’ of adult children moving back home clearly has an impact on noticing internet, utilities and food launches.

We are influenced more by our life events than our demographic.


The USA is similar, but with a greater influence on medical procedures. Although not in the graph below, another influential life event for the USA Baby Boomers is entering into a new relationship (rather than marriage) and once again the impact of the boomerang generation on family purchases and finances, particularly when food and healthcare launches are considered.

UK – Life events that influence purchase

Mobile Car Internet Utilities0

10

20

30

40

50

Food

Retired

Moved House

Adult child moved outMedical Procedure

No.

of r

espo

nden

ts

USA – Life events that influence purchase

Retired

Moved House


0

20

60

80

40

Mobile Car Internet Food Healthcare

No.

of r

espo

nden

ts


0

20

40

60

Australia: Life events that influence purchase

Retired

Moved House


Australians are likewise mostly influenced by medical procedures followed closely by retirement.

Mobile Car Internet Food Healthcare

No.

of r

espo

nden

ts


Whatdid welearn.

05


We started with the belief that this large, affluent audience segment were disinterested in the launch of new products and services, which was concerning. But this is only a partial truth. They are interested in launches but have developed a reluctance or perhaps caution to immediately adopting a new product or service, preferring to wait until it has been recommended or at least tried, tested and validated by reviews, friends or family. Once this has been achieved (which remember, typically only accounts for 2.5% of the market, so still early in a product’s launch) they embrace it wholeheartedly, more so than other audience segments.

They are an audience worth considering in every launch, but one where the timing must be planned correctly and techniques such as social norming used.

In addition, the media channels they prefer are the traditional ones; TV mainly, but also print and OOH, digital for reviews and social media content and perhaps above all, the one ‘money can’t buy’, word of mouth.

Finally, our theory that audiences are influenced by life events has been demonstrated to be true. By mapping a potential customer’s life-stage and the events that may affect them, we can match the product relevance to enhance targeting, making the launch even more effective.


In summary, when targeting this audience the factors that must be considered are:If launching specifically to this audience ensure that a ‘beta’ test launch is conducted with testimonials and reviews generated before launching to Baby Boomers - they need reassurance before committing.

If they form part of your overall launch audience, hold back on media spend until the product has launched and been consumed by Innovators. Once the word of mouth and reviews are generated they will embrace the product fully.

If you would like to find out more about the research or discuss your launch marketing needs, please get in touch: [email protected].

fivebyfiveglobal.com

what makes baby boomers wise to new product launches? · launch marketing report 2019: the baby...

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