Monday, March 08, 2004

Shuffleboard is out – ski boarding is in

It is the small changes that indicate how the times are changing for the 50+ marketer, with the evidence emerging from the strangest of places. I bet you didn’t know that the shuffleboard industry is in dire straights. Well look no further than the article in the Palm Beach Post.
It seems that the membership of the Delray Beach Shuffleboard Club (Florida) has fallen from 350 to 30 over the past four decades. This sorry tale for the shuffleboard industry is reflected across the US. As the new generation of retirees look for some sporting excitement it is not shuffleboard they see as the outlet for their energies.

I know it is a simplistic example but it is a sign of the marketing dilemma facing the traditional products and services associated with the old. Either your reinvent yourself or die. Well the Cruise Industry has done pretty well in keeping itself attractive to the new 50+. I bet if the Shuffleboard Industry could get some sponsorship from Nike not only would they retain their traditional market but attract a new, younger breed of user. An idle thought.

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