In the 21st Jun edition of Marketing there was an article titled: “Boomers tighten their belts”. The article is on the BrandRepublic web site (I think you will need a subscription).
It was great to see the attention given to the 50+ market. Unfortunately, the article contained a couple of significant mistakes.
I thought I had better point these out to Marketing’s editor.
It was great to see Marketing committing two pages to discussing Baby Boomers. At the risk of appearing a pedantic old codger I thought I should point out that it contained a couple of fundamental errors. The article defines Boomers as those born between 1946 and 1964. This is true for the US but not the UK. In the UK the birth rate declined from 1948 until 1956. This might seem like a small thing but it gives the UK a very different demographic profile to the US.
The article claims that 70% of boomers have a chronic condition or disability by the age of 65 years. Not true - if you believe the latest research from the ONS that shows that men aged 65 can expect another 12 years of ‘healthy life expectancy’, only 2 years less than that for women. I would hate Marketing to be responsible for incorrectly raising the hopes of companies supplying hip baths, knee replacements and chair lifts.
Otherwise the article contained some good insights into the 50-plus market, especially about their lack of preparedness for financing their post-work years. Since the article was published, research has shown that the level of debt of the over-60s is the fast growing of all age groups.
Bad as the financial hardships of today’s older generation will be, they will be nothing compared to those faced by their children and grandchildren, when they reach their 50s.
Let’s hope this is the last time we get our US and UK Boomers mixed-up – I somehow doubt that will be the case. Dick Stroud
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