Is the New Age Marketing focused only on Millennials making the affluent Baby Boomers feel neglected?
90% of Indian Customers Age 52+ Feel No Attachment to their Favourite Brands
ICLP Report reveals that Baby Boomers, though often retailers’ most affluent audience, aren’t loyal customers because they feel undervalued and overlooked
Digital marketing has become very important in the marketing mix to reach a larger customer base more cost effectively. Social media, online marketing and other marketing tools are mostly focused on Millennials and tend to overlook an affluent customer base of baby boomers. Spending power increases with age, therefore it is very important for the brands to take the baby boomers along in their journey of building brand advocacy.
The recently conducted study commissioned by ICLP (A Collinson Group Company) reveals some interesting data points about consumer behaviour.
· Retailers’ lack of focus on Baby Boomers is evident by the 90% who are not devoted to brands they engage with the most, i.e. they don’t feel a high level of passion, commitment or intimacy towards them, and are likely to “cheat” with competitors.
Why is this the case? Because Boomers feel they are not rewarded and recognized for their engagement with the brands.
-64% feel that they do not get offers tailored for them and that they are not recognized as somebody but anybody, whereas; 74% feel that they are not rewarded for brand advocacy, which means no rewards for recommending the brand to others.
-65% said that brands did not know about their previous purchase, whereas; 68% said that the brands didn’t greet or gift them on their birthdays.
-Unfortunately, only 46% feel that their favourite retailer has their best interests at heart and that their custom and loyalty is rewarded.
· So, what can the brands do to increase the frequency of purchase among this valuable generation?
– Increase trust: 71% of boomers said they would buy more if they trusted the brand more
-Understand them better: 80% of the boomers would buy more if the brand understood their needs and requirements better
-Personalized Communication: 78% of the boomers prefer being recognized as an individual and not just anybody.
-Relevant and consistent recommendation: As many as 88% boomers felt that they would purchase more if they were recommended consistently
– Curate conversations: 67% boomers said that their direct messages and posts tagging the brands were not responded to.
Mr. Anurag Saxena, Country Head and GM, ICLP India, added, “Brands typically target their mobile and online marketing efforts at Millennials because they consider them to be the most valuable generation, and thus they overlook Baby Boomers, who are highly influential and are often the affluent shoppers. Our research reveals that Boomers feel undervalued and overlooked, so it’s important to give this extremely important customer base what they want and need – a personalized customer experience that is responsive and communicative. The more retailers use these data-driven insights to create a meaningful marketing strategy that specifically appeals to Boomers, the more emotionally connected they will feel towards your brand, turning this age group into repeat, loyal customers.”