The Business of Aging

New Report: Trends and Best Practices for Marketing to the Senior Care Industry

SeniorCareMarketer.com has released it's latest research report that covers the latest trends and best practices for marketing to the senior care industry.   

The senior care industry is about to enter a cycle of unprecedented growth (many experts say it has already begun) as the baby boom generation cares for their aging parents and require care themselves as they transition into their own senior years. While many companies focus on the marketing of products and services to the aging "boomer" generation, a larger market will develop with regard to the caregiving needs of older Americans - the parents of the Boomers and eventually, the Boomers themselves.  As America ages, the demand for products and services that relate to the "care" of these individuals  will grow significantly, from home care services and medical products to housing options and financial / insurance related products.   

This new report, “Trends in Senior Care Marketing: Where Suppliers Spent Marketing and PR Dollars in 2007, and What's Ahead in 2008” represents a broad spectrum of senior care companies.  Key topics in the report include:

- What marketing and PR activities were most important to senior care suppliers the past year, and their budgeting plans for the next 12 months;
- How senior care suppliers measure the success of their marketing and PR;
- Who and what suppliers rely on to stay knowledgeable about the marketplace;
- How optimistic suppliers are about the overall health of the senior care marketplace.

To download a free copy of the report, visit the above links or type this URL into your browser. http://www.seniorcaremarketer.com/downloads.htm

Enjoy.

Senior Care Market Lucrative For Just About Everything

Says who?

An article from The Vancouver Sun titled Aging boomers most lucrative market for just about everything.

With the front end of the baby boom on the cusp of their senior years and their parents already there, there's rising demand for just about everything relating to the aging population. And for research that help marketer's better understand older consumers.

"It's absolutely booming," says Michelle Pratt, a research associate at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology's AgeLab. "The fact that someone turns 62 every seven seconds means that this segment of the population is the fastest-growing, the most lucrative market. Companies know this demands a new approach to old age."

AgeLab is an example of an organization conducting this type of research and car makers, technology firms, health care providers, pharmaceutical companies, even a shoe company and Canadian funeral home have sought their expertise.

But every company better be prepared for the aging population. While five per cent of seniors are in institutions and completely dependent and ten per cent live at home with mobility limitations, the vast majority are doing fine and making their own purchasing decisions for products and services they need.

The message to me is companies must not only target their message to caregivers but also to the senior themselves.

This is one reason our soon to be released SeniorCareMarketer.com product helps marketers of senior care products and services target all the purchase influencer's - from the aging person themselves to their family members (who may purchase products and services on their behalf) to the broader healthcare and medical community.

SeniorCareMarketer has also launched it's own research report  titled Where Senior Care Suppliers Spent Their Marketing and PR Dollars in the Last 12 Months and What’s Ahead which can be downloaded for free at SeniorCareMarketer.com .    

Neurosoftware? More Evidence the Senior Care Market is Beginning to Heat Up

A year or two ago I may have seen an article in major media that related to the senior care marketplace maybe once a quarter. These days, I see these stories almost daily.

An article in the New York Times a few days ago titled Exercise Your Brain, or Else You’ll ... Uh ...  discussed an emerging mini-industry of computer-based brain products.

These products are being called neurosoftware. Examples include Nintendo's Brain Age 2, a video game of simple math and memory exercises and Posit Science’s computer-based “cognitive behavioral training” exercises, and MindFit's software-based program that combines cognitive assessment of more than a dozen different skills. And for a monthly fee, you can subscribe to web sites like Lumosity.com and Happy-Neuron.com, which offer a variety of cognitive training exercises.

The NYT article quotes Alvaro Fernandez (whose brain fitness and consulting company, SharpBrains, has a Web site focused on brain fitness research) as estimating that in 2007 the market in the United States for neurosoftware was $225 million.

Mr. Fernandez pointed out that compared with, say, the physical fitness industry, which brings in $16 billion a year in health club memberships alone, the brain fitness software industry is still in its infancy yet is growing at a 50 percent annual rate and expected to reach $2 billion by 2015.

This makes all of us at Fisher Vista feel quite good about our upcoming product launch of SeniorCareMarketer.com which will help companies who sell to boomers and seniors generate online visibility, web site traffic and sales leads.