The Business of Aging

Using Elder Care Programs to Retain Employees

In the latest Talent Management magazine (a popular trade magazine for human resource professionals) there is an article titled Back to The Future.

Within this article there is a sidebar article on How to Retain Generations X and Y. Something many employers are concerned about considering these generations consistently boast the highest turnover rates in corporate America (staying on average 20 months per job).

What does this have to do with senior care?

A lot.

The writer, Sarah Sladek (CEO of Limelight Generations and author of a lot of books) lists some of the ways companies can retain these employees.

And high on the list is  "Elder Care programs" considering most Gen Xers and Yers will find themselves caring for aging loved ones if they are not already.

At HRmarketer.com, a sister product to SeniorCareMarketer.com, we work with a lot of companies who market elder care programs to employers and their products/services are in high demand these days. 

Companies that market senior care products/services need to really take a look at the employer channel as a possible market - but is a far different marketing and sales process than B2C (selling to Boomers). I will be speaking about this topic at the March What's Next in Boomer's Summit. If you are attending this event I would be delighted to speak with you about this market and help you determine if it is the right channel for your product/service.

7th Annual What’s Next Boomer Business Summit Announced

Mary Furlong & Associates, the nation’s premier consultancy for marketing and business development strategies for the 50+ market, announced today the dates for the 7th Annual What’s Next Boomer Business Summit. What’s Next, taking place on Friday, March 19, 2010 at the Hyatt Regency Chicago, will focus on the most effective strategies for selling products and services to the post-recession baby boomer market.

Visit the event web site and REGISTER here.  We attended this event last year and I verify it is OUTSTANDING. If you sell a product or service relating to the aging population, go to this show.

Every year, What’s Next brings together the country’s leading baby boomer strategists and marketers at an event designed to introduce new research, products and services that truly represent what is next in the boomer market, and this year is no different. The 2010 event will emphasize integrated, social and mobile marketing; innovative distribution channels and will provide a profile of business segments that have moved into the rapidly growing sector of care giving, an $800 billion market 1.

The 2010 Summit boasts premier participants such as AARP, Abeo Partners, Caring.com, firstSTREET, Forum One Networks, HeartMath, iVillage, Microsoft Corporation, SeniorCareMarketer.com, Southwest Airlines and Zillow.com discussing their latest baby boomer marketing strategies. 

Confirmed speakers to date include:
    

•     Kevin Donnellan, Executive Vice President and Chief Communications Officer, AARP
•     Mark Graham, Senior Vice President, iVillage.com
•     Dr. Stan Humphries, Chief Economist, Zillow.com
•     Catherine Calarco, Senior Vice President, Sales and Marketing, HeartMath
•     Andy Cohen, Founder and CEO, Caring.com
•     Steve Cook, Chief Marketing Officer, Abeo Partners LLC
•     Brandon Daniell, Chief Innovator, Abeo Partners LLC
•     Dr. Mary Furlong, CEO, Mary Furlong & Associates
•     Jody Holtzman, Senior Vice President, Research and Strategic Analysis, AARP
•     Bill Johnston, Chief Community Officer, Forum One Networks
•     Mark Miller, journalist and consultant
•     Gary Moulton, Aging Coordinator/Product Manager, Microsoft’s Trustworthy Computing Group
•     Bud Myers, Senior Director of Merchandising, firstSTREET
•     Mark Willaman, Founder of SeniorCareMarketer.com and HRmarketer.com

The What’s Next Boomer Business Summit is an official post-conference of the NCOA-ASA National Aging in America Conference taking place March 15-19 in Chicago.

Related Posts:

Aging in America and NCOA 2009 Conference. Comments and Observations. Part 1.

Aging in America and NCOA 2009 Conference. Comments and Observations. Part 2.

Aging in America and NCOA 2009 Conference. Comments and Observations. Part 3

Event Review: 2009 Silicon Valley Boomer Venture Summit

I attended the Silicon Valley Boomer Venture Summit & Business Plan Competition this week .  We (SeniorCareMarketer.com) helped sponsor the event.

How was it?

In a word, remarkable. In two words, highly worthwhile.

This year's event had record attendance (how many events can say this these days?) and Mary Furlong and Associates puts on the event and does an extraordinary job. Their next event is in March  after the Aging in America conference. Block off the date and attend both.

So who attended this Boomer summit?

Prominent Silicon Valley VC firms like Piper Jaffray and corporate VC's including Johnson & Johnson's Business Development Group which is responsible for identifying businesses for J&J to invest in and/or acquire. 

Bloggers, analysts and Authors including Ken Dychtwald from Age Wave.

Innovators (companies)  that develop and market products and services relating to Boomers and the aging population. A very diverse group. Some of these include:

First Street: An online and print catalog of innovative products for Boomers.
GilberGuide:  Senior housing guide and resource database.
Read How You Want: On-demand, optimized alternative format editions of books, etc.
Caring.com: Content and resources for people caring for aging loved ones. 
HeartMath: Products and services that enable caregivers manage stress (some very cool technologies).
CareSquare: Online community/social network for families and caregivers.
Halo Monitoring: Technologies that help seniors live more independently (fall detection etc.).
Silver Ride: Transportation options for the aging population.
Boomers and Beyond: Wellness services for Boomers and aging population.
Immersion Active: Interactive agency for the mature market.
Posit Science: Brain fitness programs (very cool stuff).
The Senior List: Online directory of senior care providers. 
SeniorCareMarketer.com: Marketing and PR software for companies marketing to Boomers and the aging population.
ETR: Help children, young people and adults develop attitudes and behaviors that contribute to optimal health and well-being.
Famililink: Web site that helps families stay in touch.
Magnolia Prime: Telephone reassurance and support system for the aging marketplace.
PharmaSurveyor: Online software to check drug interactions and side effects (very useful). 
Traveling4Health: Medical tourism.

There were a bunch of great sessions . Too many to write about. But four I really enjoyed included:

Jody Holtzmann, SVP of Research at AARP gave an absolutely wonderful keynote presentation on market research relating to Boomers and the aging population. Mr. Holtzmann's information will benefit any company marketing to this sector and AARP has some of the best data available anywhere on this space. Visit AARP's research page regularly if you compete in this space.  I do. RSS feeds here.

Steve Jurvetson from DFJ Global Network (his blog is here - it's a good one) spoke about four market forces that present excellent opportunities for breakthrough innovation and entrepreneurship (IOW, product ideas). These include:

1. Disruption: Without disruption entrepreneurship and start-ups don't exist. Three types;

A.  New distribution channels (Internet)

B.  Technologies 
C.  Structural Changes in Markets

2. Deregulation
3. Financial Turmoil
4. Demographic Shifts (e.g., aging population)

Laurie Orlov, senior care and boomer industry analyst spoke about technologies for aging in place. I was intrigued about her definition of a good analyst - "someone who describes market shapes, identifies and describes participants in the space (vendors), and predicts trends".  Laurie does a good job at this and compares the current Boomer marketplace to eCommerce in 1999.  She presented what she believes are the four categories to aging in place technologies, a sector that will be huge in the coming years:

1. Home and Personal Safety (e.g., alarms, motion sensors, med reminders, etc.)
2. Communication/Engagement  (e.g., email, video, cell phone, etc.)
3. Personal Health - med reminders,  wellness, etc,)
4. Learning (cognitive improvement, social networking, education, distance learning, etc.)

Ken Dychtwald from Age Wave gave a stellar presentation on marketing to Boomers. Ken is amazing and should be on any event organizer's short list of keynote presenters. He presented agents of change that any company marketing to Boomers and the aging population (pretty much every company) must know. Here are four:

1. Maturity not what it used to be. Today's "seniors" are active, have money (control more wealth than any other demographic group), are healthier and live longer. The average life expectancy was 25 in year 1000 and is near 80 today - BTW, Ken says the human body has a biological potential of  140 :-). Lessons for marketer's: Be Aspirational, not desperational in your marketing.
2. Demography is Destiny. There were no pediatricians in the 1940s - wasn't considered a necessary sub specialty - until the Boomers arrived.  The point? All modernized countries are about to get hit with this age wave explosion and things will change. Ken's advice - get out in front and dig a big hole. IOW, as marketer's you need to act now.
3. The New Power is Consumer. It is hard to identify a product category where people 55+ don't spend the most. Furniture, health, travel, entertainment, etc. I found this very interesting. 
4. New beginnings. Cycle Lifespan. There used to be distinguished segments. We're born, go to school, work, retire, die. And products were marketed accordingly. No more. Education, work and leisure are no longer separate. IOW, target "mindset" and "lifestage", not age.  Think about this - Ken is saying that age is NOT best way to break up the population. This is very interesting. Careers, marriage, singlehood, caregivng, empty nest, retirement, grandparents - they happen at different times for people. 

OK....who didn't attend this event?

Traditional HR technology, work-life, EAP or wellness companies. Why more human resource professionals and vendors are not focusing on this space is beyond me.  Baby Boomers (born from 1946 to 1964) are planning to work longer and many until they are physically no longer able to do so according to AARP research.  No matter how you look at it, the workforce is going to age considerably the next 10-20 years and this will have profound implications for organizations - on recruitment, talent management, employee wellness, management, leadership development, etc. Within the last ten years we've already seen employers shift benefit spending - they now spend more on elder care benefits than child care benefits but this is only the beginning. But simply offeering employees LTC insurance as a voluntary benefit or access to an R&R for elder care support won't cut it.

Brain fitness is a booming market at the moment (50% of boomers state losing mental capacity as biggest fear). With an aging workforce you can bet that employers have a vested interest in maintaining employee cognitive function - which by the way begins to decrease in your forties. Over thirty published clinical studies show brain fitness software works. What a huge opportunity for talent management software companies, training & development, wellness and other HR vendors.

BTW, another interesting shift may be in outsourcing. With such a vast and educated population (Boomers) we will likely see more "outsourcing" inside America. The Boomers can serve this market. More on that in a future post.

Recommended Event: Silicon Valley Boomer Venture Summit.

SeniorCareMarketer.com is a sponsor of this years Silicon Valley Boomer Venture Summit & Business Plan Competition.  The Facebook page is here.

Mary Furlong & Associates co-produce this event and they do a sensational job. This event attracts some very prominent VCs (including corporate VCs) and some of the sharpest business/marketing minds in the senior care marketplace.  

Some of the event's highlights: 

• Learn why VCs are investing heavily in the boomer  market - hear from VC portfolio companies
• Learn from key analysts how they segment the market and evaluate opportunity
• Hear all Business Plan Competition finalists present their business ideas to the blue ribbon panel of judges

Who is attending?

• Investors and venture capitalists
• Corporate strategists and marketing experts
• Analysts who track segments of the market
• Organizations that serve the boomer consumer
• Media that report on the marketplace
• Entrepreneurs who serve this market

Our economy is going through unprecedented changes as are the demographics of the world (aging population) and every company must think about how they will react to these changes.  Events like this inspire great thought about how your business may adapt to these changes.

As I mentioned, SeniorCareMarketer.com is a sponsor of this event and we are speaking. But even if we were not, I'd still recommend this event to any business targeting boomers or selling elder/senior care type services. The networking alone is worth the registration fee.

I hope to see you there.

Either way, at your next strategy meeting give some thought as to how your company can evolve to better meet the needs of an aging population. There will be lots of opportunities.