The Business of Aging

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.

Seniors Fuel Increase in Career-Site Visitors. The Bigger Picture.

I posted this blog on our suster site's (HRmarketer.com) blog earlier today but it also has great relevance to this audience. Enjoy.

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A few days ago Marketing Charts  posted an interesting article on how visitors to US career-development websites increased 20% year-over-year to 49.7 million in January 2009.

This was fueled by a surge in visitors ages 65+ who are apparently still in the job market, according to data from Nielsen Online. In fact, the number of unique visitors age 65 and older to career development websites grew 41% year-over-year, increasing from 2.5 million in January 2008 to 3.6 million in January 2009.

Chuck Schilling, research director with Nielsen Online had this to say about the data:

“While 65 used to be considered the age when most people retired, we are seeing a trend toward later retirement or partial retirement,” Schilling said. “Much of this desire to stay employed longer can probably be attributed to the fact that people are living longer and feel the need to keep generating income and sock away more retirement savings, especially in light of the current economic climate and its effect on people’s nest eggs.”

At Fisher Vista, LLC we operate what we initially believed to be two totally different businesses: (1) HRmarketer.com and (2) SeniorCareMarketer.com. Yet, as we speak with senior care and HR vendors we are realizing these two services are quite complementary.  Who would have thunk? 

And this is giving us a unique perspective on the aging population's impact on corporate America.  In particular, how every company (yes, yours too)  will have to:

(1) Rethink recruitment and retention, employee benefits design, and general staffing decisions to attract and retain an older workforce.  This means everything from how you source candidates, their job descriptions, the benefits you offer them, their work schedules (e.g., job sharing), how to train and manage them, etc.

(2) Rethink how your products or services are relevant to an aging population. Whether you realize it or not, your target market is expanding to include "Boomers" and "Seniors" and smart companies are finding ways to either (a) tweak their existing offerings to have more relevence to this market and/or developing new product lines specifically designed for the aging population (e.g., Phillips Electronics Lifeline products  and Jitterbug's easy to use cell phones).

Number one (recruiting, etc.) gets all the attention these days. But number two (product development/marketing) is equally if not more important in the long term. Our economy is going through unprecedented changes as are the demographics of the world - and every company must think about how they will maintain relevance in the next economy. To get you thinking, check out Ed Wallace's brilliant article When the Boomers Stop Buying.

I'm already seeing some senior care vendors enter the HR space by introducing their products/services to employers - usually as some form of employee benefit to help employees dealing with elder care issues.  And more HR executives are noticing the impact elder care has on employees (think presenteeism) and beginning to do something about it. 

But there are also opportunities for HR vendors (e.g., EAPs and work-life companies) to enter the B2C space or pursue other distribution channels for their services within the senior care marketplace. Lot's of opportunities.

Which ones have relevance is yet to be seen but one thing I know for sure - the HR vendor landscape will look a lot different ten years from now.

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 .    

Middle-Aged Users' Declining Web Performance

Interesting article/research by Nielsen Norman Group Report titled Middle-Aged Users' Declining Web Performance  discusses Web Usability for Senior Citizens.

The research found that "current websites are twice as hard to use for seniors as they are for younger users. Probably not that surprising, since Web designers are usually fairly young. However, the Web does not have to be this hard for seniors. The research found many specific guidelines that can make websites easier to use for seniors if they are followed during the design."

The entire report can be ordered here.

SeniorCareMarketer.com Research to Reveal Best Practices in Marketing and Selling in the Senior Care Industry

  How prevalent are the use of blogs, podcasts and other Web 2.0 tools by suppliers in the senior care marketplace? Are print advertising budgets being reduced in 2008? Will senior care vendors attend fewer tradeshows? These questions and more will be answered in an upcoming research report titled, “Trends in Senior Care Marketing: Where Suppliers Spent Marketing and PR Dollars in 2007, and What's Ahead in 2008.”

Senior care suppliers who would like to participate in the research may visit:  http://survey.constantcontact.com/survey/a07e26wwgxvf8p5629f/start

Scheduled to launch in early 2008, SeniorCareMarketer.com is an on-demand marketing and PR service for companies selling products and services relating to the aging of America. SeniorCareMarketer.com will offer the senior care industry the same marketing benefits and services that its sister product, HRmarketer.com, offers the human resource industry: the ability to generate publicity, website traffic, sales leads and improved search engine rankings. It is owned by Fisher Vista, LLC, the marketing and information services firm that also owns HRmarketer.com. Launched in 2002, HRmarketer.com is the largest marketing and public relations firm in the human resource marketplace.

The upcoming “Trends in Senior Care Marketing” report will outline key trends such as: the patterns of adoption and use of various marketing and public relations tactics by senior care suppliers; the growth of "Web 2.0" tactics including social networking; what marketing activities have the greatest impact in lead generation; the importance of SEO and search-optimized press releases; the amount suppliers will invest in Pay-Per-Click advertising.

According to Mark Willaman, president of Fisher Vista, LLC and founder of both HRmarketer and SeniorCareMarketer, reaching buyers of senior care products and services can be quite challenging, considering the vast array of purchasing influencers in this marketplace. These include family caregivers, doctors, nurses, social service agencies, hospitals, geriatric care managers, pharmacists, physical therapists, rehabilitation centers, home health care, housing and residential facilities, and more.

"The Internet is dramatically changing how brands are established and purchases are made. For suppliers attempting to reach buyers of senior care products and services, new approaches are needed," said Willaman. "This report will help senior care suppliers understand their marketing and PR options, what their peers are doing and how to better allocate their marketing and PR dollars in 2008."

To complete the “Trends in Senior Care Marketing” survey and receive a complimentary copy of the finished report, please visit: http://survey.constantcontact.com/survey/a07e26wwgxvf8p5629f/start

About Fisher Vista, LLC

Fisher Vista, LLC (http://www.fishervista.com) is a marketing and information services firm focusing on the human capital and senior care industries. The company’s flagship product, HRmarketer.com, is the No. 1 online marketing and PR service in the human resources industry. Since 2001, over 500 human resource suppliers have used HRmarketer.com and the HRmarketer Services Group to generate publicity, website traffic, sales leads and improved SEO. SeniorCareMarketer.com is scheduled for launch in early 2008 and will achieve similar results for companies selling products and services relating to the aging of America.

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