Marketers Targeting Boomers Poised To Benefit
Everybody knows that Canada’s population is aging. But how many marketers are actually capitalizing on the opportunity and really marketing to baby boomers? Our population is getting older faster but is living longer than the previous generations. TD Waterhouse’s Senior Vice President Patricia Lovett-Reid recently identified a number of high-potential industry sectors for boomer marketing: leisure, healthcare, assisted living, anti-aging and, of course, financial services.
But these are business sectors on which marketers have already been focusing in the last five years. The following are my suggested alternatives:
- Customized travel tours designed for boomers: forget the cruise lines which have already been targeting boomers about a decade ago, but whoever fulfills the dreams of boomers such as guided hiking trips to Switzerland or adventure tours to exotic countries around the world will prosper;
- Organic food and nutraceuticals: baby boomers are increasingly concerned about what they eat and the impact of food on their health as they age. From farm to fork should be the key growth strategy for restaurants and food companies. Instead of drugs, any company manufacturing and marketing nutraceuticals – a combination of functional foods with health/medical benefits – will be highly popular;
- Retirement resorts – with the improvement of science and technology, boomers, hopefully, will not need assisted care until their very senior years. So developers should really look into building and designing retirement resorts for boomers to enjoy life while they can;
- Rebranding for boomers: any branding or image consulting experts who can offer some practical advice to boomers reinventing themselves or starting a second career will find themselves in hot demand;
- Mental fitness centres: everybody knows the importance of physical fitness and exercising to the aging process, but whoever focuses on the mental agility and spiritual fulfillment of boomers and seniors will enjoy a greater success.
I do agree with Lovett-Reid that there are numerous opportunities to market to the aging population, but a sound research prior to investment is crucial to a successful entrepreneur before embarking on a business venture aiming at baby boomers.
Lina Ko