Marketing Sherpa (link valid until March 31, http://www.marketingsherpa.com/article.php?ident=31137&pop=no)   produced an interesting field study on effective advertising tactics to target specific demographic; specifically this test was to determine layout and imagery selections that were most appealing to older audiences, and within that demographic, if lifestyle (empty-nesters, etc.) and income level had any effect on preference. 

Within retail financial services, demographic-based advertising, specifically the age-based, is usually tied to life-event marketing and is a key strategy to drive specific product messaging, since key life events can trigger the need for specific financial products and services:

“There are few marketing techniques that can capture such a high level of consumer (self-) interest at a point of time as with life event-based marketing.  Typically purchase decisions associated with life events represent a degree of complexity and unfamiliar decisions and those brands that can wrap their messages in with helpful advice stand to win the heart and wallet of the consumer.” - Laurence Hickey, Senior Strategist at Organic.

Event	Participant/ Age	Financial Product/Service
Graduation	Graduate/Young Adult       Parent/40+	Deposit and savings accounts, credit products, student loans, insurance (auto, rental)   Student loan, insurance, home/equity-based loan
Marriage	20-30 something       Parent/40+	Deposit and savings accounts, credit products, home loan, personal lending, insurance (shelter, jewelry)   Investment planning, estate planning/trust
New baby	Parents/20-30 something   Grandparents/40+	Education savings, investment planning, insurance, home loan   Education savings, investment planning
Divorce	Mid-to-senior	Deposit and savings accounts, credit products, home loan, investment planning
New job/moving	Self/Mid-career, 30-40	Home loan, retirement planning, roll-over account
Retirement	Self/End-of-career, 60+	Insurance, wealth management, estate planning/trust, home loan
Death/inheritance	40+	Investment planning, home loan,  personal lending

Within the United States, one key demographic remains to be the Baby Boomer, those 78 million Americans born between 1946 and 1964.  While research indicates those consumers are usually entrenched with their primary banking provider, identified as the institution that holds their checking relationship.  However the share of wallet for firms offering wealth management, investment products, and insurance remain up-for-grabs.  This is due, in large part, to the transfer to wealth occurring in this segment as the Baby Boomers shift their investment strategy from wealth “accumulation” to “distribution.”  In a research report, Tiburon Research and Analysis Group quantified the significant redeployment of wealth as Baby Boomers reach retirement age:

 

  $17.1 trillion of investable assets

 + $7.5 trillion in retirement plan assets

 + $5.5 trillion more as boomers sell their stock options, small businesses, homes ____________

  > $30 trillion on the move

 

Source:  Tiburon Research and Analysis, 2005

 

The Marketing Sherpa survey polled 414 mature consumers (those older than 40 years-old) from September to December 2008 to measure effectiveness of color, composition, and imagery in print advertising.  Their findings, “Though there were some overarching similarities in mature consumers’ preferences, the differences in preference between segments, especially by age and gender, were very interesting.”

Marketing Sherpa's 5 Tips for Motivating Mature Consumers

Tip #1. Use single image ads, not collage-style ads

Table One:  Single Image Ads vs. Collage by Age Group


Single-image ads were more effective at motivating mature consumers than collage-style ads. 66% of survey respondents said they preferred seeing a single image as opposed to a collage of images.

Survey respondents with the highest level of education – master’s recipients (74%) and doctorate recipients (79%) – found single-image ads more appealing.

All age groups preferred single-image ads, especially the 55- to 64-year-old group (71%).

Takeaway: If the goal is to motivate mature, well-educated consumers then single-image ads are the way to go.

_______________________________________

Tip #2. Vibrant ads outperform subdued ads

Table Two:  Vibrant Ads vs. Subdued by Family Ties


Advertisements with bright colors and expressive models were more appealing to mature consumers than subdued advertisements featuring muted colors and static models. 65% of survey respondents chose vibrant ads to subdued ads.

Respondents with adult-age children at home (78%) responded especially well to the vibrant ads.

What’s interesting is that 74% of women preferred the vibrant ad, whereas 56% of men preferred the subdued ad.

In addition:
- 53% of age group 75 plus preferred the subdued ad
- 52% of survey respondents with household incomes of more than $200,000 per year preferred the subdued ad

Takeaway: It’s very important to pay attention to the preferences of segments within a demographic. Although most mature consumers prefer vibrant ads, if the target is men, 75-years-old or older who have annual household incomes of more than $200,000, it’s better to use a subdued ad.

_______________________________________

Tip #3. Lifestyle images preferred to product images

Table Three:  Lifestyle Images vs. Product by Family Ties


The preference for lifestyle images was consistent across all age groups, income, education levels, and family situations. 59% of survey respondents preferred lifestyle images to product images.

Other stats:
-71% of caregivers preferred lifestyle images
- 64% of associate or bachelor’s degree holders preferred lifestyle images
- 61% of survey respondents with $200,ooo plus household incomes per year preferred lifestyle images

Takeaways: The higher the education level, the lower the preference for lifestyle images. Those with doctorates or PhDs (54%) preferred product images to lifestyle images.

Similarly, there was a significant discrepancy between how much caregivers (71%) preferred lifestyle images to how much empty nesters (57%) preferred lifestyle images.

_______________________________________

Tip #4. Posed shots attract the wealthy/older generations


Table Four:  Candid Shots vs. Posed by Annual Household Income


Only 51% of mature consumers preferred candid shots to posed shots. That’s a very small margin between those who preferred candid shots and those who preferred posed shots.

Takeaway: The decision to shoot a posed versus a candid shot should really depend on whom an ad is targeting:
- Older consumers (75 plus) preferred posed shots (55%)
- Younger consumers (40- to 54) preferred candid shots (57%)
- More wealthy consumers who had annual household incomes of $101,000 or more preferred posed shots (52% to 58%)
- Less wealthy consumers who had less than $101,000 annual household incomes preferred candid shots (47% to 59%)

In conclusion, the higher the income and the older the person, the more they preferred posed shots. The lower the income and the younger the person, the more they preferred candid shots.

Most of the men surveyed preferred the candid image, which went against the hypothesis concluding that men normally prefer order and structure.

_______________________________________

Tip #5. Older consumers prefer identifiable images

Table Five: Identifiable Images vs. Cropped by Age Group

Overall, 65% of mature consumers preferred to see identifiable people in photos as opposed to cropped images that didn’t show a person’s face.

Takeaway: The older the consumers, the more they prefer to see the face of the subject in the photo.

- 54% of 40- to 54-year-olds preferred cropped photos
- 76% of 75-year-olds plus preferred identifiable photos

Sherpa’s Summary:  All of the survey results show that it is important to know whom an advertisement is targeting before designing an ad.  The more that is known about the age, gender, income level, education level, hobbies and interests of the target audience, the better the chance of creating an ad that resonates with those consumers.

_______________________________________

The research also indicates that within the Baby Boomer segment, ad layouts that use single image and vibrant colors performed better, and the positive response to posed or candid photography was negligible, however, respondents preferred to see the subject’s face.   

 

As an Internet marketer, I’m curious if these findings will apply to online formats, as well as print media, since traditional, mass media advertising budgets are shifting toward the use of online tools and the Internet adoption rate and comfort level is ever increasing within the Baby Boomer segment.

 

According to one advertising forecast, the interactive segment (mobile, Internet Yellow Pages, local search, online verticals and classifieds, voice search, e-mail marketing and other interactive revenues generated by traditional media players) will grow from $14 billion in 2008 to $32.1 billion in 2013. The traditional segment (newspapers, direct mail, television, radio, print Yellow Pages, non-digital out of home, cable TV and magazines) will decrease from $141.3 billion in 2008 to $112.4 billion in 2013.  (Source:  Forecast, 2008-2013, by BIA Advisory Services and its Kelsey Group.)

 

The Baby Boomer generation continues to adopt and embrace technology as witnessed by the popularity of Facebook.  According to the site insidefacebook.com, the fastest-growing user group is women age 55+, which has increased more than 175% since last fall, and men 55+ have increased almost 138% during the same time period.  Within financial services, Forrester Research’s annual technology surveys continue to show the age segments of 40-54, 55-64, and 65+ years increasing in both the numbers of consumers researching, and applying for, financial products online. 

 

While secondary research is valuable, your product launch plans should include project-specific primary research, but this Marketing Sherpa report gives some good visual guidelines.  In the future, I hope Marketing Sherpa has more online research on the docket to help Internet marketers attract the key Baby Boomer demographic with the testing and documentation of best practices in online imagery and layout. 

On January 27^th, while sitting in the eye doctor’s waiting room, I was scanning the Time Magazine when I saw an interesting quote on leadership by Barack Obama.  It struck a chord with me, but since I don’t subscribe to Time and would never remember to get the quote online, I whipped out the iPhone and took a photo of the quote to transcribe at a later date.  The quote was cut on two pages, so here is the first and second part captured in two images:

 

      

This is not the first time I’ve tried to capture something via photo – mainly the white board after a meeting – but you only really capture the concepts; to make the image usable, you need to re-create it another program.  Well, not any more . . . introducing JotNot, the iPhone app ($3.99) that lets you enhance the photos into a more usable image. 

 

Now, if I can marry JotNot with some of the feature of SnagIt - the ability to merge the two images into one and the zoomed cursor edges (below)  – I’m set. 

Guess I need to go back to the eye doctor and "see" if I can capture the quote again with JotNot. 

BTW:  here was the quote from Barack Obama on leadership:

I don’t think there’s some magic trick here.  I think I’ve got a good nose for talent, so I hire really good people.  And I’ve got a pretty healthy ego, so I’m not scarred of hiring the smartest people, even when they’re smarter than me.  And I have a low tolerance of nonsense and turf battles and game-playing, and I send that message very clearly.  And so over time, I think, people starting trusting each other, and they stay focused on mission, as opposed to personal ambition or grievance.  If you’ve got really smart people who are all focused on the same mission, then usually you can get some things done. 

Taking the laundry list of marketing options for financial services firms one step further - it was originally from Currency Marketing and amended by NetBanker - I offer to you, the "iPhone Financial Services Marketing App" (catchy name forthcoming).   

 

The interface would be like Urban Spoon’s wheel concept,

but instead of Location/Cuisine/Meal Cost, the wheels would be labeled - Strategy/Touchpoint/Tactic.

Strategy Wheel:

• Customer Acquisition
• Customer Retention
• Cross-sell
• Up-sell

Touchpoints Wheel:

• ATMs – screens, enclosures, receipts, floor/ground decals (while people queue)
• Branch – POS signage, plasma screens, floor decals, window clings, event marketing, broadcast
• Call center/phone – on-hold messages, telemarketing, IVR, agent scripts
• e-mail – customer lists, third-party lists, account alerts
• Online – bank web sites and applications (welcome/main page, product pages, confirmation, log out/log in), other related sites, micro-sites/landing pages, blogs, banners, social media, viral applications,  RSS feed ads, social networks (Facebook, MySpace, MSN, Twitter, others), search engines (Google Adwords)
• Direct mail – postcard, letter, newsletter, welcome packages, one-to-one direct marketing programs, drip campaigns/subscription mailings
• Mobile – text messages, downloadable app, advertising/sponsorship other apps, featured at carrier/manufacturer site

Marketing Tactics Wheel:

• Advertising –
• Online – banners, sky scrapers, “powered-by”, widgets/apps
• Outdoor/Transit - wall projection and other non-traditional outlets, building site signage (construction loan clients), vehicle signage
• Print/newspaper/magazine - display ad, classified ad, column/op-ed articles, inserts, college and other niche publications, yellow pages/programs/directories/etc.
• Radio - 15/30 second spot, advertorial, sponsorship
• Third-party locations/publications - signage, WiFi, billing statements, web sites, ATMs/kiosks
• Television - 15/30 second spot, product placement, sponsorship, infomercial, online streams

• Event Marketing – sponsorships, street-team/guerilla marketing, door-to-door, charitable and philanthropic activities and events
• Joint/Affinity Marketing – life event marketing
• Print – direct mail, POS, signage, product collateral
• Promotions – sweepstakes
• Public Relations – appearances, interviews, press releases

When next year’s planning sessions start, don’t forget your iPhones - wink wink! 

Look what arrived today via Fed Ex:

                                                                       



While the process of ordering was not a good experience,  the free business card site, MarketSplash by HP, delivered! 

I knew it, I knew it . . . the main reason I "exchanged" my newly purchased Blackberry for the new iPhone in August 2007 (less than one week after its release), was that I saw the iPhone's mapping feature.  As I was living in a new city, I was in the market for a GPS and figured that the iPhone, even in version 1.0, could be a phone, PDA, and (sort of) GPS.

While it didn't have turn-by-turn, I figured with a little advanced planning on my part - review the map before I started driving - I would be ok.  Sure, "that turn-by-turn would be convenient," I thought, but knowing Apple, I assumed it would not be long before turn-by-turn would be introduced.

Well, happy days are here again - coming this summer - turn-by-turn and cut/copy/paste editing.  Now, the question is - will Apple add the "Command" key or the "Control" key to enable cut/copy/paste?  My guess:  neither; it will be "new and improved!"

Two headlines in my in-box this morning:

Seattle Post-Intelligencer Newspaper Goes Web-only (AP)

Accelerated Shift to Digital Media Platforms Predicted ("The Center for Media Research")
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

AP reports:

The newspaper industry has seen ad revenue fall in recent years as advertisers migrate to the Internet, particularly to sites offering free or low-cost alternatives for classified ads. Starting last summer, the recession intensified the decline in advertising revenue in all categories.  While the Seattle P-I's Web site ensures it a continued presence in the Seattle news market, it will likely be a pared-down version of its former self — with a heavy reliance on blogs and links to other news outlets.

Seattle follows Denver in losing a daily newspaper this year. The Rocky Mountain News closed after its owner, E.W. Scripps Co., couldn't find a buyer. In Arizona, Gannett Co.'s Tucson Citizen is set to close Saturday, leaving one newspaper in that city.

Four newspaper companies, including the owners of the Los Angeles Times, Chicago Tribune and The Philadelphia Inquirer, have sought Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in recent months. And last month Hearst said it would close or sell the San Francisco Chronicle if the newspaper couldn't slash expenses in coming weeks.

 
BIA Advisory Services/Kelsey Group put some numbers behind the disappearing newspaper situation, quantifying the declining advertising revenue equation of the business model: 

. . . current and foreseeable economic conditions will reduce overall local advertising spending through 2013 - U.S. local advertising revenues to decline from $155.3 billion in 2008 to $144.4 billion in 2013, representing a negative 1.4 percent compound annual growth rate.

Only the local interactive segment will show growth throughout the forecast period. All other local media will experience marginal to rapid declines in the next 18 to 36 months, says the report. A small number of traditional media will rebound with a revived economy beginning in 2011, though most traditional media will continue to decline at a slower pace.

US Local Ad Spending Forecast (Billion Dollars)
	Digital Media		Traditional Media
Year	Spend	Share	Spend	Share
2008	$14.0	9.0%	$141.3	91.0%
2009	16.3	11.5	125.1	88.5
2010	18.9	13.9	116.9	86.1
2011	22.9	16.7	114.0	83.3
2012	27.2	19.3	80.7	113.6
2013	32.1	22.2	77.8	112.4
Source: Kelsey Group (Mktg Charts), February 2009

Does this bode well for those of us in the job hunt with interactive marketing experience?  Perhaps helping these print media outlets not only translate their content to the web, but also redefine the experience of getting news off a "wwwdotcom."  And, what about techniques to counter "banner block," of their advertiser's messages?  To me, offline media web sites feel like a newspaper with hyperlinks - Internet best practices, like usability and search, are usually an afterthought, if a thought at all.     

I checked back in with HP's MarketSplash (www.marketsplash.com), mainly because I want 100 free business cards, but also to see if the site has been fixed. 


Well, happy to report the "maintenance" pop-up is gone.  Got the first page to "Get Your Free Cards."  Again, big button = click me . . .





So close, but still not safe . . .

HP sent out an e-invite to key bloggers "trying to get the news out about MarketSplash by HP."  MarketSplash by HP is offering free business cards to entice users to check out their print on demand service.  However, the site was down when the offer went out - here's what users experienced:




OK, notice enticing "Start Now - Design it for FREE" button - my usability intuition says, "click here."  Did so, and then got . . . wait for it . .


.


Whoa, really?  Somewhere on the project plan there should have been a milestone, "Check Site," before the task, "Send Promo e-mail!  I will, however, check back to see how the rest of the experience goes . .  . wait for it . . .

Somewhere between Maslow and AA.org's:

While surfing Craig’s List for jobs, I found an interesting post in my field for “TPWD – Director of Interactive Services (Austin, TX).”  Well, hello!  A director-level position, check – in interactive, check – in Austin, check check . . . CLICK.  

The job description was rather brief, but still a match, so to the last line, “For more information on how to apply, visit so-and-so URL.”  Like a good dog, I’ve been trained to expect the following experience – the link would take me to a web site with a more detailed job description and a way to submit my resume and cover letter.  Oh how wrong – the link was to a page that barked a state of Texas application is required.  OK, no problem, give me the online form.  Not so fast . . . it’s a Word doc or PDF with about five other forms to fill out and fax back.  My question is, “why the hoops?”  Here’s a hot lead for a HR software/application firm!