Scene 1: As John leaves for work, his wife waves goodbye
from the doorway. She goes inside to wait for their son to drop off
their two granddaughters, whom she baby-sits when she's not
working part time.
Scene 2: Jane calls her husband from the office to remind
him to pick up some essentials for the weekend. Since their
daughter and grandson moved in with them, the refrigerator is
always empty.
Scene 3: One Sunday each month, the whole tribe gathers:
Mike's kids from his first marriage and their children (his
grandchildren); his wife Mary's children, teenagers who still
live with them; and their twins, turning 4 next month.
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What do these three scenarios have in common? Not much, except
each of these couples could easily be 50-year-old-plus baby
boomers. In 1996, the first of the 77 million members of the baby
boom generation turned 50. This half-century landmark reminded us
that millions of boomers would soon add the role of grandparent to
their already-full plate, if they hadn't yet.
"Baby boomers have transformed every life stage they've
touched," says Michael Rybarski, chief marketing officer at
Age Wave IMPACT, an Emeryville, California, marketing firm
that targets maturing boomers and older adults. "It's
their demographic weight. Wherever the baby boom goes, it becomes
the center of marketing opportunity in this country." Now that
the boomers have reached grandparenthood, it's time to look at
how they'll affect the sales of everything from toys to
grandparent-grandchild travel tours.
This new generation of grandparents is vastly different from
those of the past. Boomers are healthier and more active, their
values differ greatly, and they steadfastly refuse to be like their
parents.
Their unique position and large numbers are leading boomers to
redefine the traditional role of grandparents. "Boomers were
raised by their parents to be seen and not heard," says Phil
Goodman, founder of the Boomer Marketing & Research Center in
San Diego, California. "Boomers raised their kids to be seen
and heard, but they're going to be helping their grandchildren
to be seen, heard and featured." This--combined with the rise
of multigenerational households and families with kids from first,
second and third marriages--means grandkids are going to be a major
part of boomers' lives, and we can only guess at how
influential boomers will be in purchases for their grandkids. But
the numbers provide us with a really good hint: Packaged Facts, the
publishing division of research and consulting company FIND/SVP
Inc., estimates the disposable income of boomers over 50 is $930
billion, and it projects that figure will swell to $1 trillion by
2003. With this kind of money, it's prime time for you to start
marketing to boomer grandparents before you miss out on the vast
opportunity created by this new market.
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