15 May 2011

NostraChuckus Scoops New York Times II

The first time:

NostraChuckus Scoops New York Times
NostraChuckus is thrilled to be able to predict news stories weeks before the New York Times.

This time, make it years before:

In Shift, Ads Try to Entice Over-55 Set
By BILL CARTER and TANZINA VEGA
Published: May 13, 2011
… After 40 years of catering to younger consumers, advertisers and media executives are coming to a different realization: older people aren’t so bad, after all.

Sounds familiar:

"You're still relevant!" (2006)
Judge Judy is on a rampage (as if she ever isn't)

TV's youth obsession backfiring (2006)
In the spirit of fun and games with the news, I've come up with a few of my own reasonable, moderate, neutral headlines…

Calcified Advertising Agencies (2007)
… A prime-time TV show with most of its viewers in the 34-to-49 range can get 30% more per ad minute than one that caters to people 55 and older. Yet consumers age 50 and up already spend more than $1.7 trillion on goods and services a year…

More from the NYT piece:

They (Baby Boomers) have also become heavy spenders on electronics and digital devices. The study also showed that members of the 55-to-64 age group were just as likely as those ages 18 to 34 to have high-definition televisions, digital video recorders and broadband service.

Sounds familiar.  The pull quote on the cover of Advertising to Baby Boomers ©2005:

coveradvbb“It will be the Baby Boomers who will be the first to pick and choose, to ignore or be seduced by leading-edge technology marketing. There’s a simple reason for this. We have the money to buy this stuff. Experts say we’ll continue to have the money for at least the next twenty years. Write us off at your own peril.

Even more from the NYT article:

the biggest misconception about the group was that older Americans wanted to be younger…

Sounds familiar.  From my book (2005, 2007):

image

Another grab from the book:

image

For the backstory to the NYT piece, I’ve made available the Introduction & 1st Chapter of Advertising to Baby Boomers:

Introduction: The Geritol Syndrome (PDF)

Chapter One: Why Companies and Ad Agencies Need Baby Boomers (PDF)

Why NostraChuckus and other notable soothsayers aren’t getting the credit for predicting all this …

Well, the Crystal Ball is hazy on that one.