Eons: An Almost Obit

It's always fun being the smartest kid on the block. Almost as much fun is saying that you're the smartest kid on the block - and backing it up with empirical evidence (scroll past the first post).

Well ... I wasn't the smartest kid on the block when it came to handicapping Eons - just one of a slew of smart kids. Many of us marketing to 50+ pundits knew it was god-awful from the beginning. And non-marketing to 50+ sources likewise pooh-poohed it.

Eons is in its death throes. In a desperate move, it's now letting riff-raff in.

Okay, I'm kidding. Some of my best friends are under fifty …

And a bunch of whippernsappers, even with their ageism intact, make some good points (and a few ex-Eons members chime in), although much of what is said I've been saying for years.

Here's irony: Even another social networking site is positioning itself as the 'new' Eons - attempting to steal away the paltry number of people who are on Eons and turn it into an 'alternative' Eons. Nothing like following in the footsteps of failure. Too, too weird.

The sad part of it all for me: If I keep this blog on topic, I won't have Eons to kick around anymore.

Or I'll cheat. Maybe when the ether settles, I'll write a long post or article about the demise of Eons. I have a bunch of juicy, sort-of-insider stories - where I'll change the names to protect the guilty.

Eons Again.

Eons is live.

Although I've blogged about it numerous times, I'm not obsessed with the place. I've never talked to them, although my stats tell me that over the last few months a slew of deep hits to this blog have come from a 'Navy shipyard' in Boston. It took me awhile to figure it out…

It's just that Eons is the first commercial site for Baby Boomers with lots of VC backing (the figure thrown around is 10 mil) - and all of us involved with marketing, advertising, and any type of content targeting this demographic are watching it very carefully. Other sites for Boomers are in the works, so Eon's success or failure will have an effect on more than a handful of current projects.

Eons is getting tons of press, and some blog activity. Many of the articles are making fun of the obit email alerts, with headlines like "You've Got Death" and "Social Deathworking."

What do I think of the place? Let's start with my prediction a few weeks ago: Eons will be a happy-time AARP. I wasn't too far off (minus the death alerts). However, in an earlier post I said this: Jeff Taylor is an interesting, nutty, very bright fellow. Little did I know when I wrote that, that it would also describe the web site. Even better than "a happy-time AARP."

Eons is OK. I'm not put off by it (a good sign). The 'mind games' are fun. My sodden noggin could use more exercise. And I took advantage of the Longevity Calculator. According to this curious mix of medical research, common sense, and voodoo, I'll be twitching and drooling until I'm 84. (Oh, well. I always knew I'd die young.)

However, I'm not convinced that Baby Boomers are looking to network unless there is a specific reason, a real benefit (don't ask me what those reasons or benefits might be - that's a big chunk of how I make my living as a consultant, creative director, and copywriter). I do find most of the content on Eons rather bland. Some content is fine in bland form (medical advice, etc.). But with 10 million bucks I bet they could dig up more creative, lively (even famous) Baby Boomer writers, journalists, and artists to spice it up a bit.

That's what most educated people over fifty are looking for - exciting content, real story-telling (including video).

I also predicted that "Eons has lots of potential." It's still early. We're all hoping that the site is successful. Because if it is, more sites for Baby Boomers will follow.

Eons and Eons

There's now more going on over at Jeff Taylor's Eons. And here's a new press release:

Eons Invites a 50+ Generation of Boomers and Seniors to Be Proud, Be Loud About Their Age

I'm not sure I need to be proud and loud about my age. I'm perfectly happy with it, minus some aches and pains.

Let me think about this…

I should be proud that I've yet to get a fatal disease or die in an accident? (I guess all the Baby Boomers who've croaked should be ashamed of themselves.)

I hope I can dredge up a few things a bit more worthy to be proud of. If I can't, I'm in big trouble. (And if I start screaming from rooftops about being proud about simply being alive, please lure me down -- and lock me in my room until this psychotic episode is over.)

And there's a contest:

Eons Launches the "How Old Are You?" Challenge to Push Past Social Taboos, to Inspire People to Pursue Their Dreams

Well, that certainly sounds nice. But what are these dreams? Or at least what are the ones the web site and Mr. Taylor (in the press release) find to be worthwhile accomplishments and goals?

Investing in a village and renovating a floating classroom sound pretty good to me. And there's nothing wrong with doing other, more fun things.

The problem is that I'd have a hard time feeling 'proud' that I sailed on the QE2 or bought a villa in Spain. I might enjoy them a lot - and there's nothing wrong with that. If you have the money, great.

However, these types of activities and purchases are nothing new, nothing particularly inspiring, nothing that uniquely defines this generation, or redefines the ages we are. If you need to be 'inspired' to book a cabin on a cruise ship, are 'proud' that you did, and feel the need to be 'loud' about it — get thee to a therapist. Fast.

And Baby Boomers certainly don't need any help pushing past social taboos. For better or for worse, it's a big part of what we've been doing for the last four and a half decades. We won't be stopping anytime soon. No motivation required.

Maybe it's those 'seniors' who need help. But I'm not so sure. They seem to be pretty motivated, don't need a 'push.' Some might.

Jeff Taylor is an interesting, nutty, very bright fellow. Monster.com is a wonderful, helpful mega-monster.

Eons has lots of potential. I just wonder if they should skew it more towards altruistic pursuits, especially since one of their key branding concepts is 'Proud.' At the moment (or at least after snooping around the site and reading the press release), it seems as if it's mostly fun and games and contests - with a few serious pursuits thrown in.

That's how I would advise him. A less cheesy approach.

Maybe make it a big, splashy, commercial Civic Ventures.

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(I'll be hopping off the blogging bandwagon for a week or so. Will be in Phoenix for a presentation at The National Association of Homebuilders Building for Boomers and Beyond Symposium.)

There’s a lot of bad advice out there.

Even a jaded, grizzled fellow like yours truly is often amazed at the poop on the web, along with what passes as cutting-edge thought. I’m not talking politics here – but marketing advice.  I expect silliness on political web sites.

The other day I read rubbish. I won’t be linking, simply quoting.  The site/company is all about generational marketing on the web. The quote is from a blog post dated November 8, 2010:

“Despite what you may think, Boomers are not complete digital Luddites. In fact, they are embracing digital social networks with almost one in four younger Boomers active in social networks, up from 15% in 2007. But not just Facebook. They are quickly populating their own corner of the social internet with sites such as Eons, BOOMj.com, Boomster.com and TeeBeeDee.”

No News News. I’ve been exposing the luddite ludicrousness for years:

14 November 2005
My Favorite Cyber-Myth
How I snicker and roll my eyes whenever I read about Baby Boomers fumbling around on computers…

13 January 2006
Baby Boomers Burst Online
For example, she tells a story about her mother-in-law giving the 20 and 30-something youngsters in her family Logitech video WebCams for Christmas, then announcing:
"Now we can all iChat together and see each other wherever we are … Later, I'll show you all how to set it up."

23 February 2009
Snake Oil In Cyberspace
… While it might be tempting to categorize all aging Americans as techno-dinosaurs and Luddites, more than 60 percent of baby boomers are avid consumers of social media like blogs, forums, podcasts and online videos…

Back to that quote:

“… Boomers active in social networks, up from 15% in 2007. But not just Facebook. They are quickly populating their own corner of the social internet with sites such as Eons, BOOMj.com, Boomster.com and TeeBeeDee.”

Poop. Eons is a joke, BOOMJ.com went belly-up over a year ago, and TeeBeeDee’s 2009 demise was well-documented. Dozens of others have come and gone.

I was fiddling around with Alexa and found out that this lowly blog (the one you’re reading now) has a higher traffic rank than general-interest consumer Boomster.com.  (Talk about a sad statistic.)

Digging deeper into the generational marketing site, I unearthed a report that was full of useless, goofy psychographics.  Baby Boomers were stuffed into categories such as Value Shifters, Worker-Bees, Independent Doers, etc. 

From January 2007:

Baby Boomers and The Joy of Tech: Part Two
“Articles (in recent marketing magazines and press releases) inevitably contain the revelation that it is possible to divide older people into strange tribal groups. They are given names like the sophisticated 'Astute Cosmopolitans' and the boring 'Thrifty Traditionalists'. Other than the amusement value, why are consumers … dissected into so many weird sounding segments?” - Dick Stroud

And there are more. I've lost count. It seems that every time a marketing firm decides to specialize in Baby Boomers, we get more "strange tribal groups."

It's quite an odd phenomenon. With tongue firmly in cheek, I warned about this in my book - predicting that eventually they'd come up with 76 million cohorts.

From the book:

Jeff Taylor: Eons

I blogged about Jeff Taylor and Eons a few months ago.

Here's an interview with Jeff on Peter Clayton's Total Picture Radio©. Jeff doesn't say much - but he says just enough for me to be champing at the bit until July 31st. (So I guess he said more than enough....)

And AdAge has chimed in.

I'll stick my neck out and make a prediction: Eons will be a happy-time AARP.

Baby Boomers: Web 3.0

It seems as if some big companies are catching on, coming up with good ideas for the web and Baby Boomers. Two stories recently:

Bertelsmann looking to create 'MySpace' for older set:

German media group Bertelsmann plans a return to the Internet and is looking at transforming its Direct Group of book, CD and DVD clubs into an Internet networking scene for older people.

New Company Focused On The 50+ Market

Eons, Inc., a 50+ media company inspiring a generation of boomers and seniors to live the biggest life possible, has secured $10 million in Series A financing, from General Catalyst Partners and Sequoia Capital. Jeff Taylor, founder of Monster.com, is the founder and CEO of Eons(TM), which will formally launch in July 2006.

It's hard to blog much about the above, since they're both in the planning stages. Nothing much to see yet. Eons™ is just a placeholder. But it's coming: The age revolution on the WWW.

Why don't we just call it what it is (or will be): Web 3.0

Or 4.0 or 5.0 - whatever version isn't taken. Because that's what it'll end up being.

Jeff, Chuck, BusinessWeek an' The Broads

Last Sunday I was a guest on a fun Boston radio show, Boomer Broads with Attitude, hosted by Anne-Marie Aigner and Janet Prensky:

We are two women…both boomers…both with enough attitude to pass around! We have been called sassy, brassy, frank and some things we can't print! But never boring. Life is too short for boring! And, about the title: "Boomer BROADS" - we know some won't like it. Call yourselves what you want-we like the word "broads". We're proud to be broads!

Also on the show was Jeff Taylor of Eons.

The next day a BusinessWeek article by Olga Kharif was nailed to the ether:

Boomers: A Web-Marketing Bonanza

Only a few smart Internet sites have figured out how to appeal to a large constituency with time to spend and money to burn … GrowingBolder, some of whose programming already appears on a local Clear Channel (CCU) radio station, also plans to offer video profiles of boomer role models, says Marc Middleton, CEO of Boomer Broadcasting, which produces GrowingBolder.com.

I'm quoted in the article. So is Jeff Taylor of Eons.

Mr. Taylor seems to be following me around. Well, just like with Oprah - I'm the selfless sort. If Jeff's name cozying up to mine will give a boost to his project, I'm glad to help...

Still Sexy at 60?

Kelly Greene has a top-notch piece Still Sexy at 60? in The Wall Street Journal (accessed here in The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette with another headline):

A growing number of new ventures are targeting aging baby boomers, their obsessions in the final third of their lives -- and their $2 trillion in annual spending power. Start-up magazines with titles like GeezerJock, Grand and What's Next are beckoning to boomers with advice on triathlons, grandchildren or new careers.

I didn't know about What's Next Magazine. Check it out. Looks like it has potential.

But golly gee … everywhere I turn I see all this motivational boomer branding silliness. Every new web site, magazine, whatever - they all have the same mundane, insulting, pandering message…

Eons: Don't Just Live Longer. Live Bigger. After 50 life becomes yours.

What's Next Magazine: Our mission ... is to encourage our readers to live bigger. To take risks and pursue their dreams.

What piles of empty nothings. I talked about this earlier, with Eons. And there is a chapter dedicated to this nuttiness in my book.

Growing Bolder has this same sort of message, has been around for awhile, and targets Boomers and older generations. It's backed up with content, a radio show, and an eclectic mix of entertaining and informative videos.

Does everybody have to copy the aspirational message of Growing Bolder?

I feel like I'm watching old TV westerns when I go to these places. As if Baby Boomers are pretty stupid and directionless and need to be rounded up, prodded, and pushed:

Move 'em on, head 'em up,
Head 'em up, move 'em out,
Move 'em on, head 'em out, Rawhide!

Wagons ….. HO!

Sleepy Baby Boomer Internet Villages

If you’ve been eyeing this blog over the last 2+ years, you know that I’m not a big fan of general interest social networking sites for Baby Boomers. Here’s an excerpt from my book:

There are so many now that I can’t keep up with them. And they’re all the same. I get emails practically every week from people wanting me to visit and blog about their new, wonderful site just for Baby Boomers:

“… While we don’t have ten million dollars like Eons, we think that our site is better.”

What an accomplishment.

“… ***** began to form in my marketing subconscious … a warm, friendly, inviting village where Baby Boomers could come to relax and find information about the subjects of interest to them. ****** would have different "streets" within the village … a visitor would choose a street according to their need or interest. Lifestyle, Money, Health, Community, Current Events, Today's World and Fun & Games have each earned a spot as one of *****'s streets.”

Aren’t there about a hundred of these make believe and they make me sleepy internet villages already?

“ … I have built a fun and progressive environment that enhances our Members' abilities to Connect, Learn, and Explore. The Premier Internet Destination for Ages 50 & Up.”

Add the mission statement above to this list.

If you haven’t guessed already - it’s all about money. They think Baby Boomers with 2 Trillion dollars spending power - and the 3000-ring circus begins.

There are a few I like - like Growing Bolder. That’s because it’s off-beat and nutty, chock full of videos and audio podcasts culled from the Growing Bolder radio program. It’s different. They’re passionate. (And although the folks running it don’t like to hear this – it’s not really a social networking site.)

RIP: TeeBeeDee

Readers have emailed wondering why I haven’t commented on the demise of TeeBeeDee.  It’s because I’ve said everything I have to say about these sites – in numerous posts over the years and in my book.

Some posts:

Sleepy Baby Boomer Internet Villages

Invasion of the Baby Boomer Pod People

Invasion of the Baby Boomer Pod People Returns

Eons: An Almost Obit

In a Wall Street Journal blog the founder of TeeBeeDee is interviewed:

Wolaner added that no other companies have successfully figured out this space.

That’s because there is no space - at least ones that can be monetized.  From my book, originally published in 2005 (now available as an updated paperback):

Web pundits are drooling over social networking sites. While this business model is successful and will continue to be, I’m not convinced that people over fifty really care about la-de-da virtual socializing. There has to be a reason to join and hang out other than simply being a Baby Boomer. Sites that center around specific interests like gardening, politics, health, travel, dating, food, art, sports, real estate, education, grandparenting, volunteering, mentoring, etc. will attract a 50+ base. But few want or need to simply hop online and proclaim,“Hello! I’m Joe and I’m a Baby Boomer!”

And TeeBeeDee was one of the better ones.

Hopping Around Those Social Networking Sites

It’s nice to wake up in the morning and see that you’ve been ‘blogged’ by two top ones – coincidently both on the same subject: social networking sites.

I’ve written about this subject ad nauseam - here, in my book, in articles. Three posts:

Invasion of The Baby Boomer Pod People

Invasion of the Baby Boomer Pod People Returns

Sleepy Baby Boomer Internet Villages

Matt Thornhill and John Martin of The Boomer Consumer fame (and they’re also famous for a few other things) have put together “The List” of Baby Boomer social networking sites – along with trenchant comments on many of them. It’s not a complete list, and they admit as such. But that’s the point. These silly sites are popping up like mushrooms. There is no way you could ever list them all or find them all. Many have died already, or are in their death throes. (Instead of an obit section like Eons has, I’m thinking of putting up an obit section here for Baby Boomer social networking sites.)

Here’s the comment I left on The Boomer Consumer Blog post.

Then Peter Himler, numero uno Flack (hey, he describes himself as such – at least the ‘flack’ part – ‘numero uno’ is my description), also talks about social networking sites, and tells a great story about his experiences with one:

... Within a day, I started receiving messages from some of the lonelyhearts whose less-than-appealing head shots peppered the site .... The next day, the come-ons from paid escorts arrived. I cancelled my membership and struck the site from my new business prospect list ... I'm convinced that there are many social networks -- some I know, others I don't -- with the kind of membership, content and utility that will accrue to me personally and professionally. I'm just scratching my head on which ones.”

Business networking sites - of course, it's simply good business to join some. But as far as general interest social networking sites, when Peter mentions “content and utility” I think he means relevant articles, videos, and new media - along with finding products and services of interest to him.

That's not social networking.

2008 Review: A PowerPoint

Not necessarily the biggest stories about advertising and Baby Boomers – but ones that intrigued me, that I believe will be influential.

Links to other blog posts, news articles, and sites mentioned in the presentation are listed below the oversized embed.

Running time: 20 minutes

Sources mentioned in this presentation:

10 Ways Marketers Should Grow Up in 2008

Todd Harff Presentation

Diversity = Productivity

Executive Session With Rance Crain

What’s The Word? (Millward/Brown, Nigel Hollis)

Buzz marketing illegal from May, warns IPA

The Crystal Ball of Common Sense

Smart or Sneaky? (Homemakers Magazine)

Eons: Now You Just Have To FEEL Old To Join

WOWOWOW

Vibrant Nation

Demand for older models grows

Chico's and Baby Boomer Women … NOT (Brent Green)

Most Inane Commercial of The Year Award

John Lennon Exhumed

Nuts for Boomers

AARP's Chicken Coop Coup?

Goodbye, Jukebox. Hello, Jennie Chin Hansen.

Older Brain May Be Wiser Brain

Aging Brain Shifts Gears

Brains More Distracted, Not Slower with Age

Baby boomers are smarter than you think

iBrain by Dr. Gary Small

Mushy Brains

Baby Boomers & The Economic Collapse

Ecologies Of Risk (Blog Post)

Ecologies of Risk (PDF)

50 Plus Beurs 2008 Utrecht

—

MetLife Mature Market Institute

Institute For The Future

Say what?

NostraChuckus strikes again.

In 2007 I critiqued some ads for Selling To Seniors.  Pulls from one:

Hearing problems as one gets older have affected humankind for eons. For this recent crop of folks over 50, listening to loud music when they were young has had a negligible effect on their hearing loss.

Certainly, a handful of professional rock musicians playing every night for years and years while plopped in front of amplifiers now have some serious hearing problems.

But for 99% of baby boomers, going to a rock concert every so often (even often) has made them deaf? I think not. And even if I’m wrong, why would you want to make your target market feel guilty? Why would you want to beat it over their heads that it’s their fault that they can’t hear their "grandchild’s giggle"?

What about people who did protect their ears, who did "listen" by not listening—and still have hearing loss? This ad makes them feel worse about their predicament. You’re either guilty because you did—or cruelly cheated by fate if you didn’t. While the leading causes of hearing loss are genetic and simply getting older, most studies confirm that everyday life in metropolitan areas is a recent contributor. So lay the blame elsewhere ..

Now there’s this:

Say what? Baby boomers not losing hearing as much as parents did
By John Fauber
While everyday life may be getting noisier, actual hearing loss from one generation to the next has declined, said Weihai Zhan, lead author of the study, which was published Friday in the American Journal of Epidemiology.

Overall, the baby boomers had 31% less hearing loss than their parents.

I knew Mom & Dad weren’t playing those Benny Goodman records loud enough.

“Where’s the beef?”

An excellent, down-to-earth interview with Dr. Ken Dychtwald from last year:

  24 September 2020
Growing Bolder & Ken Dychtwald

He recently penned a piece for AARP Bulletin:

Ageism Is Alive and Well in Advertising
Consumers 50+ perceive a marketing bias against them

This is a worthy topic, as is ageism in general. Dr. Dychtwald is someone I’ve admired for years. I met him eons ago and attended one of his presentations.

I agree with most of what Ken has to say about the ad biz. I’ve been agreeing with it for about eighteen years now.  From 2003:

Back into the Fold
by Chuck Nyren
… The Giant Leap: there had better be a minor revolution in the creative end of the advertising industry. Talented men and women in their late forties and fifties need to be brought back into the fold if you want to reach us. This includes copywriters, graphic artists, producers, directors, and creative directors.

And in 2005 Yours Truly wrote a book about it: Advertising to Baby Boomers. It was selected as a classroom resource by The Advertising Educational Foundation.

I write at length about ageism in the book and on this blog. If you want more ‘history’ about it all, download the Introduction and 1st Chapter of the book (Chapter One is all about ageism):

Advertising to Baby Boomers (PDF)

However, there are instances of overzealousness in the anti-ageism movement. The AARP Bulletin article cites a 1980s Wendy’s ad campaign, declaring it “blatant ageist advertising.”  Nonsense. If anything, it celebrates the perspicacity and bluntness of old age:

The character portrayed by Clara Peller is a truth-teller. Think The Emperor’s New Clothes, Shakespeare’s Fool in King Lear. The comic foils marked for derision are the (McDonald’s/Burger King) patty and bun – certainly not the ladies.

Circling back, the article begins with comments about a Christmas spot for DocMorris. It’s a good one. Across the pond they take pride in Christmas adverts. Here’s one from France I love:

But according to the overzealous, I must be wrong. It ticks all the ageist boxes: The father (later, grandfather) is quite a dunderhead and sickeningly immature. He makes a public spectacle of himself and embarrasses his adult son. This spot is blatantly ageist.

I think not.