If you market to Baby Boomers, get your hands on a copy of the Monday, September 26, issue of The Wall Street Journal. It included a special section called “Encore: a Guide to Retirement Planning and Living.” It’s packed with trends, statistics and other helpful facts that you can use when pitching story ideas that will appeal to people who already have retired, or are nearing retirement.
In about 100 days, the first of an estimated 77 million Baby Boomers will turn 60. This is the generation that’s responsible for these trends: rock ‘n roll, working moms, Earth Day, SUVs, shacking up, and Starbucks. Reporters also talked to experts who pinpointed several emerging trends among this group. And smart Publicity Hounds will tie their story ideas to them. For example:
—A sizable number of Baby Boomers are expected to have enough money to fuel the market for increasingly exotic travel such as sea-kayaking the Panama Canal to taking champagne cruises to the North Pole.
—Of the 13 cars that the average American household buys over a lifetime, seven are purchased after the head of the household turns 50.
—Boomers are going to figure out creative ways to express their deaths, such as producing video autobiographies and giving away souvenirs at their funerals. Even cemeteries will go digital, with gravestone records online for genealogical research.
—One of the hottest areas for research will be brain science. This includes products like “caller ID on steroids.” When a phone rings, a nearby digital photo frame lists what you talked about during your last call.
—Later life could signal a return to communal living for boomers, particularly because increasing numbers of single, divorced and widowed people seek a lifestyle that’s more affordable, social and supportive.
—3 out of 4 boomers tend to keep working in retirement. But experts say the boomers expect to retire from their current jobs at the average age of 64–then launch a new career.
Fascinating stuff. I’d be surprised if you couldn’t find something in this section that ties in to what you sell. If your story idea appeals to a more upscale, well-educated audience, don’t overlook the potential of National Public Radio. Many NPR shows are built around trends like these, and producers are always asking interesting authors, speakers and experts to look into their crystal balls.
Book publicist Lissa Warren, who has booked more than 100 of her authors on NPR shows, was a guest on a one-hour teleseminar I conducted titled “How to Get Booked on National Public Radio.” She says piggybacking your pitch off emerging trends is one way to really capture the attention of those who book guests.