Don’t let efficiency kill the brand

Fellow Mature Market Experts blogger Dan Rexford wrote about Lou Carbone’s book, Clued In, several weeks ago . . . well, here’s another recent article about Mr. Carbone that you might find interesting. The article raises some great points about an unhealthy fixation on efficiency — at the cost of the customer’s brand experience.
Most of [...]

Mature Market Experts Stat of The Day: Grandparents rock!

Grandparents are a major consumer market. There were 69 million U.S. grandparents in 2000, a number expected to grow to 80 million by 2010, and they spend a median of $489 per year on their grandchildren, about $30 billion annually.Source: AARP Special Study, 2002
U.S grandparents and the mature market:
- Over 75% of the 50+ market [...]

Mature Market Experts Stat of The Day: Seniors Buy Cars

 

Seniors purchase more than 40% of all new cars and over 80% of the luxury new cars.
Source: U.S. Census Bureau
While the car is becoming increasingly “intelligent,” with innovative applications of information technology to assist younger and older drivers alike, these novel systems present their own problems. A major challenge for the auto industry is how [...]

Mature Market Experts Stat of The Day: RV Ownership

Big wheels keep on turning . . . at least with the mature market.
One in ten RVs is owned by a Baby Boomer. Overall ownership numbers are impressive with nearly one in 12 U.S. vehicle-owning households now owning an RV. That’s nearly 8 million households –with industry sales exceeding $44 billion.
Source: Recreation Vehicle Industry Association, [...]

Mature Market Stat of The Day: Sources of Income for Seniors 55+

        For seniors 55+, social security accounts for  40% of their income; followed by earnings (25%), pensions (19%), asset income (14%), and “other” at 2%.
Source:  Federal Interagency Forum on Aging-Related Statistics
Note: In my 15+ years of dealing with the 65+ market, the only “pocket” they will pull money from for daily expenses is social security. [...]

Is now the time for seniors to sell their houses? Part 2

        Yes, I read Warren Buffett’s warning that a recession is here and could get worse . . .
        I know the economy is bad and that there are a lot of houses on the market, there will be for some time. That was the point of my earlier blog.
        There is a [...]

Mature Market Experts Stat of the Day: Cosmetic Surgery

As Billy Crystal used to say, “You look marvelous . . .” (see the video above if you need a refresher)
        Women and men age 65 and older accounted for 7 percent of cosmetic procedures performed in 2000, and the number of procedures performed on people in this age group has increased 352 percent since [...]

Mature Market Experts Stat of The Day: Small Business Owners

        30% of small business owners are aged 55+, with 20% being between ages 55 and 64, and 10% being aged 65+.
Source: U.S. Census Bureau, www. census.gov

 
 

 
 

Electronic Medical Records and Privacy Concerns

        I hope you all had a safe and happy Father’s Day.
        A followup to my blog entry on May 21st about Google and electronic medical records. There was recently an interesting  article in The New England Journal of Medicine on the potential privacy pitfalls of this rapidly evolving technology.
        The authors, Dr. Kenneth D. [...]

Is now the time for retirees to sell their houses?

        If you read the paper or watch the news, you can’t avoid the scary stories about the housing market. As I have said before, if you sold your home three years ago, chances are you sold at the top of the market (in fact, much of this blog is a repeat of what I [...]