1Launch Marketing Report 2019: The Baby Boomers PerspectiveWhat makes Baby Boomers wise to new product launches?2Launch Marketing Report 2019: The Baby Boomers PerspectiveForeword.Baby Boomers. There are 12 million in the UK making up a sixth of the population, a figure that is predicted to swell in the coming years. They account for 80% of the UKs wealth and one in five are millionaires. The same picture can be seen in both Australia, with Baby Boomers accounting for 25% of the population and 53% of its wealth, and the USA with 76 million Baby Boomers making up 25% of the countrys workforce. However, despite these enormous numbers, our research in 2018 showed they were the least engaged age segment when it comes to launches. A worrying insight and one which we felt demanded further investigation to find out why and how we can help our clients launch successfully to this important segment.Baby Boomers should be the perfect audience. They have disposable income and generally time to absorb new product and service launches. They have experienced incredible change in terms of technology and society throughout their life, more so than any other generation in the past century.We commissioned independent research across all of our office territories in the UK, USA and Australia to discover whether this audience age segment really do shun launches or is there something deeper going on. We interviewed a total of 3,000 Baby Boomers, 1,000 in each territory and found some surprising results.The results are detailed in this White Paper and illustrate a clear path to making the most of launching products and services to this dynamic, prosperous and exciting segment.Nick Lawton. CEO, Five by Five.3Launch Marketing Report 2019: The Baby Boomers PerspectiveHypothesis.014Launch Marketing Report 2019: The Baby Boomers PerspectiveResearch conducted in 2018 and published in our Launch Marketing Report: The Consumers Perspective revealed that the iGen (17-26-years-old) consumers are the most attuned audience segment to new product or service launches, with over half (52%) stating they were aware of a new launch in the last 12 months. Conversely we discovered that awareness dropped to just 25% amongst those over 55-years-old, the generational audience segment named Baby Boomers.Its an important statistic given that this audience segment accounts for 80% of UK wealth (£4.7 trillion) in total and individually one in five are millionaires*; in the USA there are 76 million Baby Boomers and they will account for 25% of employees by 2020 and in Australia they account for 25% of the population and own more than 53% of its wealth. Launch awareness declines with age.*Source: Financial Times, January 20195Launch Marketing Report 2019: The Baby Boomers Perspective*HuffPost December 2017/Daily Telegraph 2018They have the disposable income that many other audience segments struggle with. They take holidays, buy cars, require more medical products and typically eat out and drink a great deal*. They are perfect consumers for all types of products and services, so why are they not as engaged with launches as other segments?Median wealth by age group.600500400300200100008-1025-3435-4445-5475-8465-7455-642006-08£(000)Year10-12 12-14 14-16Sources: ONS; Netwealth © FTAge range6Launch Marketing Report 2019: The Baby Boomers PerspectiveAttitudes towards marketing and 02advertising.7Launch Marketing Report 2019: The Baby Boomers PerspectiveWe started by understanding their views towards marketing communications.Our original research suggested that Baby Boomers are not natural innovators; the first people to purchase a newly launched product. It suggested they either had a total disinterest in new products an if it aint broke, dont fix it mentality or a cautionary approach built over years of disappointment with new innovative products not living up to their promise. Either way, it was clear that in comparison to other audience segments, they just werent as interested in launches. We wanted to dig deeper to understand why and how this manifests itself.8Launch Marketing Report 2019: The Baby Boomers PerspectiveAs expected, the majority had a poor opinion. This is always the first response. Very few people will admit to enjoying being persuaded or sold to. The biggest rejectors were Australians, which could well be a result of political campaigns prior to the Federal Election in May 2019. Timing is everything and this could be a caution for those considering a launch during a political campaign. We dive deeper into their preferred media channels later, shedding light on their gut reactions.2Sources: ONS, Wikipedia, This is Money.PositiveNegativeUK USA AUS020406080Percentage of respondents (%)When posed the question; What do you think of advertising you have recently seen?9Launch Marketing Report 2019: The Baby Boomers PerspectiveInnovators50304020100Early AdoptersEarly MajorityLate MajorityLaggardsAUSUSAUKRogers Adoption CurveBaby Boomers tend not to be Innovators. In fact, in all three territories this picture was the same. They wait until they have seen that a product or service has been launched and begins to become established before buying it themselves. Weve used the Rogers Adoption Curve to demonstrate this lag. Typically you would expect a much larger segment of Innovators (2.5%), but our research suggests that Baby Boomers tend to enter the market at the Early Adopter/Majority stages instead. This implies that they rely heavily on word of mouth, new product reviews and recommendations before they consider committing to a new product.This chart backs up our findings that there is a hesitancy for Baby Boomers to embrace new products. 10Launch Marketing Report 2019: The Baby Boomers PerspectiveOnce they feel that the product has been launched and is safe to purchase, they embrace it whole-heartedly. This is true across all three continents, with the UK being that little bit more eager to embrace early on. Unlike other audience segments, Baby Boomers surprisingly have fewer Laggards; those that usually end up buying the product because the older version no longer works.We looked at this again, but excluded all Innovators and focused on Early Adopters onwards. It showed an interesting trend, as now the USA Baby Boomers were the ones who actively engaged the most, suggesting that they really do need the reassurance of a product being launched and viable before their interest is piqued, but having done so they dive straight in, whereas Baby Boomers in the UK and Australia remain more cautious. This could be down to media channels and advertising weight, or it could be a social behaviour. Either way, it suggests that to win the hearts of this audience they need to be convinced first that the product/service is viable and has longevity before they will commit.This impacts media channels, which we looked at next.Early Adopters Early Majority Late Majority Laggards010 20304050AUSUSAUKRogers Adoption CurvePercentage of respondents (%)