You know I love the whole Boomer+SN ball of yarn. Here’s some recent and excellent research from Third Age to support my upcoming DishyMix interview with Mary Brown of JWT BOOM.

Overview & Demographics
The 2008 Boomers Online Media and Social Networking Study was conducted online at www.thirdage.com. A total of 1,834 respondents over the age of 40 completed the survey. Of these respondents (who also reported visiting ThirdAge.com more than once a week):
• 68% were female and 32% were male
• 80% were between the ages of 46 and 70
• 39% lived in a U.S. Metropolitan area while 61% did not (population was broadly dispersed throughout
the U.S.)
• 86% attended some college, received an Associate’s degree or higher
• 55% had a household income of $50,000 or more, with 32% over $75,000
• 51% were married

When asked to describe the device(s) that they used to connect to the internet:
• 84% indicated that they use a desktop computer
• 31% use a laptop (up 15% from survey taken in 2007)
• 80% of respondents typically use a broadband connection at home to access the Internet, while only
15% typically use a dialup connection from home.
Online Social Networking
When queried as to whether they visited any sites to connect and engage with others – referred to as “Social
Networking” sites (MySpace, Facebook, LinkedIn, etc.):
• 53% said no
• 22% said yes
• 26% said that they currently did not, but might in the future.

Of those respondents that indicated that they did not visit social networking sites, their main reasons for not
doing so were as follows:
• 47% concerned over privacy and having personal information on the web
• 39% said they don’t have enough time and already have too much to do
• 32% reported they do not see any benefit from spending time on a social networking site

Of the 26% that said they might visit a social networking site in the future, their main reasons were as follows:
• 82% said they felt assured their information was kept private
• 78% said the site was focused on their particular interests
• 62% said their family and friends were members and it is a good way to stay in touch
• Still, however, 64% said they still had no interest in social networking sites, or that this was not relevant
in their lives

2008 Boomers Online Media & Social Networking Study: Top Line Findings

Trust
The top four factors that respondents said determined whether or not they trusted a website’s content:
• 83% reported the content needed to be attributed to experts, authors or authorities who have
credentials in the subject areas they are writing about
• 66% said if the content was sponsored by a company they know and trust
• 62% said if they had been going to the site for a long time and came to trust its/its brand
• 58% responded they would believe their family members and friends

Responsiveness to Online Marketing/Promotional Initiatives

Boomers participate as much or more in viral or word-of-mouth marketing as younger age groups. Very or
somewhat likely to share product information or news with:

• 93% Friends
• 75% Children
• 67% Spouses/Partners

• 76% of respondents that have received promotional e-mails about products and services and have
clicked through to the site being promoted
• More than 55% have purchased a product or service promoted in an email
• 93% of respondents who have read an article about a website in print (newspaper or magazine) and
have later visited the online site
• 83% have visited a website after seeing an advertisement for the site in a newspaper or print magazine
Online Usage Activity
Percentages of activities listed as interested in when using the internet:

• 97% Seek out health and wellness information
• 96% use email
• 91% Read articles
• 92% Stay in touch with family/friends
• 88% Conduct product research before offline purchasing
• 84% Receive photos of family/friends
• 78% Shop online

Percentages of activities reflecting “little or no interest”:
• 67% Writing blogs
• 63% Participating in general social networking
• 62% Playing games “with others”
• 55% Listening to podcasts/pre-recorded audio content
• 44% Downloading music

© 2008 ThirdAge, Inc

Media Contacts:
Hilary Allard
hallard at thecastlegrp dot com
Linda Walsh
lwalsh at thecastlegrp dot com

Want a free copy of SWAY?

Ori Brafman has given me four to give away.

Go to my DishyMix Facebook Fan Club and post your desire. I’ll select my favorite posts.

Here’s my interview with Ori too. You should definitely listen!

• Get hip to your irrational urges.
• Hire better employees.
• Choose a therapist that can actually make you feel better.
• Truly grok the power of beautiful women.
• Learn how to tell your boss he’s full of shit. (in a really nice way)

And more great ideas to leverage human behavior for your personal and professional benefit.

Ori Brafman, Author of “Sway: The Irresistible Pull of Irrational Behavior” on Purchase Psychology, Interview Insights and Employee Incentives

Coming up on DishyMix I interview Mary Brown of JWT BOOM, author of the definitive book on the Baby Boomer market and producer of Livewire: The Summit.

If you read my blog, you know I’m fascinated with the untapped potential of bringing boomers into social media. If you haven’t read Joseph Carrabis’s guest posts on the subject, just “search” my blog for his amazing insights.

Here’s a reprint of a press release that has some good datapoints. Hear Mary talk in more detail about the changing Boomer landscape in my upcoming DishyMix epsiode.

ThirdAge Online Media and Social Networking Research Uncovers the Current Ins and Outs of Preferences Among Boomers

San Francisco, Calif., June 2, 2008 – Which online boomer trends are in – and which are out? To find out, ThirdAge, a leading online destination for the baby boomer and midlife markets, and JWTBOOM, an integrated marketing agency dedicated to reaching boomers, surveyed more than 1,800 respondents. The unexpected results were presented today in San Francisco at JWT LiveWire: The Summit, a conference dedicated to reaching consumers age 40-plus.

The results of the survey may surprise even the savviest online marketers looking to capture the attention of the coveted boomer market. It turns out the audience values word-of-mouth recommendations, expert opinions, trusted brands and privacy online. But, they are not yet embracing social networking or blogs, despite what recent hype would suggest.

The following outlines the current trends of boomers’ online preferences:

In

• Word-of-mouth sharing
• Experts and credible authorities
• Trusted brands
• Product research and online shopping
• Email
• Broadband
• Privacy
• Health and wellness information

Not Yet

• Social networking
• Blogs
• Podcasts
• Downloading and listening to music
• Group gaming

They “Social Network” Their Own Way:
“The research clearly shows that boomers are not clamoring to social networking sites the same way younger generations are making new friends in today’s social media playground,” said ThirdAge CEO Sharon Whiteley. “Boomers are using more traditional web communication tools, such as email, to keep in touch with their existing group of friends in order to share photos and, more importantly, life experience. “That said,” she added, “Boomers in general are interested in connecting and interacting with others in their community around shared interests and common issues. They relate to people sharing a similar life phase – and they trust those who have walked in their shoes.”

Fifty-three percent of those surveyed had not visited social networking sites; 47 percent cited concerns over privacy and having personal information on the web; 39 percent said they are too busy; 32 percent do not see the benefit of spending time social networking.

Boomers Embrace Online Marketing…Selectively
“Boomers will participate in online communities to share opinions about brands and products,” said JWT Boom president Lori Bitter, whose company specializes in marketing to boomers. “They are also open to both traditional marketing and emarketing, as long as the message is coming from a brand they know and trust.”

Seventy-five percent of respondents that have received promotional emails about products and services have clicked through to the site being promoted. More than 55 percent have purchased a product or service promoted in an email.

Ninety-three percent of respondents who have read an article about a Web site in print (newspaper or magazine) have later visited the site online, reminding marketers that media coverage, as part of an integrated marketing strategy, remains an important element of boomer marketing.

Trust – But Verify
Respondents were most likely to trust a Web site’s content if the site corresponded to a trusted brand or featured credible expertise.

Consider:

• 83 percent reported the content needed to be attributed to experts, authors or authorities with subject matter credibility
• 66 percent said they trust sites whose content is sponsored by a company they know and trust
• 62 percent said they would trust a site if they had been going to it for a long time and came to trust its brand

“This data reflects that brands have the ability to connect directly to their key consumers through targeted online sponsorships,” said Bitter.

They’ve Got the Power
Boomers alone account for 78 million people and control over 83 percent of consumer spending. Forty percent of the United States’ population is over 45, with 50 percent market growth projected over the next 15 years. Boomer spending will increase $800 billion to over $4.6 trillion by 2015. This is a potent marketplace that can’t be ignored.

“Marketers have the opportunity to build a relationship with this important audience,” said Whiteley. “For example, we have learned that ThirdAgers are not universally familiar with or receptive to blogs. On the other hand, they value personal views written by experts and opinions by authoritative sources. On our redesigned Web site scheduled to launch in early July, we are featuring ‘contributors’ rather than bloggers regardless of the nomenclature popularized by mainstream social media. We know our audience and want to speak their language.”

Additional Noteworthy Findings
Word-of-mouth: Boomers participate in viral or word-of-mouth marketing as much as or more than younger age groups. Ninety-three percent of respondents were very or somewhat likely to share product information or news with friends.

Product research and shopping: Eighty-eight percent of respondents use the Internet for research before purchasing a product offline, and 78 percent shop online.

Broadband: Eighty percent of respondents use a broadband connection at home.

Health and Wellness: Ninety-seven percent use the Internet to seek information on
health and wellness.

Gaming: Sixty-two percent had little or no interest in playing games with others.

ThirdAge Inc.
ThirdAge Inc. is a leading life stage media, marketing and consumer insight company exclusively focused on serving today’s dynamic population of boomers and aging mid-lifers online. For the last decade ThirdAge has built a loyal community interested in health/wellness, relationships/romance and money/work, while also serving premiere marketers who want to build a relationship with this audience. Headquartered in New York the site attracts more than one million unique visitors per month. www.thirdage.com
JWT BOOM is the premier integrated marketing firm specializing in reaching consumers over age forty. Providing results-driven strategy and execution, JWT BOOM excels at helping clients build profitable and lasting relationships with boomers and mature consumers, the fastest-growing and most financially powerful segment in the country. www.jwtboom.com

Additional survey data is available upon request:
Hilary Allard
hallard at thecastlegrp dot com
Linda Walsh
lwalsh at thecastlegrp dot com

If you’ve recently heard my DishyMix podcast, you know I’m on a mission to double my audience between now and the end of this year. And it’s through recommendations from my existing listeners that I have the best chance of success.

Every day this week I’ve gotten some love and here’s today’s support from Rob Robinson:

Hey Folks,

Pardon the intrusion, but I wanted to introduce you to a great treasure that should not be hidden to you. It’s one of my favorites. It’s called the Dishy Mix and while you couldn’t tell from the name, it is a podcast that is spot on with web 2.0, business, marketing and then the “extra factor”.

The hostess, Susan Bratton (originally from the Philly area) does a great job with the movers and shakers in this new economy. If you read the guest list, you are hard pressed to not recognize the men and women she has had on the show.

My iPod is full of her interviews and each one is like sitting in a fun class. I not only come away with ideas, but new doors that apply directly to what I am doing.

Here is the address:

http://personallifemedia.com/podcasts/232-dishymix

This is not a paid advertisement, this is just one friend to another with a great recommendation. Give it a listen and then let me know what you think. I can’t wait to hear who she has on next!

–
Most respectfully yours,
Bob
Robert L. Robinson, Jr.
Founder, Chief Executive Officer
Altvertise, LLC

“An Entrepreneur is someone who dares to dream the dreams and is foolish enough to try to make those dreams come true.”
- Vinod Khosla, Founder Sun Microsystems and Venture Capitalist

I can’t believe how many side conversations I have about electronica via Facebook, Chat, Twitter and email with various friends. I just got 10 new CD’s from Tim for my birthday and thought I’d share them with you. My directive was to find music as sexy as Moorcheeba for our romantic, love-making playlist. My husband happily obliged!

It’s my birthday this weekend and I asked for three things:

1)  To go ATV riding in Utah

2) A Booq bag that holds my 17″ Macbook Pro, my Canon G9 Digital SLR and extra lenses

3) Music like Moorcheeba that’s sexy, trip hop to which I can have romantic times with Tim

I am leaving for Utah in the morning, with my new Booq bag and I am ripping 10 new albums Tim bought me. I thought I’d share them with you, since so many of my buds love my music recommendations.

Here you go!

Smith & Mudd, Blue River

Lamb, Fear of Fours

Speeka, Bonfire

Massive Attack, Protection

Air, Moon Safari

St. Germain, Tourist

Zero 7, Simple Things

Thievery Corporation, The Mirror Conspiracy

Telefon Tel Aviv, Map of What is Effortless

You’ll enjoy my DishyMix interview with Rohit about “brand personality.” In this episode, you will hear excellent strategies for imbuing more personality into your brand.

I have a personally autographed copy to give away to the best post. Appeal here: Facebook Fan Page for DishyMix.

Rohit Bhargava, Author of “Personality Not Included” and 360 Degree Digital Influencer at Ogilvy PR

Are you faceless? Take a quiz from Rohit’s new book, “Personality Not Included: Why Corporations Lose Their Authenticity and How Great Brands Get it Back” You can rate the personality of your brand, determine areas of weakness and get techniques to shore it up.

According to Rohit, authenticity is only part of the story — it’s personality that is the macrotrend. Does your brand have a “backstory?” Are you leveraging your “accidental spokesperson?” Learn techniques on this episode to bring your company’s personality to life, including “Useful,” “Sensory,” “Insider,” and “Participatory” marketing strategies.

Full of analogies from Innocent Drinks in the UK to Mr Lucky’s in Vegas to FlyerTalk from Starwood, you’ll get specific ideas you can meld to your brand to deepen your customer’s connection and experience and with which you can seduce your prospects more effectively.

Rohit, blogger, speaker and coiner of the concept “Social Media Optimization (SMO),” shares his favorite read, “The Alchemist,” his top picks for most amazing people in the Web 2.0 world and a bit of his history.

Best of all, you can customize your “Masters of Personality” diploma from the “University of Authenticity” to decorate your office with some sassiness in documentation and showcase YOUR personality! Free certificate download.

If you like this excellent interview, please forward this episode to a couple of friends (or everyone in your company) and help Suz meet her goal of doubling her listener base by the end of the year.

If you don’t have time to listen to this interview, you can read the transcripts.

Get free, autographed books, discounts, promo codes and product freebies when you join my Facebook Fan Page for DishyMix.

So when we left off last week, the question from Steve Bustin, who is an Internet Advertising Consultant, was “What surprises, excites, and disappoints you most about Google’s current market strategy?” (And asks questions about Video Search below.)

John: You know, maybe the surprise and the disappointment are about the same, which is, my expectations are probably too high for the company. So I am to the point that I’m not surprised more I guess is the way to put it. When you try to boil as many oceans as Google is currently attempting to boil, it is hard to surprise the world. The company was built on magic. The magic being that you put something into this box and you hit return and you got what you wanted. And that was a magic moment for millions of people that created the brand that is Google today.

I don’t think the company has created anything even close to that since and it is still…98% of it is mojo. Now, it has done some amazing things like Google Maps and Earth and so on, but it is trying to reinvent the mobile platform. You know, God speed. I hope they do, but that’s a hard thing to pull off. It’s trying to reinvent energy by trying to get a replacement for coal through its Google.org philanthropy. And again, God speed. But my biggest concern is that you can’t boil four oceans at once no matter how many smart people you have. And I’m not sure that the model supports that. At some point, distraction comes home to roost.

Susan: Do you think they are already doing so many things that they will lose sight of the golden egg?

John: I am almost convinced from what knowledge I have of how the folks at Google think, particularly at the top, that they have a mathematical equation for exactly when that moment is going to come and they already have a plan to get around it.

Susan: So what would you do and what wouldn’t you do if you were running Google? What would you lop? I mean, are you really going to lop Google.org and the solution for energy?

John: No, no. Of course not because that is sort of hived away in the….it’s all about where the leader’s focus their energy and their time. I think at the end of the day that there are a number of things that they are trying to do in the enterprise market. Basically they are trying to reinvent the entire IT stack, right? We are talking about Microsoft Windows, Microsoft Office, Microsoft Outlook, ok? Multi tens of billions of dollars of revenue quarterly. Not annually, quarterly. They are going after that. That is not a market you are going to win quickly. It’s maybe not a market you are ever going to win. I think that the beauty of the thesis is still there. They are right. This is all going to the crowd. They are right. There is going to be a different approach to servicing that market. I am not convinced that they are going to be able to do it.

I think the largest charlie horse in Google’s business market actually has to do with the word “media.” They are a media company. All their revenues are advertising.

Susan: And we know the cyclical nature of the media world. They might have had a sea change in bringing those dollars in with better revenue quarter over quarter to date, but they will hit a down cycle.

John: They will hit a cycle there and they will also hit a cycle when they realize that in order to be a media company you need to act like one. And that means that you have to be in the media business. And I think that is the greatest struggle inside the company which is “How do we be in the media business with an engineering mentality?”

Susan: There is no possible way that culture can support a media mentality.

John: And so I think the question is “does the media mentality move more towards the engineering technology mentality and they can meet in the middle or does it run out of runway before that can happen?” If you look at, and there is a very good example of this, Microsoft is an engineering driven DNA company,I mean Bill Gates, you can’t get more engineering driven in DNA than that, trying to be a media company since 1994. They built Red West and they created MSN and they started going after media. Where they have been successful is where they have really firewalled off a business, the X-Box, and done something completely radically different and given them free reign to do it and haven’t told them “Hey go sell me more copies of Windows.” Right? And so Google could learn from that and I am sure they have. They are great students of Microsoft.

VIDEO SEARCH

Susan: So here’s something that I know you are tracking quite a bit. Steve Bustin, Internet Revenue Consultant, wants to know your take on video search; what’s missing and where does the industry go over the next two years. And I’d like you to add on is, new ad models you are thinking might pan out from a revenue perspective for content producers in the area of video advertising. So video search, video advertising, kinda hand in glove. We’ve got to find the stuff to consume it. How do we monetize it?

John: We were very…and again I think I’ve said this three times now over these two interviews. We are very early in this part of the ballgame. I think the biggest problem with video is demand. I know that people are saying “God, look at how many videos are being watched on Yahoo, or MSNBC, or CNN.” There’s a ton of video being consumed. There is no question about it. But is it being consumed in a way that is driven by our habit of search? And I think the answer to that is no. I think it is being consumed because we discover it in other ways. It is right there on the Yahoo home page or on our finance page or wherever we happen to be.

Video search, I don’t want to say it’s a solution in search of a problem, but I don’t think we have yet gotten to the point where as a culture we expect to find what we are looking for in search when it comes to video. And I don’t think we have yet come to the point where we are asking questions and expecting a video response. And that’s coming, but we are still a very text driven culture when it comes to search and when it comes to what we expect back from search. And so there is a trend in search which is called the universal search of folding in video results. And everybody is doing it. Google of course is doing it with You Tube in particular. I think we are getting there. I think You Tube has taught a generation how to search contextually within You Tube. But across the web, we are not there yet.

Hear the full two part series with John by clicking below. (transcripts also on the site)

John Battelle on Google’s Mathmatical Equation, Acting Like a Media Company, Video Search and Having Lots of Dry Powder Part 2 of 2

John Battelle on The Conversation Economy, Hairy World Issues and High School Musicals Part 1 of 2.

If you’ve read or listened to anything I’ve generated in the last month you know that I’m trying to double the audience of my DishyMix marketing podcast by the end of the year.

As my friends and fans are getting the word, I see the love pouring in.

Today, David Kidder, Founder and CEO of Clickable forwarded my two part series with John Battelle to 65 of his employees!

Thank you David Kidder. Thank you Clickable employees.

If you’ve forwarded DishyMix to a friend or two, please let me know so I can thank you!

And if you haven’t yet sent a link to my show to some fabulously intelligent and deserving industry peers - here’s a link for you!

http://personallifemedia.com/podcasts/232-dishymix 

In love and appreciation - Susan Bratton

Rohit Bhargava, author of “Personality Not Included” on this week’s DishyMix.

Take a brand personality test with Suz and Rohit in this podcast episode.

Related Links:

• Personality Not Included Book
• Influential Marketing Blog
• Ogilvy 360 Digital Influence

Rohit is a marketer, blogger, speaker and author of the new book, Personality Not Included — a guide for companies to understand and use their personality to better connect with customers in the social media era.

Rohit Bhargava, Author of “Personality Not Included” and 360 Degree Digital Influencer at Ogilvy PR

Susan: Shea Park is the founder of a company called Adspark.com and she is asking about the information overload situation…blogs, social networking, articles, emails, media outlets. She wants to know if you see any major technological or software advances coming from the media world that would allow consumers to consolidate their information sources and quiet the noise?

John: Oh, I certainly hope so.

Susan: Do you see any? Do you know any? What are you doing?

John: Yah, well all I am doing is Twittering, right? I am just causing more problems. Boy, I just wish you asked me this question three years ago when I could have said “Hey, have you heard about RSS readers?”

Susan: Right. That is the only thing I could come up with and I think they are still clunky as hell.

John: Yah they are. And you have to be of a certain mind for RSS readers to actually be useful for you. And not everyone is of that mind. Thank God that’s why people like us exist.

Susan: To net it all out.

John: Publishers, editors, what I call curators, I think have high job stability in the coming years. The idea of a trusted brand that you turn to for a filter on the world is never going away. Never. Now its going away in terms that it has been packaged in the past, but I think it’s only a more valuable skill, not a less valuable skill. I genuinely believe that you cannot replace that function with machines. You can only enhance that function with machines. So you know, the best news editors, the best reporters, the best curators of oddities on the web are those that know how to leverage the machine. But so far we still haven’t figured out a way for the machine to take over that function completely and I for one am happy about that.

John Battelle on Google’s Mathmatical Equation, Acting Like a Media Company, Video Search and Having Lots of Dry Powder Part 2 of 2

John Battelle on The Conversation Economy, Hairy World Issues and High School Musicals Part 1 of 2.