Excerpt of Chapter Four:

BOOM
Marketing to the Ultimate Power Consumer--
The Baby Boomer Woman

The 3-D View of HER
 

In Chapter Three, we shared a series of broad-stroke portraits of the Baby Boomer woman with you, considering life stage challenges and generational influences. But this is not the whole story, for within each life stage, psychological, social, and even spiritual factors will have an impact, both consciously and subconsciously, on the individual woman’s receptivity to products and services. What is needed is a 3-D view of her that takes an even deeper dive into the very heart of marketing: what is motivating her purchasing decisions on the archetypal level.

The Cutting Edge of Marketing

Motivational Factors

The notion that women 40+ are in a dynamic period of psychological growth is revolutionary. Until recently in both scholarly and marketing circles, this period in a woman’s life was largely considered to be a developmental wasteland.  By the time she approached menopause—and certainly thereafter—she had traditionally been thought to have become long established in her ways. Stable, serene, or, at the very least, marginalized, she was stereotyped as an undesirable target market and, in the eyes of most marketers, invisible.

Outgrowing Old Programming

The revolutionary notion of ongoing adult development is based on the theory that just as there are normal stages of physical development for human beings, so are there normal stages of psychological, emotional, social, and spiritual development.  This potential for growth is rooted in the observation that human beings are born with the capacity to experience authentic feelings.  However, from the moment the child leaves her mother’s womb, she is greeted with frustration and discomfort.  Along with physical challenges come messages, influences, and experiences that run counter to her innate sense of herself, programming her with limiting expectations about how things can be.  Some women surrender to the limitations, seeking to ground themselves in stability and predictability—even at the expense of their own sense of autonomy and self-expression.

In healthy development, when new information that differs from the original worldview is introduced into the individual’s life, she either modifies or replaces the old programming. The old beliefs must be acknowledged as being outdated or dysfunctional in order for the person to advance and grow.  This recognition of having outgrown old ways of being is often a painful experience. When it occurs during the teenage years, it’s commonly referred to as “adolescent identity crisis.” Later in life, this same painful forward movement (that sometimes feels like anything but) has been tagged “midlife crisis.” Whenever this crisis occurs, and in many cases, however often, the woman continues her psychological development leading ultimately to the reclamation of her capacity to experience, express, and act on her authentic feelings.

 The woman’s motivational touch-points can be identified and related to one of three major archetypes, each one associated primarily with one of the three stages of development. Before showing you how to apply developmental factors to shape your marketing strategy for your particular product or service, let’s dive right in to the motivational archetypes, adapted from the Orsborn/Smull Research.

The Three Archetypes

Archetype One: The Conventional Boomer Woman

The woman described by the first archetype is in a stage of adult development we refer to as Conventional. Her motivational orientation is that of maintaining security, seeking to ground herself in stability and predictability—even at the expense of her own sense of autonomy and self-expression. She has either not been exposed to new information that offers a challenge to the status quo, or she has compliantly resisted any divergent thoughts or behaviors that could be construed as “rocking the boat.”

Many women outgrow their original programming in regard to some key life issues relatively early in life, often late adolescence.  A move to a new location, a divorce, education, a traumatic life experience, or by any serious challenge to the woman’s status quo can initiate awareness of discontent with her limitations. On the other hand, she may be satisfied with her lot and think it more than a fair trade to give up her independence in exchange for the expectation that she will be taken care of by others.

Archetype Two: The Transitional Boomer Woman

At some point  in their lives, many women begin to experience the consistent inability to make a decision, the nagging sense that they are being perceived by others differently from how they feel inside, awareness of persistent self-neglect of their physical or emotional needs, and free-floating anxiety. These emotional states indicate that, like it or not, the woman is leaving the Conventional stage and entering Archetype Two, becoming what we refer to as the Transitional Boomer woman.  This is the stage during which she becomes disillusioned with what she had previously taken for granted and begins to assert her own individuality.

A woman entering this stage often feels herself to be plunged into insecurity, the old beliefs falling apart while a new, more meaningful world view has not yet come into focus. At the same time old conceptions are passing away, signs of new beliefs and behaviors formed in reaction to them begin to emerge.

In many respects, this vulnerable period bears similarities to an initiatory rite of passage. Social scientists, such as William Bridges and Ronal Grimes, suggest that individuals undergoing transitions at any age go through a similar initiatory sequence, often experienced inwardly as an altered emotional state. In the classic ritual, the initiate is separated from the familiarity of the everyday life of the tribe and put through a series of trials. In the end, transformed by the experience, the initiate re-enters the tribe with the new stature of an adult, having gained valuable skills and insights. While disillusionment is not something most women seek in their lives, it typically heralds a new period of growth.

For example, tired of trying to live up to her fashionable mother’s expectations about beauty, one research participant, Samantha, decided to cut her long hair into a crew cut, letting what was left of her mane go a natural gray.  But it was equally rebellious of another participant, Joanne, who grew up in an austere fundamentalist household, to not only color her hair but opt for a facelift as well. They key to recognizing a woman this stage is not as much by her external choices, but by the thought process that she engages in as she makes her decisions. If her motivation has substantial aspect of reactivity embedded in it, however liberated she may feel or act, she belongs to this second Archetype.

Archetype Three: The Aspirational Boomer Woman

Out of the reactivity of transition emerges the third phase of development, which we refer to as Aspirational. During this culminating stage, the woman moves beyond the passivity of the first stage and the rebellion of the second. The hallmark of the authentic life that arises is integrity: an embrace of opposing tensions, the sum of which constitutes a whole greater than any of the parts.  Many women use images of integration to describe their lives in regard to having or gaining meaning: weaving and mending, repairing, and healing.

One typical comment from an Aspirational Baby Boomer woman in the study: “Of course I’ve made mistakes. But that’s not the whole story about me. And what’s more, it’s not even the most important part. I laugh, I cry—and I can finally look people straight in the eye and say ‘Here I am, flaws and all’—the whole package. And while I prefer you love me as I am, I am willing to take the consequences.”

Said another: “I think of it as the retrieval of lost and broken pieces, patching them together like a broken pot on an archeological dig, making them into something authentic and new.”

These Aspirational women know that they are pioneering unmapped territory.  Recall that she has three to five decades more of life ahead of her than did her great- or great-great-grandmother at the turn of the century. The emotional, attitudinal, and practical landmarks she expected to encounter at various ages have quite simply failed to materialize.  It is as if the entire generation is simultaneously waking up to the fact that at 40, 50, or 60, they have few role models or historical precedents and no certainty about what the future may bring to draw upon. They may have mixed feelings about dealing with the unknown—but this is a generation of women who are used to forging their own way through history on their own terms.

Given the Baby Boomer woman’s capacity for lifelong development, the motivational archetypes we have developed are likewise dynamic in nature.  Keep in mind that the Baby Boomer woman may be at different developmental stages of her life simultaneously. For example, the same woman may have achieved a high level of attitudinal mastery in regards to her career and finances (Aspirational Archetype) while as a new divorcee she is simultaneously coping with the tumultuous emotions of re-entering the singles scene (Transitional Archetype).

Motivational Marketing Opportunities

Each archetype carries with it attitudes and characteristics that can help you discern the marketing message that will most appeal to her, as well as the marketing opportunities most closely associated with each type.

The Conventional Boomer Woman

Even more than the other archetypes, the Conventional Boomer woman responds to the voice of authority. Third-person credibility, expert opinion, and statistical justification will all fall on receptive ears.

She is not prone to rewarding herself with luxury purchases or experiences, tending to spend her money on family and friends. When it comes to her brands, she is loyal and conservative.

The consummate caretaker, she puts others’ interests first when making a decision. Always keeping family and friends’ needs and desires on the radar, she’s focused on providing the best solution for those near and dear to her.

She will remain within the Conventional Archetype until she realizes that has neglected to put one important family member’s wishes on the list: her own. The woman to whom this thought occurs is on her way from transiting from Archetype One to Two.

Core Motivational Appeal: Tell her you can give her the help she needs, and that you will keep her safe.

Oreck® vacuum cleaners is a company that does a good job appealing to the Conventional Boomer Woman.  In a print ad for the Oreck XL® Ultra, David Oreck, dressed in black from turtleneck on down, literally stands behind his product—the Oreck XL Ultra.  With his bald head and arms crossed over his chest, he conveys a fatherly yet authoritarian image to his target consumer.  David Oreck himself is going to take care of all her vacuuming needs, protecting her family.  “Hi, I’m David Oreck. It’s common knowledge that household dust carries germs, pollen, dander, mold spores, bacteria—things you don’t want your family breathing in.”  Appealing to the Conventional Boomer Woman’s low tolerance for risk, the ad does everything it possibly can to lower the bar of entry for her.  The company offers eight free tune-ups and an eight-year warranty, as well as a risk-free, 30-day home trial.  “There’s no obligation. I pay all shipping! Even the phone call is free.”

The Transitional Boomer Woman

The woman in this stage is amenable to leaving behind old familiar brands, products and services.  She enters a period of open-minded experimentation, rejecting or rethinking purchasing patterns that had become routine to her as she rebels against the status quo.  During this transitional period, she begins to pay more attention to her own physical and emotional needs.

An excellent example of a print ad that appeals to the woman transitioning from the Conventional to the Transitional Archetype is for Nature’s Bounty’s® line of vitamins and nutritional supplements.  The ad features an appealing, informal, family-style portrait of a multigenerational grouping of women under the headline: “You Do Your Best for Them, But What About You?”

The woman transitioning from the first to second stages of adult development begins to seek out self-nurturing products, services, and experiences and is open to the self-gifting of luxury goods and experiences.

The Transitional Boomer woman is willing to take risks, to stand apart from the crowd, and to look for ways to individualize her self-expression and life.  She is a trendsetter and an early adopter of innovative goods and services.

For example, a Boomer woman travel customer at this stage of growth is likely to respond to a pitch for adventure travel: the solo seeker on a quest for self-definition and nurturing. She is likely to take up a sport or hobby that will raise eyebrows. She is the woman kayaking in New Guinea or training to climb the highest mountain in her state.  One thing is for sure: She is no longer concerned about living up to others’ expectations.  How can you capture this world traveler? You may want to rethink those images of a barely clad couple lolling in the surf. The Boomer woman is just as likely to travel solo, or with her girlfriends, as with a spouse.

The Aspirational Boomer Woman

This is the “wise woman” stage.  She thinks for herself, but may return to an original brand or product, abandoned during Stage Two, having learned to take a “best of” approach to her lifestyle and consumption choices. She is no longer reactive to the status quo, but knows herself and what she wants.  This is a ripe stage to target with products she once enjoyed and used, but that lost her somewhere along the way.  She will be responsive to a light touch of nostalgia-but she sees herself as firmly rooted in the present.  As a result, she is open to trying new things-but is not likely to sacrifice comfort and practicality for style. Give her both, and you will have a loyal customer.

In the spirit of wholeness, the Aspirational Boomer woman is less obsessed with pleasing others or proving her worth. Rather, she is interested in learning and reconnecting with herself and others.

An example of a motivational appeal to the Aspirational Boomer woman is the January 2006 cover of More magazine. In large letters, the cover proclaims “Confident, Grown-up.” The subhead reads, “Celebrate Your Life After 40.” The featured article s are “Dressy Dresses for Women Not Girls” and “Dream Trips: Finding Yourself in Machu Picchu.”

Core Motivational Appeal: Tell her you will embrace life with her.

Earlier, we described a print ad in which a Baby Boomer woman sported bifocals (a sign of aging) and torn jeans (the youthful rebel’s fashion statement) at the same time. No longer in a reactivity to her past, nor in denial about the future, she is finally free to select the “best of” from all her developmental stages and weave them into a way of relating to life that is authentically her own.  You might find her deep in yoga meditation one day, going out for pizza with friends on Thanksgiving, and then going whole hog buying Christmas gifts for her extended family a few days later. She’s spontaneous and unpredictable, inventing a style all her own.

Saturn appeals to this Aspirational woman with a print ad for the Saturn Relay, commemorating the fact that, “The family car has grown up.” In the ad, the attractive Trailing-Edge Boomer woman communicates a hard-won sense of empowerment through the self-confident expression in her eyes. “I am a mother of two, but not just a mother of two. I am more than the sum of my errands,” the copy reads.  She doesn’t deny her circumstance, but at the same time, she doesn’t allow her circumstances to define her. Make no mistake, she’s her own woman.

Before we conclude our discussion of motivation, we must take a time out to address two final areas that hold archetypal meaning for Baby Boomer women: The first issue is sexuality, the second issue is the search for meaning.

Seasoned Sexuality

When taking on the stereotypes of aging, what topic is more highly-charged (or more to the point, taboo) for most marketers than the older woman’s sexuality? Gail Sheehy, author of the groundbreaking popular work on adult development, Passages, faced with this stereotype head-on with her publication of Sex and the Seasoned Woman: Pursuing the Passionate Life. In this work, Sheehy reports “a surge in women’s sex and love lives after 50,” tagging the trend “a hidden cultural phenomenon.” Sheehy’s view is that “Boomer-generation women in midlife are open to sex, love, dating, new dreams, exploring spirituality, and revitalizing their marriages as never before. This is a new universe of passionate, liberated women—married and single—who are unwilling to settle for the stereotypical roles of middle age and are now realizing they don’t have to.”

This trend toward an extended and in some cases open-ended period of sexual activity in a woman’s life is seen by many as an organic adjustment to the elongated lifespan of the individual.  With better health and medical advancements that address issues of sexual decline, such as the widespread use of hormones, women have more sexual choices than did their mothers once they entered their post menopausal years. With the children growing and/or out of the house, many women view this same period in their lives as an opportunity for renewed vitality and passion. Women 40+ are also prime candidates for attempting to start new relationships, populating dating services, and single bars.  (For proof of this, seek no further than ABC on Sunday nights, where four Desperate Housewives set the record straight about their peaking sexuality.  In fact, despite the stereotypes, in this age group, it is the woman—more of often than the man—who is most likely to initiate a divorce.)²

The sophisticated marketer understands that sexuality is not necessarily a thing of the past for her.  The Baby Boomer woman will respond to appeals that will help her bring romance back into her life with her husband: exotic vacations, fine wine, sensual lingerie.  Alternately, there is the distinct possibility that she could be dating for the first time in twenty-five years.  This is a sizable enough segment of the Boomer woman population to have caught the eye of dating services. But even as she goes on the hunt for the best online dating service, body lotions, mouthwashes, and products that promise to give her “kissable” lips, she will not respond to messaging designed with the twenty-something woman in mind.

The reality is, her body is changing. She is not, despite some marketers’ conception, buying the notion that she is “forever young.” Nor does she necessarily want to be that way. Depending on her archetype, she may be anywhere on the spectrum from uneasy denial to whole-hearted acceptance about the realities of aging.  In fact, we contend that the sexually-charged woman Gail Sheehy describes is not necessarily the norm, but rather only one healthy expression of the Apirational Archetype: the woman who is embracing newfound freedoms and loving the body she has.

It needs to be pointed out, however, that this newfound freedom includes the possibility of finding alternative expressions of intimacy and passion that are not necessarily sexually based. As a critique of Sheehy’s book in the New York Times Book Review reads: “…The real subject she’s discussing—aging—merits far more depth and attention than even the best vibrator can provide. What about the intangible component called dignity? How to have it, how to keep it, how to teach it?”³

The Search for Meaning

Sheehy’s conclusion that there is a surge in women’s sexuality after 50 came out of her qualitative research, interviewing women across the country. While sexuality did come up from time to time in our far-reaching discussions with women in our study, our research produced a different result. When asked about the topics, issues and/or concerns related to their lives that were top-of-mind, it was the search for meaning that surfaced as the core motivator-the true hidden phenomenon-that underlies all the other categories, even her avowed interest in sexuality.

By “meaning” and “spirituality,” we took the participants’ implied and/or stated definitions. For the majority, the search for meaning centers around striving for and discovering a more satisfying experience of their lives. For some, this spiritual experience centered around traditional concepts of God, as transmitted through organized religion.  For others, spirituality was a diffuse (or in some cases, distinct) sense of being part of something beyond physical reality that is larger than themselves.  This search for meaning can inspire the Baby boomer woman to seek out experiences, communities, products, and services that hold the promise of feeding her yearning for something more.

Increasing with Age

Many of the women in the study reported having expected that as they aged, the most they hope for was acceptance of their increasing powerlessness and a graceful fading away. However, for many of these women, their reality is turning out to be far different. Rather than the serene acceptance dictated by the stereotypes of aging, the majority of the women reported themselves to be in dynamic states of transition and development. Among Transitional and Aspirational Boomers, we noted their generally optimistic view. 

Even when facing the toughest challenges related to aging, their expectations in regard to what they often reported as being most important to them-a sense of meaning-was, in truth, increasing with age. Even the Conventional Boomer woman expressed the desire for meaning in their lives, fueling the rising numbers of church attendance in large part by women in this archetypal segment.

Far from buying into the belief that their power is destined to diminish as they age, the majority of Baby Boomer women are shedding the old stereotypes, coming to view time as the means of actualizing their true potential. More and more of this generation of women are tapping into their ever-growing reservoir of self-knowledge, external resources, and communal wisdom. As one of the Transitional Boomer women in the research study summarized: “Given everything that’s been happening in my life lately, I have the suspicion that spiritual proficiency can no longer be considered a luxury.”

Sources Include:

Frank About Women. www.frankaboutwomen.com.

 AARP. The Magazine, July/August 2004.

 New York Times Book Review, February 5, 2006. 

Original study referenced is by Drs. Orsborn and Jimmy L. Smull. 

This material is copyrighted and can be reproduced and distributed by permission from the publisher only.  For permission, contact Dr. Orsborn at corsborn@aol.com.