AdAge this week looked at the “accelerating trend of multigenerational households” and what it might mean for marketing to Baby Boomers, their parents and their adult children. The evolution of multigenerational households already has fundamentally changed the nature of active adult communities (50+ age-qualified). If this trend continues, it will call into question the viability of age qualified communities as we know them today.
But first, some context and a walk down memory lane.
Today 49 million Americans — more than one in six people in the U.S. — live in households with three or more generations, according to the Pew Research Center. The percentage is even higher for age groups 25-to-34 and 65 and older, where one in five, or 20%, live in these extended families.
While much of the increase in multigenerational households can be attributed to the recession, there is also an increased appreciation for the value of family. I grew up with my grandmothers living with us for a combined 10 years. I know how much I benefited from their involvement in my life. From playing games … to hearing the same stories again and again … to having people who had the time and desire to focus all their energies on a child … to learning to be patient and help my elders … Growing up in a multigenerational household was a gift.
A Trend Already Impacting Age-Qualified Communities
Creating Results has marketed 52 active adult and age-qualified communities in 12 states over the course of 10+ years. At first the communities were marketed to empty nesters and the vast majority of people who lived in the community were in their 50-70s (Baby Boomers and Silent Generation). Gradually, we began to see parents moving in with their adult children. These moves were prior to the economic downturn and were motivated by a desire to be with family. (more…)
The 2010 Del Webb Baby Boomer Survey was just released, and the nation’s largest builder of active adult (55+ age-qualified) communities concludes that Boomers are ready and willing to move upon retirement.
“According to the Del Webb survey, nearly a third of older Baby Boomers plan to move in retirement, with more than 50 percent planning to move to a different state, about 25 percent of them planning to move to a different city within the same state, and less than 20 percent of older Boomers planning to move within the same city.”
So, are we going to see a great movement of Boomers criss-crossing the country in the coming years? The definite answer is: It depends.
Creating Results has spent more than 15 years of marketing real estate to older, more affluent homebuyers, including a large number of premier active adult communities. What we have found is that – absent the high cost of living states and escape from urban areas – only a small percentage of people are willing to move more than 100 miles.
Most people don’t want to move at all and would prefer to age in place. In 2009, this desire helped turn active adult housing from a sweet spot into a question mark. Boomers and beyond stayed put.
National studies can provide insights into broad trends, but it is generally not helpful (and even potentially dangerous) to apply the findings to individual communities. Motivators vary significantly. It is important to conduct specific research to develop target markets profiles for each community.
We also caution people against making assumptions about grandchildren and children. For many Baby Boomers, this is a critical motivator. However, for others it’s just not that important.
We wonder what percentage of the respondents to the 2010 Del Webb study were single. In our experience, that is a growing market in which prospects often are not as concerned about proximity to grandchildren. In some of the active adult communities we market, 1/3 of the buyers are single and they complain that a focus on grandchildren makes them feel excluded. They are concerned that they won’t fit into the commuinity.
One Del Webb finding that we agree with entirely is the importance of access to health care. This seems like a no-brainer, but few builders have the courage to address this top level concern in their marketing materials. They are afraid that it takes away from the lifestyle message. We believe that proximity to quality health care serivce is part of the lifestyle message.
What do you think of the 2010 Del Webb Study? Share your thoughts below.
Pop quiz: what topics were hot at this year’s International Builders Show? A. Green Building, B. Financing (good luck, buddy), C. Social Media, or D. The psychological outlook of Baby Boomers and other active adult homebuyers. If you answered “all of the above,” you’re today’s winner.*
Baby Boomers are wounded, worried and wary. Even those who have survived the recent economic challenges financially are psychologically scarred.
In a white paper with 10 take-aways from this year’s Builders Show, I share the philosophy of Tim McCarthy, Managing Partner of Traditions of America, the renowned developer of active adult communities in Pennsylvania. Traditions sales and marketing team is focused on selling only to Active Adults who have come to terms with the reality of their economic situation. These are Baby Boomers and seniors who are ready to move forward with their lives.
Understanding the psychological outlook of mature homebuyers influences the marketing techniques Traditions of America uses. The most effective one focuses on building the confidence of top prospects. (Get the details in this “top 10 take-aways” white paper.)
“The world could be quite a different place now than it was just a few years ago for someone, and often, shifting circumstances are beyond their control. For example, … You may be marketing to somebody who planned very well and covered all his retirement bases, but then his adult child loses their job. Or a health-care issue pops up and now he has to make adaptations. So your databases may contain the names of people who a year ago seemed like they were right in line with your product or service, but it doesn’t necessarily reflect where they are now.”
There are many ways you can take the pulse of today’s active adult consumers: lost buyer surveys, data mining and social listening are just a few ideas. Post your ideas below.
* Congratulations! Now, what did you win? How about the chance to prove how smart you are by sharing your strategies for understanding and motivating wounded, wary Baby Boomers in 2010. I’ll see you in the comments section.
Social media marketing seemed to be the topic of the hour at the 2010 International Builders Show (and other conferences I’ve attended in the past few months, such as the American Association of Homes and Services for the Aging event). Builders and developers – of active adult communities, of intergenerational housing, of continuing care retirement communities – are all wondering how these newer online marketing tools can drive sales with Boomer and Senior homebuyers.
In a new white paper with the “Top Ten Take-Aways from IBS 2010,” tip #9 addresses Untangling the Web. While the seniors housing industry is buzzing about social media, there are a lot of questions about whether to dive in.
Is Social Media Marketing Worth It with Baby Boomers and Seniors?
For those with 50+ age-qualified properties, question #1 often is: Should I even bother? As we’ve talked about frequently on this blog, YES. Seniors, Boomers, folks over 40 – they’re online, and actively engaged in social media. Just last week, eMarketer highlighted the growing presence of Boomers on social networks.
It’s not just Baby Boomers, either. The stats show that 36% of Internet users over 63 are actively maintaining a social networking profile. (Roughly 13% of the entire US population is over 65.)
The short answer is every builder needs to be engaged in social media at some level.
Case Study: Using Social Media Techniques to Reach CCRC Retiree Prospects
Recently our team had the honor of working with Willow Valley Retirement Communitiesto revamp their website. Willow Valley is the nation’s third largest retirement community, and – unlike most CCRCs which draw primarily from their local area – it’s a true destination. Willow Valley attracts retirees from 37 states.
Their prospects are educated, active and typically in their 70s. However, the Willow Valley and Creating Results teams recognize the gradual shift that will occur over the next decade, as the Silent Generation (born between 1925 and 1942) is joined by Baby Boomers (born 1946-1964).
Our plan for their new website was to make it not only functional and attractive, but to make the website the first stop on a prospect’s journey to retirement. That means it has to truly engaging. Social media techniques are built in throughout the site:
* share with a friend features – retirees can email, tweet or post content from any where in the site to their Facebook account
* videos embedded into the site from a branded WillowValley-TV channel on YouTube
* publications piped in from a digital publishing library that encourages sharing
* multiple calls for feedback and interaction (“suggest it to our librarian”)
The site is structured so that, looking ahead, the client can phase in more social engagement opportunities – message boards, blogs and comments/reviews.
Getting Social with Seniors, Strategically
Judging by the turnout at IBS social media sessions, many builders and developers are stuck on question #2 is: Where do I start?
I counsel our clients with active adult or continuing care retirement communities to start with the fundamentals, and that includes a plan. Any business wanting to incorporate social media into their Boomer marketing should have a strategy, goals, and have a plan that shows how social engagement is integrated into their rest of their marketing program for maximum impact.
(Creating Results also offers clients a bundle of social marketing services, including education, strategy and training … but that’s another story.)
Let’s put the question to you: In 2010, where will you start in your efforts to untangle the web and reach Boomers/senior homebuyers through social media? How can building community online drive sales for active adult and retirement communities offline?
Marketing to seniors and Baby Boomers via the Web involves making full use of SEO best practices, social networking tools, interactive features, active adult friendly designs and more. Sadly, too many builders and developers forget to approach online marketing the way they would a new home: with a blueprint for success. I love the way eMarketer puts it: “planning and organization are no longer optional.”
At IBS, sessions related to Internet marketing and homebuyers were very popular. It seemed like everywhere builders and developers looked at this Las Vegas conference, someone was telling them to bet some or all of their marketing dollars on the Web. Without an internet strategy – a “blueprint” –, many communities are wasting time and money.
When speaking at the 50+ New England Housing Council’s annual meeting last month, I said there are three things to keep in mind for marketing active adult and retirement communities online:
* Print is not dead
* The Internet is not free
* Internet success is not overnight success
I invite you to share your thoughts below: In your experience, are builders and developers spending enough time on internet strategy? What “three things” will you keep in mind for your efforts in 2010?
P.S. The “10 take-aways” white paper I mentioned above offers additional insights and some statistics from the new NAHB Marketing to Active Adults course that can help you benchmark your Internet success. Complimentary download here.
Was 2009 the end of 55+, age-qualified, active adult housing? It certainly was a painful year for builders, developers, and experts like myself, who had expected this market would out-perform the overall housing market during a downturn. Instead, as I note in my Top Ten Take-Aways from IBS, mature homebuyers – primarily discretionary purchasers – exercised their discretion and stayed put.
Active Adult communities have been age-qualified; you must be 55 years old or better to live in one. For years, this type of housing has been a sweet spot.
However, the Baby Boomers were hit hardest of all by the crash of the financial, real estate and employment markets. Now, gone are a willingness to pay for golf course views or useless and expensive upgrades. Is the willingness to live in an age-qualified community gone, too?
Redefining Reetirement Communities
Even before our current economic challenges, Baby Boomers were already redefining retirement, and therefore redefining retirement communities. Tennis courts were being replaced by business centers. Bonus rooms were used as home offices. Research we conducted for Central Parke 55+ Resort Communities led to the establishment of an Osher Lifelong Learning Institute (OLLI) campus at their Victoria Falls community.
The Baby Boom is a generation of roughly 78 million. The US 50+ population is becoming increasingly diverse. One size of housing will not fit all; indeed, it never has.
For builders and developers, the challenge is to define which 50+ subgroup you’re targeting, and to take steps to truly understand them. Hire a good market research agency. Comb through your database. That prospect on your list is in a different place, economically and psychologically, than they were in 2008 or 2009. Conduct new surveys and listening sessions to understand what they now need and desire.
What do you think? What is the future of active adult housing? What can builders, developers and mature marketers do to thrive in a world with many different active adults marketS?
Generational marketing expert Todd Harff tells Housing for Seniorsthat 2010 will see innovation in the active adult (50+) housing market. What form will that innovation take? Many forms. Harff says it’s clear that builders are focused on new concepts and marketing strategies, and that some past trends targeting Baby Boomers and beyond have run their course.
What’s Out:
10-foot ceilings: Harff asks: “Do you really need that?” Boomers and “Silent Generation” consumers are going to want reduced heating and cooling costs. Higher ceilings equal more space, which equals higher utility bills….
Loading up on high-cost green features: 50+ homebuyers love the idea of having green features in the home, but very few of them are willing to pay extra for them.
Luxury and Excess: Granite is nice, but is increasingly considered unnecessary by these consumers, says Harff.
Read more of Brian Shappell’s interview with Harff at http://www.seniorsnews.net/emailstory/HSR/3383 to learn about other trends that are out and what builders can do to prosper in an uncertain market.
Builders of new homes for Baby Boomers and other 50+/mature buyers are looking at how to survive and thrive in the coming year. The only way to make money is to create new products that don’t compete against all the supply currently in the marketplace.
Creating Results has been working with clients to develop products that are more affordable and yet so appealing that they motivate people to move. We’re changing services and amenities, and getting creative with designs (not to mention the marketing).
We’d love to hear from you – what do you think is going to be in or out at active adult communities in 2010?
Kudos to MetLife and NAHB who recently released a study about how builders were doing meeting the expectations of the mature market (Baby Boomers and beyond). At Creating Results, we love research! Decisions can be made based on data rather than that gut feel in your stomach or the old fall-back “we’ve always done it that way.” In this economy, when budgets have been cut to the bare bone, research often has been the first to go. Thanks to this study, marketers and builders have a little more insight into what Boomers and seniors are looking for in a new home.
What Mature Homebuyers Want, and Builders Aren’t Offering
“While consumers expressed a preference for maintenance-free lifestyles, with services such as interior and exterior home repair, transportation, housecleaning, etc., few builders offer such services, which depart from their primary business of construction.”
63% of the 1500 respondents stated their primary reason for moving was the desire for a maintenance-free lifestyle. That beat out moving to be closer to family or friends as well as a wish to reduce the cost of living.
In our work with active adult builders and community developers we have found as many definitions of “maintenance-free” as there are “green building.” The Boomers and older homebuyers want, and in many cases need, all of the exterior maintenance taken care of for them. This goes beyond mowing the lawn to include fertilizing, leaf raking, and mulching of flower beds; cleaning the gutters and washing the windows; clearing snow from driveways and lead walks …
Real estate marketers need to be sure that online/offline materials are specific on what is and is not included in a community’s “maintenance-free” lifestyle. Clear details (and more services) will speed sales.
What Builders Offer, But Buyers Don’t Appear to Want
Creating Results’ 15 years of marketing to Baby Boomers means we understand the need for builders and community developers to communicate new features and their benefits very clearly to prospects. Universal Design (UD) is a case in point.
NAHB’s research showed that consumers didn’t fully appreciate UD features like lever-handled doors knobs and wider doors and hallways that builders are already putting in to new homes.
Why? Perhaps because those door knobs are now anticipated, viewed as a luxury feature but expected to be included as standard. Those old round ones are boring and just so passé. And not because the market perceives them as UD-friendly but because levers are the new generation of door knobs.
Wider doors and hallways? My guess is that customers do appreciate them because they make the entire home feel more spacious. But value? It’s hard for consumers to assess a value to space like this—we’re not talking the latest hi-tech feature or granite countertops here. And, like the lever-handled door knobs, buyers don’t connect the feature to UD benefits.
The communication challenge is to educate our Baby Boomer consumers on the lifestyle value these and other features in the home and community provide now and in the future. Whether your Boomer buyer is 62 suffering with arthritis in their hands or simply has an armful of laundry those lever-handled door handles will be appreciated.
How will you apply this research and insights to your marketing?
British researchers have theorized that working past retirement age can delay dementia. The Boston Globe theorizes that this may be a benefit to older Americans forced to continue working.
On one point there is no question: Since the start of the recession, more people nearing or just past retirement age have opted to stay in the workforce. Polina Vlasenko, a researcher at the American Institute for Economic Research, analyzed years of national data and found that the labor force participation rate of people ages 54 to 69 is now at the highest levels on record.
“It is likely that people close to or past retirement age feel the need to work because their retirement savings have suffered in the recent financial crisis,’’ she concluded in her May study.
There are also several studies that show Boomers and beyond are continuing to work because they WANT to do so. We call it “un-retirement.”
Whether mature consumers are working because they choose to or because they have to, marketers need to be aware that they’ll be spending their time and money in different ways. For example, housing communities that decades ago promoted tennis courts and maj-jong should be looking instead at business centers and home offices. Todd Harff wrote about the “un-retirement” trend and active adult housing for a Spring 2007 50+ Housing Magazine article titled “Working for a Life (not a living)”.
People who refuse to retire are changing retirement communities.
“One thing is clear. It isn’t business as usual. While the old style, heavily amenitized communities in resort locations will continue to have some appeal, even they will have to adapt. The good news is that niche communities that are narrowly targeted to these highly desirable mature worker bees will thrive.”
Creating Results is currently conducting two national surveys on Online Preferences and Social Media. Click on the buttons below to contribute to our surveys.
