The App That Tells The Future
Posted on April 24th, 2012
A while back I got into my car, flicked on the radio and realized that there just wasn’t anything for me to listen to. It seems that all of the stations were programming their music for — oh, it pains me to say it — much younger audiences. We Baby Boomers were once defined by radio, but have we become irrelevant to the broadcast industry?
Flash forward — there’s an app for that, a free iPhone app called, appropriately enough, Boomer Radio. It was created by a couple of Boomers who decided that their generation needed a single place to go for the music that we grew up with (oldies and rock & roll), plus the genres we’ve embraced as adults (smooth jazz, acoustic rock, etc.).
The Boomer Radio folks believe that other media outlets don’t appreciate that there are more than 80 million of us Baby Boomers and that we control more than three-quarters of all wealth in the U.S. And what Boomer Radio also knows, but no other media outlet seems to understand, is that over the next 10 years, Baby Boomers will inherit more than 8.4 trillion dollars, the largest transfer of wealth in the history of the world.
That breaks down to $300,000 each for 70% of all Boomers, 10% of who will inherit more than a million and a half dollars. And when you consider that this is an audience that has the lowest savings rates in history, it begs the obvious questions: Will Boomers see their windfall as a second chance and squirrel the money away? Will they use the cash to pay off their debts and start clean? Or will they see the new income as an unexpected gift and continue with their profligate ways? Only time will tell.
But with all due respect to the economists and legislators who are spending a lot of time sussing this out, I believe it truly doesn’t matter. Because regardless of what Boomers decide to do with their money as a cohort, there’s going to be an awful lot of cash flying around. And than means opportunities.
Boomer Radio is busy figuring out how to be the go-to media source for these newly flush Boomers looking for the music they grew up with. Chris Crowley and the Younger Next Year book series folks are working hard to be the go-to information and inspiration source for Boomers who aren’t willing to go gently into the good night. Olay is creating skin care products and messaging for Boomers who are not willing to “age gracefully.”
Apple has added a setting to their iPhone to increase text size for Boomer’s failing eyes (Interested? You can find it at Setting > General > Accessibility > Large Text. You’re welcome). Ford has designed a new Taurus with SUV-like seat heights for Boomers who have trouble fitting themselves into low-slung cars but don’t want to buy trucks. And hearing aid manufacturers are designing devices that look like Bluetooth earpieces for hard-of-hearing Boomers who are too vain to accept traditional looking equipment.
BRP has created the three-wheeled Can-Am Spyder Roadster for consumers who want their open air motorcycling served up with a little more stability. Porsche has created the Cayenne SUV and Panamera sedan for drivers who want their performance with a side order of comfort. And even Ferrari has thrown their Borsalino hat into the Boomer-accommodation ring, releasing their first-ever station wagon, the FF (no, really!).
The Baby Boom is really going to explode as the largest, most narcissistic population ever finds itself suddenly flush with cash and continues on its self-centered journey for self-expression and hedonistic experiences. And companies all over the world, from real estate developers to restaurants to cruise lines to banks and investment houses are going to trip all over themselves trying to service this free-spending audience.
For best practices tomorrow, they should upload the Boomer Radio app today. Besides listening to some of the greatest music ever created, they can keep an eye on how the media company is positioning themselves because Boomer Radio has seen the future and it is us.
9 thoughts on “The App That Tells The Future”
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By Bruce Turkel
I am already a believer in Younger Next Year thanks to you. While the local 105.9 FM serves me well, Boomer Radio will be next. Thank you for leading us into the future!
Boomer radio is an anomaly and I would bet a breakfast that it won’t be successful. Several reasons:
1. Treating all boomers as a single, amorphous, homogenized group won’t work. I, for example, detest Jazz. Bores me to tears. You, on the other hand, might love it. A station can’t run a mix of every musical genre and do well. That’s been proven fairly often.
2. Consumers are demanding customization. For example, my Pandora account includes an “Anthem Rock Radio” and a “Chick Radio” for different moods. The success of Pandora and Spotify point out to a completely opposite concept from Boomer Radio
3. Media buyers –those pesky little guys like myself who dole out the money– are demanding the ability to slice and dice audiences in a much more dynamic way and the creative product is now being developed to address each slice. A single amorphous massive audience won’t work. Even broadcast television has seen that happen (though audiences have gone slightly up this year)
As far as your music wasteland. I agree, especially in Miami, but I have one word of advice: WVUM, 90.5FM and the Voice of the University of Miami. Great music, though sporadic. But, at least, new.
Be well.
Aha Marcelo, you commented before you listened — the Boomer Radio folks already have seven different stations for different listening tastes, and they have more to come. No “chick radio” as far as I know, though.
Too bad about the Chick Radio… it’s great for driving at night, windows and roof open, doing double nickels down the lexus lanes on I-95. Start choosing where you want to breakfast…
And don’t forget about the Boomers new crop of “kids” – their pets. There are already something like 70 million dogs in the US and an equivalent number of cats. Boomers love to coddle and spoil their pets once the actual kiddies are gone.
Great point, Paul. Boomer spending on their new “kids” is through the roof. Would be an interesting subject to explore in a future post. Thanks!!
Bravo from a fellow Boomer on all counts. Awaiting that transfer of wealth so I can continue to spend on my kids with two and four legs (not sure which is cheaper).
Marcelo isn’t far off, even if for other reasons. I’d recommend the Dutch Pancake Oven there in Davie….
1. The digital marketplace follows a pattern — first toward a proliferation of options with ever tighter demographic specification in each; then at the point of maturity, there is a sudden drop off and unification of product/service under a single brand name that “wins”.
2. Consider this: from 40+ PC and laptop brands to a sudden unification into the tablet revolution, ending up with one product above all others — the iPad. Other examples are Google in the search sphere, iPhones in the cell phone space, and Facebook for social media. There’s a pattern there — the same pathway through the market each time.
3. In online radio, we’re nearing the end of the proliferation phase — Boomer Radio is a perfect example of this. The roll-up is nearly upon us. These small services are each their own variation of the same theme — Titanics sailing into the field of icebergs, the end is predictable, sadly inevitable. The only question is how many lives will be lost in each.
4. Music is already an undifferentiated product family. Digital files are for sale for $0.99 each; whether Madonna or Bix Biederbeck, it doesn’t matter, nor does it matter if it is wrapped into a free online radio offering.
5. Pointing out one service over another is valid ONLY IF discussing which service will ultimately be the unifier that rolls up the industry. Who has the financing and management and brand power to become the unifier? Spotify? Or the yet to be announced iTunes Radio that comes out in the summer?
A lot of good points here, Thomas. Thank you.
I don’t know that it’s important to be the one all-powerful survivor in any market. There are plenty of niche markets that can be very profitable and influential without dominating the entire universe. Also, as one modality move towards leadership and ubiquity, it tends to defeat some competition and absorb others. As we’ve seen with Microsoft, Google, Apple, and Facebook, being absorbed by the leaders is often a very good strategy (Being crushed? Not so much).
Finally, my point was not really about the superiority of Boomer Radio, just that they’d found a powerful audience that has been mostly ignored by other media. Also, that many other companies — large and small — including Younger Next Year, Porsche, and Ferrari were pursuing the same customers. My hope was that readers wold recognize a prime opportunity and look to see how they could benefit as well.
Thanks for writing.