It's been a long winter -- between the news, the weather, and news about the weather. As spring has sprung (or nearly so in blizzard-bombarded regions), let's think about excellent spring-time opportunities for seniors, families who care about them, and the residential environments in which they live.
I came back from last week's Aging in America conference impressed again by the level of new business energy pouring into technology simplification and demystification for seniors. When you think about it, this is a real commentary on the original feature-rich and common-sense-poor engineering of most products, designed by geeks, for themselves to admire, from smart phones to office software to TV remote control devices, DVR, wireless network configuration, and on and on.
Today, this is a non-blog blog entry: I am not targeting any specific vendors. But I think it has to be put out on the table. There is a not-so-fine line between offering products that assuage fear and pitching product offerings within a terrifying context. I saw such a pitch today and I was so upset, I had to leave the room.
Some called me crazy. Maybe an analyst who sees the non-tech world of aging through a tech-focused set of tinted glasses. When this blog began and I ranted about the importance of describing and shaping a business market of technology to help boomers and seniors successfully age in their own homes, I received virtual quizzical looks from many experts. I am a determined (some might say obnoxious) sort, however, and as I began to interview people, go to conferences, speak to industry experts, and write what I'd learned, I became more and more convinced.
Good NEWS! This week on Wednesday, you can access the 2009 Market Overview docs from this site. A download page will be presented to anyone who is willing to fill out a short contact form that we will then use to build the newsletter distribution list. If you want to comment, this blog entry will be the one to comment on.
So let's get right to the point -- why does this market overview matter?
It describes a real and viable market that is emerging now but will grow to match the need!
I spent some quality time this weekend writing and then losing a blog entry to a software crash. Computers. Gotta love 'em. But I got to thinking about simplification, packaging, and reuse. If you think about it, how resourceful and enterprising business people are! Just think -- from one year to the next, contractors and interior designers move from new home building and decorating to renovation and retrofit. Car rental companies like Hertz get into the hourly car use business to compete with Zipcar.
Vendors never want to miss a market, inadvertantly bypassing an audience that may love to buy their products -- if they only knew more about them. So why don't vendors with great potential in boomer and senior audiences -- and even some loving customers -- try harder to make this match clearer? Is it because in our youth-oriented product culture, they don't want to use the 'age' word? Is it because the product execs are too youth-oriented themselves? Fearful of alienating some by being specific about others?
These are tough times to sell products. Period. But before being ossified into a state of discouragement, it's good to know that the baby boomer market segment is not tapped out yet as the attached two studies make clear.
