Baby-boomers still booming it.

Once a generation started to retire, conventional wisdom said they'd start acting like retirees. Cutting spending, locked into old ways -- the implication was therefore that they weren't worth the marketing effort.

But not baby boomers, baby. They're not accepting a declining income as readily as previous generations. And in mass alone, they're still big:

• Households age 50+ account for nearly half consumer income & spending

• Boomer delayed every life stage transition & will delay retiement

• Most boomers are empty nesters, who often subsidize their adult kids

So, while the youth marketing rule is to aspire up (think 2-4 years older when marketing to 'kids'), you can do the opposite in terms of marketing to the Boomer set -- just think younger by a decade or 2.

Less AARP. More PAAR-TY!

Source: www.census.gov

iPhone App Rapp

What do you get when musicians, technicians, and comedians get together?  "I am T-Pain", of course.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ITT6bYYGVfM

All this creative technological prowess has produced something totally useless but severely entertaining.

The iPhone app, brought to us by T-Pain himself, allows users to karaoke over T-pain's songs in his trademark, auto-tune style -- then share the 'vocal stylings' online or via email.

And not only does T-Pain promote himself, but he's also leveraged his guest appearance in an SNL sketch for extra cash.   

For $0.99 more, you can buy the instrumental version of the hit SNL sketch "I am on a boat"   complete with Karaoke style lyrics.  

But wait there's more!

Other's lyrics need not limit you. There are instrumental songs a'plenty which allow you to "free style" your own poetry in emotion.  So watch out for Happy B-day, Mom, with an auto-tuned twist.

Appreciation of Hip-hop, SNL, or even the iPhone aside, one has to concede this is an entertaining interactive experience that promotes purely, while it pads the creators pockets a bit.

Could your own iPhone app music video be far behind?  Bring it, MileyBrittneyJonasWilco.  Wait, who's Wilco?

-BWM

Saturn Cars: When Big Tries A Little

We've seen it before:  Plank Road Brewing from Miller.  Ted from United.  Saturn from GM.

Occasionally, the 'intrapreneurial' spirit works.

Saturn was the small car company feel and action from within the belly of the GM behemoth.

But it died.  Even a sale to the smart, savvy car-man turned conglomerate Roger Penske couldn't happen 11th hour.

http://adage.com/article?article_id=139370

Why did Saturn fail in the first place?

• little has a hard time getting resourced OR left alone to thrive

• little is held to same standards as big in P&L, reporting -- and expected to fit the big system in distribution, timelines, velocity or other biz metrics

• little is sometimes staffed the same as big -- or with big minded people who don't fit

Sadly, this wasn't Saturn's fault.  

And we would think there's still some positive brand residue there.  But it's only worth a little -- until in message and in mode, someone makes a big shift forward with it again.

Twitter? Or Twit?

Many people write off Twitter as useless, superfluous and just plain ridiculous. 

We agree in 2 cases:

• if you don't need to share with friends and the wider world your 'status'

• if you, your friends and or your industry aren't on it

But while many use Twitter as a psuedo-public diary of their lives, it can be used to great effect for non-social purposes.   Twitter can:

• give users an easy way to monitor 'Twitter-hip' companies, industries and industry leaders

• enable real time, quick-news postings about how to best use products, even what regulatory issues a given industry or company is facing

As a result, following just a handful of industry leaders will yield insights and great competitive information.

So, how do we at Bandwidth Twitter?  We follow the high tech industry with one account, the Design world with another, and the Marketing world with a third. 

We also choose to follow keywords of interest, and pay close attention to industry leaders and innovative companies, what they're saying, who they're following. 

Seesmic and Tweet Deck provide free software which allows a Twitter user to follow multiple accounts and subjects at once with minimal clutter.

Like most things, you get out what you put into the system.  And as always online, its caveat emptor, or Twitter-read beware:  if you blindly trust what jabbermouth26 says, you might get burnt.

Flip it Good

When you're struggling with a creative problem, flip the thing on it's head. Even if you've done it the other way for years.

What if the white swan were black? What if forward were back? What if up were down?

That's how new concepts are born, new products are invented, and the toughest problems get solved.

The upside down ketchup bottle. Roller coasters with wheels up above.

Upside down may actually be the bright side up.

The proof, is in the banana....

United Breaks Guitars, but Fixes Public Relations

Many of you may have heard this story, and over 500,000 have seen the video: a musician flew United, had his guitar wrecked in transit, and when he appealed for recompense, he got none.

So he wrote a song. And now is getting more than just an apology from United.

He's getting his 15 minutes of fame. Talk about turning lemons into vodka with lemonade.

And United, a dear old client of ours, is seemingly trying to do the same.

United's spokesperson is quoted on Chicagotribune.com as saying the video complaint 'struck a chord...', pun intended to be sure. They are promising to 'make things right' at long last.

And now customer relations is quoted as asking for the video to help improve customer service.

Empathy. And apology.

Sad that in this day and age it comes AFTER the negative publicity and not as a core value, but there seem to be many reasons why customer experience comes last in a popular drive to deliver such inexpensive product (think about it -- sometimes your cab fare to the airport is half the cost of your airline ticket.)

Anyway, a positive, creative solution to a problem. And kudos to United to not fighting it, but riding it.

A Simple Web Banner Can Go a Long Long Long Way

Take a look at the amusing web banner from Pringles that we've attached below (the webpage itself is irrelevant -- the ad is the feature, kind of like a bad SuperBowl match up.)

As you'll see, each click of the banner image produces another amusing line. It's dead simple. It takes as much time as you want (and it DOES go on and on.) And it leverages the medium well.

Sell more chips? Not necessarily. But it does create a memorable, positive brand experience better than an image-driven TV campaign. And the moustachioed icon wise-acre and the product, er, placement (you'll see what we mean) help actually drive home Pringles. Plus you're engaged by clicking to get more out of the ad.

Just goes to show you how far a simple, clever idea and a low-tech solution (by today's web standards) can beat out all the pyro-techspecs.

Nice work, Cincinnati.

http://www.awardshome.com/cannes2009/pringles/can-hands.html