You are Jim Gilmartin, President of Coming of Age, Incorporated. Could you please introduce the company?
Coming of Age, Incorporated is a Lombard,
Do you think that marketing to Boomers and older consumers requires specific skills? Why?
Marketing and sales to Boomers and older customers absolutely requires specific skills, knowledge and experience. To be successful in these markets, companies have to challenge existing marketing and sales paradigms. The rules guiding marketing to younger cohorts are currently antiquated. The “New Customer Majority” is comprised of 40+ populations with different worldviews, needs, desires and a different way of processing information.
The behavioral and perception changes caused by the aging process demands significantly different marketing and sales approaches and techniques than currently practiced by too many company marketers and Agencies. Marketing and sales approaches must incorporate revolutionary new findings in brain/mind research. Human beings process information in approximately the same way. Knowledge of these processes provides a dependable map to guide marketers in shaping their approach and transmitting effective messages to these rapidly growing markets. Research has also shown that consumers’ final decisions are not the direct product of the reasoning process. The reasoning process will confirm their decision, but it doesn’t start there.
Emotions are one of the most powerful influences we have. Think back for a minute and try to think of anything that you’ve purchased where your emotions haven’t played a major part in the decision process. We use our emotions to help visualize ourselves benefiting from the purchase of a particular product or service.
Research also tells us that customer developmental life stage alters purchasing patterns. Mixed with individual personalities and experiences, these dynamics create consumer purchase motivations. Marketers need to better understand the factors that determine purchasing behavior so as to better respond to Boomer+ customer information processing, wants and needs.
Could you tell our readers about the Integrated Consumer Behavior Marketing approach you developed?
The approach incorporates revolutionary new findings in brain/mind research and gives us unique access to the five basic notions of marketing. The origins of ICBM lie in a book written by David B. Wolfe, Serving the Ageless Market (McGraw-Hill, 1990). And, further explored in Ageless Marketing, his most recent book published in November 2004.
In his earlier book, Mr. Wolfe first proposed the idea that the levels of personal development determine consumers’ behavior much more than the age of the consumer. He developed Developmental Relationship Marketing (DRM) concepts revolve around the simplest definition of marketing: product-related information processing. Certain characteristics that define us as humans lead us all to process information in approximately the same way. Knowledge of these processes provides a dependable map to guide us in shaping and transmitting messages to customers.
Integrated Consumer Behavior Marketing™ takes DRM several steps further. Like DRM, ICBM promotes identification of individual consumers’ needs, values and motivations. Using proven strategy development and execution techniques and methods, ICBM helps our clients to develop a comprehensive and integrated approach to increasing profit in Boomer+ customer markets.
Our ICBM protocols increase the potential of identifying and diagnosing internal resistance and obstacles and identifying appropriate corrective action. The process leads to successfully planning and executing Boomer+ customer marketing and sales initiatives. Finally, through educational programs designed to support sustainable marketing and sales strategy execution, the ICBM approach and process can improve operations, sales, service and customer satisfaction programs and efforts.
What differentiates Coming of Age, Incorporated from other experts of the 50plus market?
We are practitioners of the concepts, principles and research found in Serving the Ageless Market and Ageless Marketing. Our thrust is on understanding human behavior manifestations over a lifetime and applying that knowledge to marketing and sales efforts. We know emotional arousal is the brain’s main tool for assessing relevance of incoming information. When the brain determines something is important enough that it deserves conscious attention, emotions increase to the point that feelings materialize in the conscious mind. Then and only then can the processes of rational thinking get underway.
We know:
The senses detect,
The brain selects,
The conscious mind elects.
In other words, the senses send information into the brain, which sorts and processes it for relevance. Then, depending on its assessment sends it into the conscious mind or ignores it for lack of relevance. Thus, we know how to determine what has sufficient relevance to Boomer+ customers and how to create messages that have the best chance of getting their interest and converting that interest into a sale or desired action.
Finally, we are literally a one-stop-shop for clients interested in capturing and keeping the Boomer+ customer. We bring the best thinking available to clients and help them develop and execute well thought out strategies.
What services can you offer to companies targeting boomers and/or Senior citizens?
Coming of Age, Incorporated’s primary focus is on helping clients capture and keep Boomer+ customers. We collaborate with our clients and provide:
Marketing Consulting
Full Service Advertising Agency Services
PR & Media Relations Services
On & Off Site Educational Programs
Sales & Service Improvement Training & Train The Trainer Programs For Employees, Supervisors & Management
Customer Affinity/Loyalty Club/Program Development, Marketing & Fulfillment
We can be reached at 630-627-9600 or email us at info@comingofage.com. Our website is www.comingofage.com.