Zeno Group Blog

Last week I received a Facebook friend request from one of my mother’s best friends. That same week, another friend called me to say that her father had just created a profile and was spending significant hours networking on the site. What do they have in common? Both are over the age of 50. It’s no secret that online activity by those over the age of 50 continues to grow at a rapid pace. Consider that 16.5 million adults ages 55 and older engage in social networking, according to comScore. In fact, the fastest growing market segment on Facebook is now women over 55, which experienced more than 175% growth and totals nearly 7 million. But it’s not just Facebook. Baby boomers are actively engaged in news sites, updating their LinkedIn profiles (just ask my mother, 69!), banking, shopping and even job hunting.

So imagine my surprise when a major business news outlet last week categorized online activity by various age groups and made a blanket statement that people in their 50’s and 60’s go online to check the weather. What?! This shocked me – and my 50+-something [Facebook] friends. This kind of generalization doesn’t reflect what’s really going on. A new report by the Pew Research Center paints a very different picture. According to the study, 69% of baby boomers ages 55-63 are now getting their news online. Seventy percent are buying a product online. Nearly 50% are online banking, and forty-eight percent are conducting job-related research. Media – and marketers – who buy into the notion that Baby Boomers haven’t embraced the Internet for more than just the weather need to wake up – or risk missing out on opportunities to target this very powerful demographic.

Here are some articles the Zeno team has been reading from March 20th through March 26th:

• ReadWriteWeb: 4 Ways Companies Use Twitter for Business
• Mashable: Newspapers- 5 Ways to Avoid Extinction
• Time: Stay-at-Home Moms Seek Work

Many PR professionals (and their clients) already recognize the value of Twitter and have immersed themselves in the fastest-growing social network. For those not familiar with Twitter, it’s a microblogging service that asks “What are you doing?” and limits responses to 140 characters. Responses or “tweets” are publicly displayed and may be searched, replied to or shared with others. While the service has attracted celebrities, politicians, athletes and mainstream media attention; Twitter at its core is about broadcasting your thoughts and connecting to the individuals, companies and brands that matter most to you.

Zeno Group employees on Twitter in Chicago, Los Angeles, New York and Washington, D.C. range from new users still exploring its capabilities to active contributors who are frequently followed. Since Twitter is an open broadcasting platform, we invite you to discover all Zeno Group employees on Twitter. I’ve included our profile handles below. I’ve asked several colleagues to highlight what they like best about the service, and of course, do it in 140 characters or less. Follow us and let us know what’s on your mind.

@NickMendoza.: I can connect with anyone, anywhere in the world & anticipate they will respond or share my thoughts with their own highly engaged communities.

Here are some articles the Zeno team has been reading from March 11th through March 17th:

• Forbes.com: Yes, CEOs Should Facebook And Twitter
• The Economist: Hello, girls- Recession-hit companies target female customers
• NYTimes.com: For Papers, a Downsizing Trickle Becomes a Flood
• Nieman Journalism Lab: Five tips for citizen journalism from ProPublica’s new “crowdsorcerer”

Wondering how this tough economy is really affecting consumer spending habits? To get a pulse on today’s consumer, Zeno Group’s Speaking Female Team went straight to those controlling the purse strings – US women. According to the US Census Bureau, women buy 81% of all products and services – who better than this powerful consumer group to give us insight into how spending habits are changing.

In this month’s Zeno Group She Report we offer an enlightening look into what women are thinking and doing when it comes to money. While most are cutting the family budget, women still need a vacation.

Here are some articles the Zeno team has been reading from March 9th through March 11th:

• All Facebook: How To Develop A Facebook Page That Attracts Millions of Fans
• BusinessWeek: When Skittles Met Twitter
• Seth Godin: The difference between PR and publicity
• NYTimes.com: Could Customized Newspapers Bring Readers Back?

Everyone was all a twitter about social media at last week’s PR Week Awards. For those just putting a toe into social media, my mother has provided a simple framework for considering how to approach digital communications: Does a social media program solve a business problem?

My mom, Ruth, is the proprietor of the Animal Exchange in Rockville, MD. She is a noted animal care expert with a degree from Cornell U in ornithology. On a daily basis, pet owners and aspiring pet owners stop by for guidance. As a result, Ruth faces a number of routine animal husbandry questions as well as questioners coming in with misinformation – often garnered from the internet.

To solve Ruth’s problem of providing the deep information her customers need, she is developing a series of informational videos. From baby hamsters to lizards to birds, Ruth is now able to refer her customers to her growing online video library. (Her debut video, Bearded Dragon Care, has been viewed more than 11,000 times.) Ruth and I are now talking about bringing Animal Exchange to Facebook so that her customers and many followers receive regular updates on new animals and products arriving in the store weekly.

In addition to solving a problem, though, everyone should be ensuring that social media does not cause a problem. Monitoring online discussions is essential for all brands and companies to ensure that lively digital conversations and content do not crossover into the land of misinformation and brand and reputation destruction. A customer scorned can create a digital black eye in no time when you are not looking.

A study recently asked moms about the driving forces behind their food purchases when it comes to their kids. The results showed that moms are choosing healthier foods – products that are “healthy and nutritious” and “will establish good eating habits for the long run.” Perhaps not a big surprise in this day and age – Mom’s are supposed to feed their children nutritious food, right? But this wasn’t the only or most important purchase driver, equal was their child’s preference — wanting to give them something that they know, as a Mom, their child will love and also something they will eat without a fuss. So yes, moms want to know a product is healthy, but they also want to know their child is going to love it. These findings can be expanded beyond food to anything that a Mom buys for her children – I think we can extrapolate that whatever the purchase, moms want not only the best thing for the child but also the thing their child will like best. As marketers we need to keep this in mind when developing messages and make sure we are speaking to all the reasons moms purchase products.

My 9-year old son recently took part in one of our elementary school’s most anticipated events – the annual Lego science fair. The competition, which this year centered around the topic of climate change, attracted numerous students, parents as well as state and local officials. There was a piece for everyone. The kids loved building with Legos, the parents felt good because their children were learning more about science, and the government representatives were able interact with community members and demonstrate their commitment to the public school system. While viewing the intricate displays and watching the awards ceremony, as a marketer I couldn’t help thinking about the benefit to the Lego brand and the positive goodwill and exposure they were receiving among their direct target audience (children) as well as their personal bankers (moms). In fact, when the state’s Attorney General thanked Lego for the company’s commitment to safety and education, I knew he had touched on two topics moms cared about most. And what did we do the very next day? What else? Go out and buy more Legos. This type of grassroots PR campaign is nothing new but it served as a reminder to me that just like a couple of Legos, brands need to stay “connected” to consumers to succeed.