Marketing Home Products

Marketing is all about having a clear understanding of the various consumer groups driving your industry. To keep up with today’s complex consumers, my agency regularly embarks on market research that uncovers the unique demographics and values of the attitudinal groups shaping the home marketplace.

Here are my thoughts on a few of the new groups we’ve explored at K&A during our latest research. We believe that these are the emerging, hottest prospects today . . . who are creating a name for themselves in the housing channel. 

“Ruppies”
Ruppies (a new generational cohort identified as “retired urban professionals”) are a vast influential demographic with an estimated $2 trillion in annual spending power representing about 50 percent of all discretionary income. This group is approximately 40 million strong and is comprised of affluent empty nesters born between the years 1946 and 1964. In fact, every eight seconds a baby boomer turns 60 and becomes a new Ruppie candidate.

What’s important about the Ruppies is that they’re certainly not going into retirement quietly. They are living their lives the way they want to; without any predisposition to typecasts and they’re setting the new standard for life after retirement.

Motivated by a desire to stay young, healthy and fit, Ruppies remain active and an integral part of “what’s happening” in their communities.  From an aspirational point of view, 20 percent of this audience claims that they are “much healthier than other people their same age.” In addition, their quest for the non-traditional urban lifestyle makes them an exciting market for a wide range of residential home products previously targeted to the younger demos. You can be sure that these guys are not sitting on a porch overlooking the shuffleboard courts.

(If you would like a copy of K&A’s latest Ruppies white paper, email bizdevelopment@kleberandassociates.com.)

Missing Males
Despite common belief, many men actually enjoy shopping and making household purchasing decisions.

This yields an opportunity to reach an untapped market segment in categories other than those traditionally attributed to this group: cars, beer and electronics. Although women hold a wealth of influence and buying power in the home environment, men are not to be forgotten.

The imperative role of men in modern-day households and throughout their children’s lives solidifies them as a primary domestic influence who do make purchasing decisions and control a considerable part of the family wallet.

In fact according to a University of Michigan study, in 1997 dads living at home spent 65 percent as much time in the company of their children during the week as the mothers in the same households did and on weekends, they spent 87 percent as much time. Moreover, according to the 2006 U.S. Census Bureau statistics, 143,000 fathers stay at home and run the household on a daily basis.

The model where mom stays at home and the guy goes to work and makes the money is seriously outdated. Today’s male demographic should be appropriately targeted by those in the housing market as men become increasingly involved in their individual home lives. For those of you in the housing industry, this means you should pursue outlets to reach these involved men and tap into the attractive spending power they represent. Men, whether single, married, or fathers, represent significant sources of disposable income throughout all areas of the home.

(If you would like a copy of K&A’s latest Missing Males white paper, bizdevelopment@kleberandassociates.com.)

Emerging Homeowners
Generation X, born between the years 1965 and 1981, is a force of about 51 million. Now between the ages of 27 and 43, this group spends $125 billion a year with a total spending power of over $200 billion annually.

Generation X can be defined as diverse, self-reliant and pragmatic. They are highly visual and go the Internet for all kinds of research prior to making any definitive purchasing decisions. They are continually interested in new technology and innovation and they are indisputably a group of “upgraders” who demand and respond to a more dynamic, stimulating and entertaining shopping experience.

Generation Y, or Millennials, born between the years 1982 and 1998, includes a population of about 75 million and makes up approximately 26 percent of the entire U.S. population number. What’s more, this group has cumulative spending power drawing near $150 billion annually.

Despite the current condition of the housing market, buyers under age 25 are the fastest growing home-buying age group in the country. About 1.5 million homeowners nationwide are younger than 25; two times the figure from 10 years ago.

Generation Y is optimistic, confident, moral, diverse, individualistic, educationally-focused, enthusiastic and socially conscious. They are technologically advanced and are concerned with the environment, economic issues and political trends. This makes them very sophisticated in their approach to the housing market and the products they choose for their home.

(I recently discussed this group in further detail in my Remodeling Show speech, “Marketing to the Green Generation.” For a copy of the presentation, email bizdevelopment@kleberandassociates.com.)

Learning what makes them buy is the key to knowing how to sell
All good marketing campaigns start with the basics of research. Although there are a multitude of influential demographic and attitudinal groups present throughout the modern-day home marketplace, our research reveals that Ruppies, today’s Missing Males, and Young Homeowners play the most pivotal roles in the future of the home channel. If you arm yourself with relevant market research that shows how to lay the groundwork for smarter marketing campaigns to these groups, you will have the greatest opportunity for success now and in the future.

For additional information about any of these groups or to request a copy of some of K&A’s other white papers—the Chief Purchasing Officer of the Home and Kleber IQ:  Think Global, Act Local—click here (hyperlink click here to new biz develop email) or contact me at sk@kleberandassociates.com or 770.518.1000.

The 50+ crowd used to be embodied by grey-haired old folks sitting in sunny retirement villages knitting and reminiscing about the golden days of their yesteryears.

It is no surprise, once again, Baby Boomers—those 78 million Americans born between the years 1946 and 1964, often thought of as our nation’s most celebrated generation–are changing the look of what it means to reach that magic age of AARP membership qualification. From health, fitness and cosmetics to housing, the workplace and I daresay, sex and romance, the Boomers are certainly not going quietly into retirement.

In 2006, the oldest Boomer turned 60. George W. Bush and Bill Clinton, Cher, Donald Trump, Sylvester Stallone and Dolly Parton all reached this milestone that same year. Other icons in this group—Paul McCartney, who turned 64 on June 18, 2006—as celebrated on the May/June 2006 cover of AARP.  Doubt it if he thought he’d still be playing rock and roll when he “turned 64” as the legendary lyrics claim. And in February 2006, Newsweek revealed its cover story “Sex and the Single Boomer” demonstrated visually with a scantily clad 51-year-old. Touting Boomers as “changing the way older Americans look at sex, romance, marriage and relationships,” the article claimed that Boomers are dating more so than any other generation of older Americans, attributing a recent AARP survey that said up to 70 percent of single boomers said they dated regularly.

Speaking of not covering up, Jamie Lee Curtis showed some skin on the cover of the May/June 2008 issue of AARP, posing topless. Looking to embrace her upcoming 50th birthday, she voiced her desire for the “ultimate boomer experience and is an exuberant crusader for aging wisely and well.”

The new over 50 crowd is notorious for seemingly aging more slowly. What’s more, half of the over-65 population define themselves as middle-aged or even young. So, what does this change in lifestyle mean for the housing market?

Some pundits still feel that as boomers age, more will move into assisted-living centers, apartments or relatives’ houses, as expressed in a January 2008 article of USA Today. “Those with two homes may sell one and retire to their vacation house. And when they pass on, many of their heirs will sell the properties.”

Moreover, a recent nationwide survey commissioned by AARP found that nearly one in five people between the ages of 55 and 64 are putting retirement plans on hold because of the economic unease that has gripped the country.

Not withstanding, it’s still my belief that synonymous with their lifestyles, most boomers have varied plans and timelines. This will result in diverse housing requirements and a considerable shift from the traditional patterns established by the earlier generations.
Taking a cue from the momentous attitudinal shift in the over 50 crowd from prior generations, my predictions align with the demographic diversity enjoyed by “Ruppies”— a new generational cohort identified as “retired urban professionals.”
Ruppies are moving out of suburbia and into high-density communities found in larger cities such as Atlanta, Los Angeles, San Diego and Chicago. They are choosing housing options within walking distance to coffee shops, public transportation, retail stores, parks, entertainment and restaurants. This dynamic group of aging adults (like so many of the iconic Boomers described above) are attracted to bustling areas surrounded by young families and students as age tends to “disappear” in downtown areas. For them, finding the right location—as an alternative to plastic surgery, pills and hair color—is an overlooked cure to feeling young, healthy and active.

Boomers are shattering the stereotypes. In doing so, they are also altering the landscape (once again) of the housing market. Reaching this audience will have those of us in the home channel thinking past the traditional patterns set by Boomers’ predecessors and into a new way of aging gracefully in places other than just retirement villages and assisted living communities.

Looking for more information about the housing market? Email me at sk@kleberandassociates.com. And stayed tuned for K&A’s upcoming Ruppies white paper, available later this year.