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A Growing Senior Population Creates A Growing Market For The Promotional Products Industry

Even though baby boomers have not quite reached their senior years, the current population aged 65 years and older is growing at a moderate pace. The number of elderly people in the United States numbered one in every 25 Americans in 1900, and that figure had jumped to one in eight in 1994, according to the U.S. Bureau of the Census. Furthermore, the elderly population is expected to more than double between now and 2050, reaching 80 million.

One of the primary reasons why the elderly population is growing in the United States lies in a longer life expectancy. More people are living longer, thanks to modern medicine and technology. However, the most rapidly growing segment of the elderly population is the 85-and-over crowd, and these seniors are more likely to be institutionalized in nursing homes and other extended care facilities. Statistics demonstrate that 1 percent of people age 65 to 74 lived in a nursing home in 1990, while nearly one in four age 85 or older did. Of those 85 or older who were not institutionalized, nearly 50 percent required assistance performing everyday activities.

The types of institutions cropping up to serve the elderly population are as varied as their care needs. Traditional nursing homes still are popular. But a number of alternatives exist for those who do not require round-the-clock supervision, such as assisted living facilities, adult communities, home health care providers and adult day care centers. These new businesses have created a niche market for promotional products distributors who can identify the particular needs and characteristics of companies serving the elderly population.

Determining Products For The Elderly

Part of serving the senior market is targeting the institutions and people who care for them, along with the seniors themselves. "This market is brand new to our industry and has a lot of potential," notes Peggy Turner, president of Graphic Designs, a Pelham, Ala.,-based distributor. "There are so many differents aspects of this business including the patients, the physicians' staff, and the insurance companies. We even have provided products for organ donor programs. It's a growing market, and our region is gaining more and more facilities."

Turner's company has been targeting the senior market for only the past year, but in that time has gained 10 clients, mainly because there are several different levels of buying. "It's like walking into a 12-story building in which each floor purchases product," she adds. "You have several different buying groups."

As diverse as the buyers are, so are the products for the target end-users, which generally fall into two categories: the elderly and those who care for the elderly, including medical staff and family members.

The most successful products targeted directly to the elderly are those that take into consideration their physical and mental limitations, items that are appreciated by the elderly and favored by those companies the products represent. "Remember, you're not selling directly to the elderly," says Paula Grundleger, MAS, a representative for Forrester-Smith in Pompano Beach, Fla. "You're selling to agencies whose target market is the elderly. In order to slant your presentation toward seniors, you need to do a little homework. That's where putting yourself in a senior's position will attune you to what their needs are."

Consider that as more people live longer, they may be more likely to experience arthritis, diabetes, osteoporosis, senile dementia and other age-related conditions. These conditions may interfere with normal day-to-day activities such as preparing meals, bathing and moving about.

Several suppliers have marketed certain promotional products that accommodate the physical and mental limitations of the elderly. For example, Fabriko offers a multipurpose caddie that seniors may attach to their wheelchairs and walkers so they can carry essential items with them. "We did not promote it in our catalog for use by seniors, but it lends itself to that market," says Cindy Stobb, customer service manager and inside sales representative.

Indeed, many suppliers and distributors have found that some of the most practical items for elderly people are products not necessarily designed for them. "I always keep my eyes open for new items coming out, or new ways to use old products, such as nightlights," says Grundleger.

Adva-Lite has many orders for its lantern-style lights that are used in the senior market. "Many are used in case of power outages in nursing homes," explains Darryl Hanks, vice president of sales. "But the really big use in the senior market is for just a standard, refillable pen light. Seniors leave them on the thermostat or the nightstand in case they get up in the middle of the night." He also notes that plug-in night lights are popular for senior citizens.

In addition, Pilot's Dr. Grip retractable ball point pen has a wide, contoured design with a rubberized cushion grip that is easily handled by arthritic people. "It was designed to relieve the need to grip tightly," says Bob Silberman, marketing manager. "But even if someone doesn't have arthritis, it is easier to write with the Dr. Grip because of the width and the shape of the grip."

Americanna Co.'s jar grippers also have been proven to be a practical item for the elderly, although they were not originally designed as such. "They started as a household item," says Karen Stevens, Americanna Co. representative. "But one of our biggest customers now is an HMO for senior citizens. The grippers have a large imprint area, so information can be printed in large letters."

A large imprint area can be a key selling point of a product for those companies that wish to promote their name and telephone number to seniors, who often may have vision problems.

"The goal of the product is to be a useful one that seniors will keep," reminds Barbara Frodin, MAS, president of A.S.A.P. Marketing Limited, a distributor in Wheat Ridge, Colo., that has been serving the elderly market since 1984. "If you print a refrigerator magnet, make the type large enough so they can read it. You also must be aware that seniors are not as agile. If you sell them a key tag, make sure it pulls out easily."

Other practical products, adds Frodin, include refrigerator magnets with write-on surfaces, telephone receiver labels that glow in the dark and magnifying products.

Grundleger adds that easy-access clothing also has been popular with companies targeting the senior population. Garments with zippers and snaps are easier to work with than those with tiny buttons. Jogging suits also are popular, especially those whose pants have an elastic waistband that makes them easy to put on and take off.

Low Maintenance

By considering the limitations of the elderly population, distributors can more easily identify products that senior citizens and their providers will favor. In fact, some items can border on being necessary to the elderly, rather than considered gifts.

"Some products are on the verge of the promotional market, but also are patient care items, such as walker caddies that have pockets," notes Robb Ruyle, whose company, Powderhorn Industries Inc., designs products specifically for the elderly and their caretakers.

But once these products are identified by distributors, marketed to the senior market, and used by the elderly themselves, they become tried-and-true favorites. "It can be a constant reorder situation," Frodin says. "Once we find a product the seniors like, the facilities tend to reorder that product rather than look for something new."

Frodin makes a further point that trendy and novel promotional products do not market well to seniors, and for practical reasons. "By the time you reach a certain age, you have everything you want, and it's hard to find products that are truly useful," she says.

Those products that are practical, sensible and make life easier for the elderly are easily recognized by buyers, making the senior-sensitive distributor successful in this market.

Targeting Those Who Serve

Elderly people themselves are just one portion of the targeted audience in the senior market. Their families and health care providers offer just as big a market for promotional products.

Many businesses in the senior market, especially health care facilities, rely on referrals; and those referrals do not come from the elderly alone. "I've always felt that if nursing homes and other facilities want referrals, they should be reaching the families of their residents," says Ben Harris, a 47-year industry veteran whose distributor company, Ad-Venture, has been in business 20 years. "I try to suggest that they get something in the hands of family members of seniors, because they are the best source of referrals." For example, family members of an elderly person in an assisted living facility are more likely to "spread the word" about that facility than the resident.

For this reason, many companies that serve the elderly and the facilities in which they reside give promotional products to family members. One of Powderhorn Industries' more popular items is a laundry tote. "Generally, a nursing home will give the laundry tote to the family of someone who is coming to live in the facility," explains Ruyle. "The family will use it to take home the personal laundry of the resident, rather than subject it to the institutional laundry in the nursing home."

Other end-user targets include the health care providers for the elderly, including physicians, nurses, nurses' assistants and pharmaceutical companies. For companies targeting these groups, the variety of marketable products is more expansive than that for the elderly alone.

Barlow Promotional Products Inc., for example, offers stand-up scissors, and Turner notes that their large imprintable area and overall construction makes them highly visible on the desks of nursing staff.

"We wanted to modify the scissors on both the top and the bottom so that, one, it would stand, and two, it would take an imprint," says Chris Hodge, vice president of sales for Barlow. The company also carries a number of easy-to-grip products, such as rounded tape measures and big writing instruments.

Grundleger points out that competition among home health care providers makes products useful to physicians and physical therapists popular among the providers, which rely on physician referrals. Turner agreed, adding that small lights that hang from the wearer's neck are practical for physicians who routinely read medical charts.

Harris adds that the standard pen remains a valuable item, providing repeated visibility for a company serving the senior market. "Pens still seem to be the most desired and most used, especially those that run in the 75-cent to $1.50 price range," he says.

The staff of nursing homes and elderly care facilities also are prime targets for promotional products. "Nursing homes buy our products to provide recognition to their employees," says Ruyle. "There are a number of weeks, typically in April and May, that are devoted to various component groups in the health care industry, such as nurses' week or nurses' assistants week."

One of Powderhorn Industries' more popular products targeted to nurses and assistants is a carry-all caddie that typically will be imprinted with the facility's or a supplier's name on it. "Nurses will use it in the facility to carry such items as scissors and flashlights," Ruyle explains. "Again, it's right on the border between a promotional item and one that's needed. We developed it by observing nurses and asking them what they wanted. Employees are looking for products that are useful, while the facilities want the products to be logoed so that they will have advertising value when employees use them."

Other notable items for employees include lunch packs, fanny packs and tote bags that they can take with them when they leave work. Such products have a practical, everyday use for the employees, yet can be highly visible outside the facility.

Many small- to medium-size elderly care facilities do not have a marketing or public relations department, so promotional products usually are ordered by a member of the care-provider staff. This situation lends itself to many rushed phone calls to distributors to purchase products.

"The staff members are very busy people, and they frequently wait until the last minute to order," Ruyle says. "They typically do not have a person specifically in charge of employee recognition and marketing. So ordering promotional products becomes an additional duty for anybody, and it will not be their highest priority."

Still, Ruyle notes, the senior market keeps many suppliers and distributors on their toes, so to speak, and motivated to continue to introduce new useful products for the elderly and their health care providers.

"Our challenge is to continually come up with new and better products for the market, many of which will be specific to the kinds of things that people do in long-term care," he explains. "There are many alternatives out there that run the gamut from hospitals to home health care. It's an interesting market to watch evolve."

Frodin adds that the senior market, while still growing, remains somewhat untouched by the promotional products industry. "No one seems to be truly servicing that market," she observes. Right now, the senior market seems a ripe alternative to distributors across the country.

Younger Seniors And Their $$ Prove Attractive To Several Industries

While the 85-or-older crowd is the fastest growing segment of the senior market, there still exists a group of younger seniors who remain vital, active­and still relatively untapped by the promotional products industry.

When speaking in terms of the U.S. population, most of the talk centers around the baby boomers, still considered "middle-aged" but approaching the senior status.

"With the baby boomers hitting their 50s, it's only to become more so that the buying power of seniors will increase," says Paula Grundleger, MAS, a Pompano Beach, Fla.,-based distributor. Her company, Forrester-Smith, has worked with companies targeting the senior crowd for five years.

"Remember, the baby boomers are the single largest generation," she adds. "And baby boomers do not age gracefully­we go fighting tooth and nail. Anything that will make them more active will be readily accepted."

Grundleger explains that the emphasis is on "easier." Products that make certain day-to-day activities easier are popular even among the younger senior members, items such as jar-grippers for those experiencing the early symptoms of arthritis, or magnifiers for those needing to pull the newspaper a little closer, or farther, to read it.

Operating in the senior-citizen haven of Florida (see map, page 26), Grundleger serves the usual staple of insurance companies and senior living communities. However, she also identified a number of alternative services and products whose companies target, at least in part, the senior market. For example, one of her major accounts is a Florida newspaper that conducts a large-scale promotion each year to generate renewed subscriptions to part-time Florida residents, or "snowbirds," who typically are seniors.

There also are a number of businesses trying to attract the expendable cash of wealthier, retired seniors. "There are many senior communities being built here, and they're trying to promote condominiums," Grundleger explains. "So they may give out a coffee mug, but it's going to be a very upscale coffee mug with a beautiful, polished logo on it."

Several other industries also are increasing their marketing efforts to senior citizens, such as the travel and banking industries. Travel companies including Delta Queen Cruises, which targets solely the senior crowd, and Maupintour, an upscale travel organization, are recognizing that many seniors still want to enjoy their retirement through traveling.

"The financial power of mature consumers, coupled with their tendency to have more leisure time available and their growing numbers, make this segment one of particular interest to the U.S. travel industry," reports the Travel Industry Association of America. The association also notes that mature travelers venture farther away from home and spend more time away on their trips than the average population. In addition, they are more likely than other age groups to purchase a package tour, making them a likely target for companies that organize travel tours.

In another promotion, First American Bank Texas recently launched a campaign to promote a new banking service to senior citizens. "The senior market is a growing market, and we developed a product to go after it," says Pam Green, marketing director. "The baby boomers are beginning to turn 50, and that's a good market to go after. We target people between 50 and 55 because this younger senior market is more inclined to not be as established with a financial institution and not yet as loyal as some of the older senior citizens."

Green worked with her distributor to send out logoed magnets attached to postcards to a select audience of senior citizens, and so far, the campaign has been successful. "Using the magnet definitely made an impact as far as people paying attention to the piece and responding to it," she says. "And that's what I was trying to accomplish. There is so much direct mail these days that you have to do something different."

For more information:

Adva-Lite Inc. (813) 397-9633
Americanna Co. (888) 747-5550
Barlow Promotional Products (310) 670-6363
Fabriko (800) 558-0242
Nissin Cap (800) 568-7555
Pilot Corp. of America (203) 377-8800
Porterco/Aladdin Inc. (800) 533-9081
Powderhorn Industries (800) 336-1414
Success Builders (800) 231-2332

Websites:

American Association of Retired Persons http://www.aarp.org
Travel Industry Association of America http://www.tia.org
U.S. Bureau of the Census http://www.census.gov