Measuring Up

Take me out to the ballgame…

Late last week, I spent three days and nights taking in different major league baseball games with my dad and oldest son. This was the first time we embarked on such a trip. We visited Baltimore’s Camden Yards, Philadelphia’s new Citizen’s Field and then watched the Subway Series at Yankee Stadium. I thought the outing would be a fun bonding experience between three generations of Moed men (well, one is still an 11 year old boy), but it proved to be much more than that.

For starters, one reality that smacked us in the face pretty quickly is the high cost of attending any baseball game these days. I really didn’t have to worry too much. To be candid, many of the tickets were given to me through business acquaintances. But, I can see how the average middle class family could have some real issues with all the costs involved in going to the ball park. Seeing their favorite team play live just isn’t really affordable anymore. Between parking (in Yankee Stadium it actually cost $35), the price of tickets and then food, I bet that a family of four would have to spend upwards of $250- $300 per game in any major city. That’s really a shame.

Even with those prices (and on and off again rain showers) it’s amazing that all three stadiums were pretty full…mostly with families. I guess there is just something about the professional sport of baseball and local fan passion that keeps these families coming back, regardless of how much the cost of admission rises every year.

Which brings me to the main point of this post. While the three of us enjoyed traveling together, the experience we had in the ball parks was truly “priceless,” because it served to create a new bond between a 70-something year old grandfather, his middle aged son and an 11 year old boy  that had never been established before.  All of us like baseball and we certainly enjoyed watching the games. But, during the hours spent in our seats, we found new common ground talking and cheering about a great play in the field, a clutch homer in the last inning and lights out pitching that was simply remarkable. And, that isn’t something I entirely expected.

You see, my oldest son doesn’t say a whole lot in general. I didn’t expect that personality trait to change during this trip.  Conversely, my father does. But, it’s typically focused on history, wars, the latest book he is reading or what’s happening with his group of close friends in Florida. Usually, I just try to serve as a go between on any topic that seems interesting based on who I’m with. All of this background raised the question in my mind – I wonder what we’ll talk about during the 72 hours we’ll be spending together?

Thankfully, none of that came into play after the first pitch was thrown in each game. And, that’s what was so cool.  Instead, all three of us just sat back appreciated the games and talked baseball. My father delighted my son with some great stories of visiting his favorite Brooklyn Dodgers and Yankees teams of the past. Josh opened up a lot by calling out many plays in the games we were watching and I jumped in to each conversation pretty naturally, while soaking in the camaraderie  and the connection that  the three of us were now living. That made our trip truly special.

The morale of this story is that for all the reasons wrong with professional baseball (like steroids, over paid athletes and overpriced tickets), there is one magical reason why a grandfather, father and his son should still take in major league baseball games together. In our case,  three different generations of Moed men found common ground in the most natural of ways. And, I don’t think any of us will ever forget it.

Fifty five and finally relevant

I never got this one. Ever since TV advertising began some 50 years ago, the 55 and above age group was considered completely unimportant to advertisers. Actually, those who weren’t in the main 20-something to early 30s, didn’t matter much either.

The backwards thinking behind this focus stemmed from the perception that younger audiences are extremely malleable and more apt to become loyal than their older generational counterparts. Just as importantly, these pre-middle aged audiences possess a much longer tail of purchasing power across their lifetime, so marketing to them made a lot more sense. Finally, when it came to what’s cool, hip and in, it was all about what younger audiences wanted at any particular time versus the tastes and preferences of the older folks.

Guess what, that’s all changed. According to this article (link to NY Times Sunday article: In shift, TV and Marketers try to entice over-55 set), Network executives have all together changed their thinking, largely because of the lingering bad economy (many young people have no purchasing power because they have no job) and the reality that there is a very large and important 55-plus baby boomer audience. Now, for the first time, they’ve created entire fall series lines aimed at 55-plus audiences. This is so they can directly build lots of advertising $$$ from sponsors who create products for middle aged and senior audiences.

It’s nice to see that a giant constituent base that was once completely forgotten has now become mainstream. But, I truly never understood why they were ignored for decades. For a brief period, we represented one of the networks. Any idea that we developed which wasn’t exclusively focused on hitting young, hip adults was instantly thrown in the garbage. What killed me was that no one even gave a second thought to going beyond what the industry accepted blindly.

If they stopped acting like robots to understand real demographics, someone would have changed this mindlessly accepted industry norm a long time ago. Fifty-five and over audiences have always held enormous sway over so many different components of our society— from determining the fate of national and regional political contests, to playing roles in how entire towns and communities are built and developed, to brand loyalty and purchasing power on thousands of products and services. Add in the fact that the affluent 40-something crowd plays a key role in deciding what’s accepted (or not) from a luxury brand standpoint (mainly because younger audiences can’t afford these products yet) and we’re talking about a significant consumer base that should have been targeted through television advertising from the beginning. Lastly, because these audiences are more mature, they will be less fickle in becoming loyal to any particular brand. One would think that would actually be a very appealing reality for any marketer.

 Because public relations is a much more cost-effective medium that can be very flexible for marketers, our industry has always been able to segment and target different audiences very naturally.  If a luxury watch brand is largely bought by wealthy individuals in the 50+ range, then our campaign can focus exclusively on reaching those people by marketing to the media and channels that influence them (and that includes network shows and news).  We’d take a similar approach with a health or security product aimed at senior audiences, as well.  

Unlike the networks, our industry has always welcomed all marketers, regardless of the age group they focused on. The irony is that every fall the networks live and die with advertisers based on their new season line ups. If at least a few shows don’t appeal to the younger, erratic and unpredictable audiences, you can bet that this will have a direct impact on advertising revenue. Life might have been a lot less stressful many moons ago for them, if they had just evolved their programming to include middle aged and older audiences. It’s just a lot easier to comprehend how more mature people will react to any given story, show or brand. But, no one ever thought of that.

 

 

 

What's a college diploma truly worth these days?

… at least $23,000 of debt, according to a recent study which shows that the average student owes that amount  after graduating from a four year college or university. This same research also shows that the debt levels for graduates have increased upwards of 50 percent in the last decade.

Yahoo Finance decided to take an interesting direction in this article, asking the question, is it worth it? Should more high school kids forgo college because the return just isn't worth the debt accumulated? I say, no way Jose to that theory. Here's why...

I remember graduating more than 20 years ago with about $20,000 in loans. I worked like a dog for very little $$$ over the first few years to survive in Manhattan. I remember thinking just how hard it was to make those monthly payments when times were really tough. Back then (yes, even in the old days), going to college was viewed as a prerequisite into the white collar job market. Unless you were a complete freak of nature like Bill Gates, no diploma meant no real hope of staying away from a career in some type of manual labor.

Fast forward a few decades. Today, a college degree represents (even more) basic table stakes into the professional world.  The only difference is that the Internet has created all new opportunities for some to bypass traditional jobs that college graduates used to need to begin burgeoning careers. Although success rates are slim, entrepreneurs exist at the earliest of ages, setting up garage-based, venture projects and companies with the hopes of creating the next Facebook or Foursquare.  Even with that new reality though, most fail.

So, where is this all going? We all hate the rising price of college education. Hell, I've heard that top private schools might actually cost upwards of $75,000 a year by the time my 8-year old twins are old enough for college. That is downright scary. But, even with all of that, the right type of college education is worth far more than the piece of paper handed out at graduation. And, its benefits go well beyond just providing enough credentials to obtain an entry level white collar job.

For starters, research shows that over a lifetime career, those who have a Bachelor’s Degree earn on average $2.2 million. That's in sharp contrast to those with just a high school diploma who only take home about $1 million. It's hard to justify bypassing college because of a $23,000 IOU (versus) the $1.2 million more one should make with a college education.

Now to the actual part that really matters. As I watch, converse with and listen to so many graduates today, I see how their teachers have taught them to think creatively, in ways that just wouldn't be possible with only a high school degree. I've also encountered some pretty impressive problem solving in the most challenging of circumstances, from recent grads who've only been in the workforce for a year or two. Lastly, the maturity level and social skills that are developed through that four year period can't be duplicated through any other experience in life at that age. Take away those four years of growth, and you'll have a large part of our society who can't deal with the day to day opportunities and pressures that go along with being an adult.

One simply can't measure college debt as a straight pass through investment, like most do after 10 years of medical school. The comparison is truly apples to oranges.  The rising cost of college will become a more acute issue in the decade to come because at a certain point, there will be very few parents who can actually afford to pay full tuition without any financial assistance. But, that's a completely different issue to be taken up in another post. The college experience cannot be replaced.  That is just reality.