Mary's Words for July

Dear Friends and Colleagues,

I write this one hour before the recess bell goes off for swim practice. Learning that exercise is vital as we get older, I am recommitting to finding "fun" ways to exercise. On Wednesday, this included an hour of swimming in the lane next to the 8- to 10-year-olds, followed by salsa lessons. Salsa was tons of fun and only took one day to recover movement in the arms. Part of the healthy living kick is influenced by two new friends and colleagues, Mollie Katzen and Zhengli (Jenny) Yao. Mollie, of Moosewood Cookbook fame and author of the new book Eat, Drink and Weigh Less, designed the menu for our recent Silicon Valley conference. The participants raved about the recipes. Mollie has a deep understanding of art, food and her customer base. As we get older, we need foods that are fresh, filled with fiber and nutrition, and great-tasting. She provided her "nine healthy tips" for balance in life, which we share in this month's newsletter.

Jenny Yao, MD, was one of the participants in the Silicon Valley Boomer Venture Summit. Trained as a cardiologist and former executive at pharmaceutical companies, Jenny saw that food was a very important element in healthy living for her patients. She designed a new low-calorie oatmeal pasta that is great for consumers with high blood pressure or diabetes. She has the pasta made in China and is doing market research and testing at local Bay Area stores.

There were many highlights to the conference. One of the most important was the speech given by Safa Rashtchy of Piper Jaffray. I’ve known Safa for more than seven years. He follows and reports on the media and marketing space. I’ve always appreciated his cogent and thoughtful analysis and his genteel manner. It is always impressive when your colleagues do meticulous preparation and share insights that help many people understand the state of the industry. Among the insights that Safa shared:

There are big opportunities to reach boomers on the Internet both now and in the future. Among the greatest opportunities are the following areas:

-- Games - 19% of the gaming audience is age 45-55, 15% of the gaming audience is 55+ and 19% is 35-45. So it is no small surprise to see the number of games being developed targeted to boomer women and men. Advergaming will be an area to watch as well.
-- Retail - 21% of the 45-55 boomer audience is shopping online, 18% of the 55+ audience is shopping online and 19% of the 35-45 audience is shopping online. 58% of all online shoppers are in the 35+ audience, and this audience has more money to spend online.
-- Trading - 25% of all online trading is done by boomers 45-55, 23% is done by boomers 55+ and 21% is done by boomers 35-44. Expect these numbers to increase as the boomers have more time to spend online and to trade.
-- News - 39% of all news read online is by the 45+ boomer audience.
-- IM - 33% of all instant messaging is done by boomers 45+.

In terms of "time spent online," boomers 45-55 spend the most time on online trading, banking, email, shopping and playing games.

Boomers ages 45-54 make up 30% of the Internet, boomers and seniors 55+ make up 18% of the Internet, adults (and late-stage boomers) 35-44 make up 18%. So 56% of the total Internet population is 35+.

In terms of looking at boomers born between l946 and l964, Safa described them as follows:
-- approximately 35% of the U.S. population
-- represent between 38% and 40% of Internet users
-- broad Internet users with heavy use of productivity and communication tools and the largest e-commerce demographic. He cited ComScore for this data.

Safa shared a chart demonstrating that the opportunity for business on the Internet is only going to get better. While 2005 and 2006 are investment years, increased broadband, global expansion and new applications are expected to fuel another round of monetization increases over the next 5 to 10 years.

He showed examples of Amazon in 1996 and Amazon in 2006, and the growth and the sophistication of the Web and the diversity of its products and services. He also showed how Yahoo has changed from l997 to today.

Among the major trends in the Internet today, Safa cited the following: Googlism, social networking, traffic moving from branded sites to best-of-breed sites, and the way in which offline companies are catching up, both in e-commerce and in content. Following a trend that we learned about from Don Jones at Qualcomm, Safa pointed to Wireless proliferating "anyways on + anywhere on" connections.

Another aspect of the Silicon Valley Boomer Venture Summit that proved special for the audience were the insights provided by Craig Newmark of Craigslist. He shared some lessons for great customer service and how to build a company with a strong set of corporate values. We share these values with you in this month's newsletter.

We are pleased to announce two new clients, AARP and DaimlerChrysler, and a new public relations service that will help MFA clients reach and communicate effectively with the fast-growing baby boomer and senior markets. In addition to traditional PR services, including working with mainstream print and broadcast reporters to gain media coverage for clients, we’ll now be able to help clients promote their message through a range of digital channels -- what we like to call PR 2.0.

For summer reading: I’d recommend Larry Ackerman's The Identity Code: The 8 Essential Questions for Finding Your Purpose and Place in the World; Jim Collins’ Good to Great and the Social Sectors (for nonprofits); Malcolm Gladwell's The Tipping Point (I just reread it as I think the boomer revolution into their third act is at a Tipping Point); and just for fun, the independent booksellers at the ABA conference recommended The Historian, a novel by Elizabeth Kostova, and The Many Lives and Secret Sorrows of Josephine B by Sandra Gulland. Also check out The Long Tail by Chris Anderson.

Be sure to stay updated with these upcoming events:

-- July 27, 2006: The Global Women's Leadership Dinner. Let us know if you are in the Bay Area and would like to attend. We host this event once a year for Santa Clara University's Global Women's Leadership Network. Linda Alepin, founding director, does an amazing job of finding 20 top women global leaders and providing a mentoring workshop. We support the cause with a celebration dinner in their honor. This year it will be at the Golden Gate Yacht Club in San Francisco, with Sherri Fisher of Fisher Investments hosting the dinner and chef Marc Vogel designing the menu and more.

-- March 5-6, 2007: What's Next Conference, Sheraton Chicago Hotel and Towers.

Write to us...share ideas and what you are doing.

Now, to the pool!

Mary