A few weeks ago, Focalyst, a specialty practice of Millward Brown, issued a new report on the group they’ve dubbed the “Green Boomers.” For a great overview of the Focalyst results, click here to view the interview with Jack Lett, executive director of Focalyst, that ran on Wednesday’s “Money for Breakfast”show on the Fox Business Channel.  (Search on “Boomers” to find the video.) Then today I chatted with a reporter from The Wall Street Journal about (Red)™, the for-profit venture that aims to channel funds from the private sector into the Global Fund to fight the AIDS pandemic in Africa. The journalist wanted my view on how well (Red) seems to be doing. Given the prominence that “green” is getting these days, it made me wonder if (Red) is losing share of mind to a more “newsworthy” concern that strikes closer to home.

As most of you know, the members of the Baby Boom generation were born between 1946 and 1964 - yes, apparently I do qualify as a Boomer even if I cannot answer more than 1 in 10 questions in the “Boomer” version of Trivial Pursuit  - while those in the group called “Matures” were born before 1946. Of the 30,000 Boomers and Matures interviewed for the report, 54 percent are classified as “green.” This green group differentiates itself by the tendency of its members to agree with statements such as “It is important to support local retailers,” “I try to buy from companies that give back to their communities,” “I will choose locally produced goods more often than not” and “it is worth paying more for organic goods.”

Note the emphasis on “local.” That is not something that concerns only Boomers. A survey conducted by Millward Brown at the beginning of 2007 in the United States and United Kingdom found that the majority of people would be more likely to buy a product or service from a company that is active in the community by which I would assume they meant the local community. After all, the vast majority of people think and act locally. They may care about issues like AIDS in Africa, but Africa is a long way from their daily lives, both geographically and in terms of what they worry about.

Therefore, it seems to me that one of the important things about a venture like (Red) is that it needs to be salient. It needs to come to mind readily when people think about making a purchase in a relevant category, otherwise it just depends on people coming across a (Red) product when shopping.

Personal experience suggests that here in the States that is unlikely to happen. When I asked the guy behind the counter in Circuit City about buying a (Red) iPod Nano the other week, all I got was a blank stare. Later I found it online at the Apple store. (Then I watched in amazement as the item was flown from China to Alaska to here. So much for buying locally when it comes to high tech!)

Most of the brands associated with (Red), like Gap, Apple, Motorola, Amex, and now Dell and Windows, are not bought everyday, so I doubt that people will get that much exposure to the brand through shopping for them.

Back at the beginning of 2007, only a few people had heard of (Red) - 24 percent in the U.K. and 17 percent in the U.S. Very few were willing to agree that it made them think more favorably of the companies involved. Maybe it is different today but I doubt it. Too many other causes and concerns have been in the news of late. Here in the United States, “green” issues are finally coming front and center as people wake up to the idea that global warming might be real after all. Whether it is news of more stringent  fuel standards, people’s preference for wind farms over nuclear power, or interest in buying locally produced goods, the focus seems to have shifted from where it was even a year ago. I suspect that this makes worthy causes like (Red) more difficult to keep front of mind.

So what do you think? Does share of mind apply to charities and good causes as well as brands? Is (Red) big in your country? Please let us know.Š

Tags: Millward Brown, Nigel Hollis, (Red), green boomers, Focalyst, buy local, think local

This entry was posted on Sunday, January 27th, 2008 at 8:06 pm and is filed under Brands, Other. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site. Print this Page