We have become a sensory experience economy: At Starbucks we see it made, at Krispy Kreme we watch it bake, with Harley Davidson we gather to participate in weekend events. 

A key strategy to effective marketing to Boomers, active adults age 50-plus, is creating a good feeling about their decision to participate in a program or use a facility.   Creating a positive participant experience involves more then just delivering your services “on time, as promised”. At every point of contact with your participants, plan your operations to create positive associations and satisfaction of their expectations.

Your participants’ sensory experiences have a central role in their perceptions of the value your agency provides. The sensory experiences of your agency include a broad scope of factors such as the appearance of your facilities, the location of the facilities, marketing materials, staff appearance and attitude, and the user-friendliness of your facilities, hours of operations, and programs. By planning these sensory factors to meet, and exceed, the expectations of your participants, you can deliver experience that convert one-time visitors into long-term participants.

Walk in a Participants’ Shoes

To best understand how to improve the sensory experience of your agency, step out of your role and think about your services from your participant’s perspective.  Realize that your participants’ primary concern is satisfying a specific need and getting the best value along the way.  Your participants expect to receive good service. They want to be treated extremely well.

Understanding these minimum requirements and the options your customers have available to them is an important first step in designing a memorable participant experience. Here a few questions that will help you to objectively evaluate how well your agency satisfies your participants’ expectations. What is the primary need our participants want to satisfy by coming to our facility and programs?

• What are the main factors our participants will consider when making their decision to participate?
• What are the five most convenient alternatives (competitors) our participants have for satisfying this need?
• On a scale from one to ten, how effectively do we feel our facility and programs are doing in consistently delivering on your participant’s minimum requirements?

Get Participant Feedback

Gathering feedback from participants through surveys, focus groups and comment forms is the best way to learn about their perceptions and plan for improvements in your operations.  Ask a few simple questions about their experience with your facilities and programs and their needs.   Then design your participant experiences to meet and exceed those expectations.

Gather feedback on the following categories:

• Facility - The physical appearance of your facility has a significant impact on the sensory experience. Think about the cleanliness, the comfort level it provides, the professionalism, the convenience - it’s all important, and it’s all about first impressions.
• Employees - The appearance and attitude of staff. We’ve all had bad experiences dealing with an employee and it severely impacts how we feel about the agency they represent.  You never get a second chance to make a first impression.
• Marketing -The appeal, clarity and design of your agency’s logo and related marketing materials.
• Competitors - Become a “Secret Shopper” and visit competitors facilities, participate in their programs, visit their website, and analyze their marketing materials. Talk with your participants about the competition. The more information you have about where the competition fall short, the better you can do at fulfilling the needs they do not meet.

Putting it all Together

With participant feedback in hand, create a list of five improvements you want to make to your customers’ sensory experience - “touch points”. Prioritize the list and set a near-term time line to implement the changes. Revisit this exercise on a continuous basis, at least once a year, to ensure your agency is always the preferred facility and best programs.

America is graying. We crossed the threshold of a major shift in demographics when the first Boomers turned 50. In the next thirty years our nation’s older adult population will double as the Boomers age.

What will the impacts of the aging population be to on community park and recreation systems? How do agencies prepare for these impacts, and what do they need to prepare for? What planning initiatives are needed now to prepare to meet the anticipated park and recreation service needs 10, 20 and 30 years from now? How will existing resources be redistributed, and where will new resources be found, to address the needs of the aging Boomers? This is a call to action for park and recreation agencies to initiate strategic planning for serving the Boomers.

The Boomers

The 76 million Boomers born between 1946 and 1964 represent the largest birth cohort ever in the United States. Every 7 seconds a Boomer turns 50, 10,000 Boomer turn 50 every day, 365 days per year, every year through 2014. By 2030 one of every five Americans will be a Boomer.

The cultural differences between the generation born in the period 1911 to 1945 and the Baby Boomers, those born after 1945, are striking. These differences help to identify how the interests, needs, and expectations for senior services will change as the Boomers age.

Many seniors who are currently over the age of 60 served in World War II, they witnessed the Great Depression, through their labors they created the booming economy of the 1950’s, and they contributed to the rise of the middle class. Their experiences taught them the value of hard work, self-sacrifice, and discipline. Social Security has given this generation economic security, and they were the first to experience mass retirement. This generation is conservative, risk-averse, and conformist.

The Boomer generation has experienced a period of unprecedented prosperity and unlimited horizons. They challenge authority and traditional values. They prize their individuality. They are more affluent than the prior generation and they will have more money to spend. Because of the size of their age cohort, they will hold significant political influence as they age. They will live longer and as they age they will be healthier and more active, enjoy increased mobility, and will live more independently than past generations. The lifestyle and community service needs and expectations of Boomers will be diverse, and they will demand choices.

These factors present significant rationale for rethinking park and recreation services to determine how community park and recreation agencies will contribute to meeting the needs of active adult Boomers as they age.

What’s Next: Developing an Agency Plan to for 50-Plus Active Adults