When one of these respected observers publishes a book—be it a Brent Green, Chuck Nyren, David Wolfe and so on—it is something of a state occasion. Why? Because there has never been such a large, educated, wealthy and unpredictable generation before in history. They’re big—but they’re not easy to pinpoint.

The demographic, in fact, is a moving target. Who boomers were five or ten years ago—and God forbid, who they were in the 1960’s and 70’s—is not who they are today, and certainly not who they will be tomorrow. A timely book about marketing to boomers that bears new research and a copyright date of 2007 is a thing to be prized.

And so it was that with anticipation, I cracked open the cover of Matt Thornhill and John Martin’s new book “Boomer Consumer: Ten New Rules for Marketing to America’s Largest, Wealthiest and Most Influential Group.” It doesn’t disappoint. The book is a great place for one-stop shopping for those who want to get up to speed on the latest that has risen to the surface on marketing to boomers. The authors cover all the latest studies, hot spots, controversial ads and campaigns—and they do it in highly entertaining and useable format.

I particularly appreciate their referencing to psychological, sociological and anthropological understandings to provide context for boomers. (An approach near and dear to my own heart, having earned my Ph.D. in the History and Critical Theory of Religion—an interdisciplinary field that covers these three subject areas. My own areas of specialization: adult development and ritual studies.)

This very strength of the book, however, points out how much work there is yet to be done in academia and in market research circles in understanding what was once thought to be the vast wasteland of aging beyond 50 or so.

Exemplifying this, they rely heavily on Dr. Gene Cohen, director of the Center on Aging at George Washington University, to fill in the missing pieces regarding cognitive development post midlife. Dr. Cohen’s work is solid and helpful—and should rightfully get all the attention, and more, that Thornhill/Martin provide. But it’s going to be awhile before a Sigmund Freud or Erik Erikson (who helped feed the traditional understanding that development stalls at midlife) builds beyond the single voice or even one of the growing choir and into a new understanding of the dynamic process aging actually is.

In the meanwhile, while the call to action urgently goes out to academics to get on the stick on this one, we are at least beginning to catch up in “the realm of the public intellectual”, where happily a few smart marketers like Thornhill and Martin have taken up residence.

Next week, I’ll revisit the book and share some of the research that I think is particularly noteworthy—helping us continue to chart what was once the unexplored developmental territory of older adulthood.

Carol Orsborn