Here’s the question Todd wishes to pose to his fellow readers: “Are you or is your company paying any attention to the 50+ cohort? Please be specific and give details where possible on how you are paying attention (product development, marketing/advertising, market research) or why aren't you (or your company) paying attention to this consumer segment?”
I’ve offered to make the comment section to this blog entry a forum for your responses, since it’s critical for marketers to remember that boomer ascendancy is not just sociological theory—but economic reality. Your responses will be particularly interesting, however, if you know all this to be true about boomers and yet find yourself resonating more with the latter part of his question: “Why aren’t you?”
Allow me to provide some (very) brief historical context. Todays’ marketers were ALL formed by a discipline that privileged youth over age. No matter that this ethos was largely influenced by the tendency to look at demographics through the rearview mirror (ignoring the fact that the boomer population bulge was not frozen in time as teens, young adults and young motherhood but rather had advanced into midlife and beyond…)
As recently as a couple of years ago, the marketer who woke up to the power and potential of this demographic tended to be a maverick in his/her organization—a visionary bucking the trend. Some of the more obvious industries caught on sooner—financial institutions, insurance companies, healthcare—while others are still rushing to capture the wave. In other words, there are a lot of competent, smart marketers—of all ages—who have had much more training, experience in youth marketing, and are on less sure footing when it comes to people 40 and especially 50 plus.
As these marketers get some successes under their belts (or more painfully, as their competitors do!) our experience is that they become true believers in marketing-to-boomers. But in regards to many industries/fields, it still feels “early” to us—with all the potential of the upward curve still available while the trial-and-error phase forged by the pioneers recedes into the realm of marketing intelligence…the perfect time to get on board.
What do you think?
Before I turn this forum over to you, Todd asks another question with which you should feel free to grapple.
“ There has been a common perception among marketers over the years that the boomer consumer is ‘homogeneous’, ‘too brand loyal to change’, ‘too cheap to spend’, or even ‘a low life-time value’; Do you think this is true? If yes, can you explain further why you feel this way - have you conducted any primary market research to support this assumption?”

Carol Orsborn