Some people have the knack for keeping their long distance relationships vital and alive over time. Sadly, apparently I do not. It's not that I don't treasure my friendships. I have had confidants, best friends, soul mates in every city along the way. (And while I believe myself at heart to be a nester, following my and/or Dan's ambitions have often taken precedence, leading us on a series of moves over time.)

Last night was the television premiere of the David Cronenberg film “A History of Violence.” There was mayhem, dark secrets exposed and plot twists galore, all penetratingly portrayed. But the image that I have been most unable to shake is this: Maria Bello, as a trailing-edge boomer mom of a taller-than-her teenaged son, donning her high school cheerleader’s outfit and making whoopee with hubby Viggo Mortensen—also a boomer—like rodeo champs.

On Friday, I blogged about the film “A History of Violence”, and how the boomer mom of two children still fits into her high school cheerleading uniform. Is this—and the attendant imagery of extraordinary boomers jumping from airplanes, looking younger than their daughters and so on –reflective of our generation’s true aspirations?

My colleague Dr. Jimmy Smull and I did a research study of 100 well-educated, high performing leading edge boomer women who are on the path to achieving what they defined as meaningful lives, regardless of the circumstances they were facing. Precious few still fit into their high school clothes—nor wanted to. They did have dreams, however. And yes, there were quite a few who wanted to do some form of adventure travel, who look great for their age and so on. But you want to know what the biggest dream was for many of them? To give up overachieving.

As this evening is the first night of Hanukkah, it is appropriate to light a candle celebrating the possibility of miracles. In the Jewish tradition, the celebration commemorates the victory of the Maccabees and the stage center miracle that while the Maccabees had only had enough oil to burn for one day, the oil burned for eight. In remembrance, Jews light one candle a night for eight nights.

Hummm—something that was supposed to have burned out defied the expectations and kept on going and going and going times eight. Sounds like baby boomers to me. (Okay, it’s a stretch…forgive me…)

Happy Holidays from The Boomer Blog. See you back here January 1, 2007!

2006 was the year that the worlds of marketing and media woke up to the power and potential of the boomer consumer. Whereas a year ago, we were lucky to find a couple of articles a week showing up on our “GOOGLE” searches, now there are multiple offerings daily. They flood into us from virtually every industry and from around the world.

Given the volume of statistics and predictions about this powerhouse generation, who spend $2.1 trillion on consumer goods and services alone, selecting the top trends for ’07 is quite the challenge…one we’re gladly taking on. So without further ado, here’s our top trends about marketing to boomers for 2007.

A year ago January, it was big news when the first baby boomers turned 60. The trailing edge of the 18-year-generational spread simultaneously turned 42—and so we have it emblazoned on the national consciousness that the boomer generation encompasses all those between the ages of 42 and 60. That would be 78 million men and women in the U.S., all those born between the years of 1946 and 1964.

But nah uh. Just as we’re getting used to the idea that the oldest boomers turned 60, it’s time to get out your erasers and white-out. The demographic is still 78 million strong, but the age span is now 43 to 61.

There’s just enough of the sixties left in me to have a big response to one of the gutsiest marketing campaigns ever to hit the cafe table. I’m speaking about the sugar substitute Equal’s protest rally in a dish. Have you seen them? Hard to miss. Each blue packet looks like a mini protest sign. “Do Your Drink Justice” says the one in purple print. “Trust Your Tastebuds” is in green. And “Fight Bland With Blue” is in orange. While sipping iced tea in Napa, I was overwhelmed with the desire to glue them to a toothpick and parade them around the table.

When I was a marketer in my 20’s and 30’s, the thought never occurred to me (or to any of my similarly-aged clients, for that matter) to target “old” people. That was the 1970’s and 80’s, and there was no discussion by marketers or the media about people 40 plus as a market force. They were off the radar screen—powerless, invisible.

In yesterday’s blog, we addressed that fact that Gen X and Y marketers have noticed something new for western society. Their elders have begun hitting 60—and unlike generations past—are refusing to fade away.

For boomers and generations to come, the implications are enormous, as we all adjust to this new reality. It’s easy to bash boomers as suffering from a character flaw that drives them away from more age-appropriate roles. The truth is much more complex—so here’s part two of my rebuttal...

Today kicks off the second day of the much anticipated “Fourth Annual What’s Next Boomer Business Summit,” co-produced by the "American Society of Aging Business Forum on Aging and Mary Furlong & Associates. We’ve had a great time at the summit thus far and are looking forward to another wonderful day of interacting with leading marketers and strategist targeting the vast baby boomer demographic. Yesterday, we brought together the top presenters of the Summit to get their take on the top boomer marketing trends in ’07.

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Having attended more than a few marketing-to-boomer conferences, one thing has become clear. Before long, much of the talk centers around boomer gals. Of course, boomer women influence 80 per cent of consumer goods and services for their demographic. And any boomer man who is still married to a boomer woman will attest to her, ahem, influence. But that isn’t the whole story.

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After much anticipation, the “What Do We Think about Boomers” survey answers have been tabulated and the results are in! Thanks to all who participated! Let’s see what we think…

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If you read the results of our survey earlier this week, you’ll see that the many marketers we surveyed have a surprisingly unified and positive attitude about boomers. In broad strokes, most boomer-savvy marketers think of boomers as optimistic, selflessly concerned about their legacy, a hot target for marketers of technology, increasingly catered to by younger marketers and a major factor in the next election. Of course, marketers who stand to make their fortunes off the $2.1 trillion dollars this newly-rediscovered group of consumers represent, have a vested interest in being hopeful and generous, shall we say, about the boomer generation. We should pay serious heed, for reasons to be cited below—but with caution, for other reasons to be shared later.

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Just as I sat down to write the final word about our survey of top marketers who are savvy about the boomer demographic, USA Today runs a major review of Chris Buckley's biting satire on all things boomer: Boomsday. Buckley sets his morality tale in DC-the very place where Fleishman-Hillard houses our very own FH Boom. In the words of USA Today: "The novel imagines the coming Fiscal Armageddon when 77 million baby boomers start wanting their Social Security checks instead of their MTV. Intergenerational warfare ensues, pitting selfish boomers against their angry offspring."

Okay, savvy marketers. Get ready to smirk. Of course we all know there is no such thing. Boomers are 42 and 62. They are married forever and just now starting to date. They are rich and poor. They are every ethnicity, region, religion, sexual orientation and so on and on. In fact, speaking through the post-modern lens, you could say that the boomer generation is like a pointillist painting. Get too close to it, and the whole thing goes to dots.

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On the upper right-hand corner of The Boomer Blog, you will see an invitation to subscribe to our eQuarterly, The FH BoomTimes. While we are still a ways out from our first edition, we thought we’d share some of our thought process with you, given that how we are approaching our launch has a great deal of synergy with the advice we give clients who want to reach the boomer market.

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You’ve got to love the double-truck, full-color Fidelity Investments ad that ran in USA Today on Thursday, April 26. They obviously did their research about who is the real decision-maker in the family—regardless of who is wearing the pants. (In this case, both the attractive middle-aged woman and the bald-headed husband at her side are wearing pants, by the way.)

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There are very few retail outfits that enable a busy consumer to meticulously pick out an engagement ring, pull a shredder off the shelf, toss fresh king crab legs into the shopping cart, load up on orchids, and buy a flat screen TV—housed all under one roof (oh, and did I mention wash the spending spree down with a slice of pizza and a coke at the end?) This place, in case you’ve never been, is what I consider to be a small Mecca: Costco.

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Complete this song lyric from a popular ‘60s sitcom: “Neat. Sweet. ______.”

If you said “Petite,” odds are high that M&M/Mars is looking for you.

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And who better to ask than the market analyst who both birthed and demised what was once the quintessential boomer publication?

You may recall that I hosted a panel on marketing to boomer women at the publishing industry’s premiere event, Book Expo (BEA), in New York on June 1, 2007. On the panel of experts was Thomas R. Troland, Sr. Market Analyst of Meredith Corporation’s Research Solutions Group.

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We marketers have done a terrific job segmenting the boomer demographic. There’s leading edge (born 1946-1954) versus trailing edge (1955-1964), there’s economic class, ethnic and religious orientations, life stage and even psychosocial motivators. In fact, there are so many niches, combos and variations within the generation, it is easy for a marketer to feel overwhelmed by the possibilities. As one of my professors—an expert in postmodernism once described—it’s kind of like one of those newspaper photos that when viewed at too close a range goes all to dots.

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Where's my grey hair? Everybody knows that grey is the new blond, if you're over 40. Sporting grey hair gives you an aura of defiant independence, touched with wisdom-what a cool combo! Grey is Taylor Hicks and whoever those hip older models are who have the athletic builds of a 20-year-old, wrinkleless faces and bushy grey spikes on their heads. I want that!

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Recently, a Gen X marketer from a major company called to ask if FH Boom does “senior marketing.” We had to pause for a moment. No self-respecting boomer—the core of our target demographic—would identify with the term “senior,” and it’s been awhile since anybody other than a retirement community or diaper manufacturer has used the terminology.

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Astro Pants. Space age technology has created a breakthrough for the men and women of the boomer generation who don’t want their increasing need to make pit stops in the course of their busy lives to slow them down. Made of highly-absorbent disposable material, Astro-pants have been proven to work not only in space but in long-distance travel. Now you can hike, sit through long movies and even take the window seat on your next flight. Astro Pants.

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There’s an ongoing debate in marketing-to-boomer circles as to whether non-age specific publications can provide an effective magnet for the boomer demographic. In other words, does the magazine have to show a woman 40 or 50+ and say so on the cover (i.e. “More”) to be successful with this demographic?

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Last week, we suggested that marketers hoping to reach boomer women on their own turf consider sponsoring an event put on by an organization to which she belongs, or cultural attraction she is attending anyway. The boomer gal likes to experience things first-hand. She wants to know you personally care about her and what she cares about. She wants to sample your product. She wants to shake your hand.

For the rest of today's blog, continue at TheBoomerBlog.com.

Take a look at the piles of pink and white cartoon-inspired book covers, of high-heeled shoes piled up on the prized entryway tables of your big box bookstores, and you’d think it was women 18-34 who keep money pumping into the book publishing world.

"For the rest of today's blog, continue at The Boomer Blog"