MediaPost's Engage:Boomers posted "Enough With 'Why'; Let's Focus On 'How'"and it refocussed my attention on this important demographic segment and how we interact with them...
"1.Boomers are only in the third quarter of life, not at the two-minute warning. They have lots and lots of years to go as active, vibrant, relevant consumers for virtually everything anybody sells in America.
2.They represent one of three adults alive today, so they're not a niche. In fact, being a "Boomer" is meaningless in their lives -- it's just a demographer's or marketing label, not an affinity group. You better understand their diverse life stages and lifestyles, and do not lump them into one homogeneous group.
3.They worry about many more things than just their age or health. Almost all Boomer-focused marketing today is to help older Boomers with age- or health-related maladies, real or imagined: bladder control, cholesterol, osteoporosis, hearing loss, erectile dysfunction, constipation, prostate issues, arthritis and countless others. Enough already. Boomers want to know about cars, travel, electronics, packaged goods, electronics, home improvement and other products you have to sell that they want to buy.
4.Boomers do still consume traditional media, but they go online to research what they buy off-line. The latest data from BIGresearch's Consumer Intentions & ActionsTM survey, from August, reports that 94% of Boomers regularly or occasionally research products online before buying them in a store. Similarly, 96% of Generation X consumers, those ages 28-44, report doing the same. The top five product categories researched by Boomers are, in order: electronics, home improvement, appliances, apparel and medicines/vitamins/supplements.
5.Your marketing doesn't have to be exclusively targeted to Boomers; it just should include them. Most companies and organizations don't have the marketing budget to develop separate marketing efforts to older Boomers. So they focus on younger consumers and ignore, irritate or inflame older Boomers by excluding them altogether. The goal should be to instead find ways to include them in your overall marketing approach."
The article goes on to call for universal marketing which means your clients message needs to cut across age or lifestyle barriers.