Boomers turned off by attempts to make them 'belong' to a group

I thought it worth repeating this letter in today’s FT.

Segmentation by age is always a crude predictor of behaviour. Very few products in reality are exclusively for the over-50s (with a few notable exceptions) and brands should never put all their marketing resource into targeting one age group.

Modern media-neutral planning would typically segment an audience by brand commitment or early adopter/ follower rather than age, except perhaps in teenage markets.

Youth brands are often bound up with a sense of belonging to a group that most teenagers enjoy. In stark contrast, the over-50s often find this type of identification undesirable. I cannot recall how many times people tell me how offended they are to now be on Saga's mailing list, despite recent efforts to make the brand more "trendy".

The power of the grey market cannot be denied, but segmenting by age will not help marketers conquer the baby boomers.

Cannot disagree with these sentiments.