Boomer Marketer, Heal Thyself

The writer of this article makes an interesting observation.

Perhaps the problem (the lack of attention given to older consumers) was not the young agency creatives or the media planners but the Boomer experts themselves: perhaps, our own marketing practices contradict the very advice we dole out, serving only to reinforce rather than dispel stereotypes of what it means to market to Boomers.

Perhaps, if we want to convince the youthful decision makers, we should start with ourselves. We should look at our own sites, blogs and advice to see if we are "walking" the talk. Are we following our own advice?

The author then goes on to make three observations about bad practice,

1. Copy and creatives that equate a Boomer with a senior -- even though studies show that Boomers hate being labelled "senior."

OK, I have searched through my web site for the word ‘senior’. Other than where it appears as quote in a blog I don’t think I am guilty of that one.

2. Advice that highlights fear, not aspiration, to motivate Boomers.

I might be a tad guilty of this one, but then us 50-plus in the UK have a lot to be fearful about. If the thought of Gordon Brown being in anyway connected with running the country for the next 5 years isn't enough to make you fearful I don’t know what is!

3. An assumption that aging is a destination, not a journey.

Not guilty of this one. I perhaps wouldn’t use such a sickly phrase “destination not a journey” but I know what the author means.

I have my own views about what is wrong with the way many of ‘us’ talk about marketing to older consumers. Four years ago I wrote and article called “Not another article about marketing to the over 50s” that documented some of my gripes. I would change things a bit if I was writing it again but a lot of the observations are still true. Dick Stroud