The Key to Marketing to Older People? Don’t Say ‘Old.’ New York Times By Corinne Purtill Dec. 8, 2021 … In contrast, longevity experts said, today’s most effective marketing campaigns focus on the specific needs a product or service addresses, and the lifestyle of the person buying it — ideally without explicitly mentioning age at all. Quiz: Who/What’s older? a) the old guys in the video  b) the advice proffered. Answer: b. The old guys are older. They were more-than-likely born before 2003: Advertising to Baby Boomers (Part I): Mentioning Age Chuck Nyren Published on: May 19, 2003 ..read more

An excellent, down-to-earth interview with Dr. Ken Dychtwald from last year:   24 September 2020 Growing Bolder & Ken Dychtwald He recently penned a piece for AARP Bulletin: Ageism Is Alive and Well in Advertising Consumers 50+ perceive a marketing bias against them This is a worthy topic, as is ageism in general. Dr. Dychtwald has been someone I’ve admired for years. I did meet him eons ago and attended one of his presentations. I agree with most of what Ken has to say about the ad biz. I’ve been agreeing with it for about eighteen years now.  In 2003 I wrote this: Back int ..read more

Yours Truly doesn’t need much coaxing to blog about beautiful models. I’ve been doing it for fourteen years: 21 FEBRUARY 2007 Dove Pro-Age Campaign … Baby Boom women are the real age revolutionaries. Many are feeling very empowered, very alive, and ready to take on the world. While they could do without some of the wrinkles and some of the aches, ask most women over forty if they would like to live their twenties and thirties all over again, and they'll say, "No thanks. I'm happier and more productive now than I have ever been." A partial list of related posts through the years: 01 SEPTEMBE ..read more

Forbes has a brand-new article about housing us old seasoned folk: Hey Senior Living Pros: Boomers Don’t Want Your Old, Tired Communities I especially like the Getty photo the editor picked for the piece. Yours truly and everybody else I know who’s around my age dress and act exactly like this guy (except I usually use five straws when drinking out of a glass – not just two). Opening paragraph in the article: The Senior living industry needs to wake up and understand that Baby Boomers just don’t want what their parents and grandparents were offered. No matter how fancy the furniture, how m ..read more

I’m on the list. About two-dozen show up every week. Sometimes more. That doesn’t make me special by any standards. Press Releases are like virtual confetti nowadays. Most are daft, pointless blather. While the salutation “Hi Chuck” makes it appear as if the sender has some clue about my blog, it’s usually a tip-off that he/she has never read any of my posts. Here’s the latest: Hi Chuck, I hope you are keeping well, I'll keep this brief and to the point as I know you are busy - we have a client with a press release you may be interested in reviewing. Below is the skinny - we invite you to chec ..read more

Bob Hoffman tipped me off in a tweet: Here's something rare: Intelligent people talking about advertising. (@AdContrarian) March 4, 2021 Why is advertising so unpopular? by Paul Feldwick It has been widely accepted over the last few years that consumers feel advertising is a nuisance. It insists upon an unpleasant and increasingly intrusive presence in their lives and is something to be avoided if possible… No kidding. Not that advertising in the past has always been  welcomed.  Culled from some surveys: Oh! I forgot to add the dates of these surveys: More from Why is advertising ..read more

It’s difficult to get a grip on the real world, just as impossible getting a grip on the advertising/marketing world. Everything is slippery. Reach out and try to grab these disparate articles and sites. Or tuck your hands in your pockets and walk on by: Older Shoppers Are the Hot New Thing for Consumer Brands … Demographic changes and the pandemic are propelling consumer-goods companies to take a fresh look at a group of shoppers who are often ignored: the elderly. … The elderly. Yeah. An article written by a little girl. It’s behind a paywall. I read it. If you can’t get to it you’re not m ..read more

How do you write about advertising with all the nuttiness going on in the real world? At the moment, I’m trying to find a place to get a shot while not getting shot. I still stumble upon articles about advertising and marketing to Boomers: Don’t forget about us: How brands can reach Baby Boomers It’s the same old same old drenched in dollops of bad advice. I could parse it, but after so many years of doing it I’m bored doing it: 19 NOVEMBER 2012 There’s a lot of bad advice out there. And old advice. And old bad advice. What’s happening and what’ll probably happen: We’re watching a lot more ..read more

It’s a bit premature, taking a backwards look at 2020 – but everybody wants it over NOW. I’m just like everybody. In January yours truly predicted it would be … The Year of Tech … As always, any ‘tech’ for Baby Boomers is medical tech. I’ve written about the silliness and shortsightedness of this ad nauseum… It was sort of the year of tech – but not for the reasons I’d anticipated. Millions of older folks, ones that hadn’t been technologically savvy, became technologically savvy – simply to survive. The virtual world became the real world out of necessity. This post was very popular: 04 Feb ..read more

Disclaimer: Nothing much about advertising. I just can’t get all hot ’n bothered by all this pro/anti Boomer stuff. I remember not caring about it and making fun of it almost twenty-five years ago: The Anti Boomer PagePublished April 8, 1997 … Here's a kid sick of hearing about Boomers -- and I don't blame him … When I was his age all I ever heard about was the Depression and WWII. What a bore. Sixteen years ago this was published: The Greater Generation: In Defense of the Baby Boom Legacy by Leonard Steinhorn It's fashionable to mock Boomers as self-involved and materialistic. But what rea ..read more