Fact: No sooner does Facebook announce that women 55+ are the fastest-growing segment on their site, and I start getting evites from my friends in this demo to join up. Did they get the memo? “It’s time to jump on board with both feet?”
Fact: After years purchasing expensive facial moisturizers at department stores, I get the urge to give Olay’s Regenerist a try, only to discover that most of my Boomer women friends have done exactly the same.
Fact: For years, a vanguard of marketers have been sounding the call about the power and potential of the Boomer and beyond consumer and suddenly, this traditionally-overlooked demographic gets a featured section at CES, is cited by Wall Street Journal as the new darling of the fashion industry and is spontaneously “discovered” by many industries and brands to be what we, at VibrantNation.com, refer to as “the last consumer standing.”
So yes, I think we can say that the Boomer and beyond marketing party has officially begun–but it’s not too late to join in.
In fact, both marketers who have been targeting this demographic for years as well as those who see these consumers as their next frontier, will benefit by attending a one-day workshop in the DC-area titled New Insights for Companies and their Agencies: Targeting Boomers and Beyond. The event, featuring many of the field’s top experts, will be held May 15, 2009 in Washington, D.C., at the Marriott Residence Inn Arlington. The International Mature Marketing Network and the Market Research Global Alliance are hosting the event, featuring many of the top marketers in the field.
Presenters include: Kevin Lavery–Managing Director of Millennium, the leading resource of marketing and research services in the United Kingdom for the 50+ population; Sandra Timmermann–Executive Director, MetLife Mature Market Institute; Brent Green–Marketer and author of Marketing to Leading Edge Boomers: Perceptions, Principles, Practices; Andrew Nibley–Chairman and CEO of Marsteller, the advertising interactive, event management and production unit of Burson Marsteller; Laurel Kennedy–Founder of Age Lessons; Tom Mann–Managing partner of TR Mann Consulting, formerly Senior Vice President of Advertising for Erickson Retirement Communities; Jacob Brown–President of In-Depth Research, a strategic market research company specializing in Boomer/Senior Research, Healthcare Research and Technology Research; Todd Harff–President of Creating Results, a strategic marketing, public relations and advertising agency that develops demand for lifestyle-oriented products and services; Gerald Linda–President of Gerald Linda & Associates, a 15-year-old marketing consulting firm. Oh yes, and moi: Dr. Carol Orsborn Senior Strategist with Vibrant Nation.com, an information sharing website for leading edge Boomer women, and co-founder of the first initiative by a global public relations agency dedicated to helping companies market to the Boomer generation.
Dr. Leslie Harris, Workshop Planner (and himself a marketing consulting and editor of the wonderful “After Fifty” and “After Sixty” book series) has asked me to help spread the word that marketers who register before March 30, are invited to bring an advertiser as a guest. The cost of $695.00 covers both you and your guest.
For a copy of the program, or for information regarding sponsorship opportunities, please contact Dr. Leslie Harris, workshop organizer, at mmrharris@aol.com, or contact him through www.maturemarketing.com.
Agreed. I never thought I was vain until I had a mastectomy at age 39. I was devastated and told the doc I wanted to wake up with implants. Now at age 60, I am lopsided and wondering if I was just avoiding the inevitable. You get what you get and you
Sounds very interesting.
Spike, you are awesome! Love your perspective, thanks for sharing.
Come see us at http://midlifebloggers.com We’ve got the forum minus the emphasis on marketing.
Thanks for your comments, Lily of the Valley and ByJane! Here’s the thing, I want it all: I want a forum for stimulation and good conversation amongst my women over 50 peers (which is the heart and soul of Vibrant Nation…I will definitely check out midlifebloggers.com, and hope you’ll get to know us better…) AND I want marketers to take women at midlife and beyond seriously–not ridicule, stereotype or marginalize us! And on the positive flipside, we all benefit when companies take our needs and desires into consideration, i.e. value, quality, service.