Marketing to smart, successful Boomer women (what we call the "Vibrant Nation") is the subject of this blog, and I believe this group remains the most valuable (and most under-appreciated) consumer demographic. But that doesn’t mean that the age of these women necessarily makes them different from younger consumers.

Sometimes companies who do appreciate the value of Vibrant Women consumers succeed by developing products for them alone

But at other times, companies succeed simply by designing the best possible products and remembering to tell Vibrant Women about them. Sometimes the only "secret" about Boomer women is that they want to buy the same things as younger consumers.

I was reminded of this phenomenon recently at this year's recent Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas. While there were companies with great products focused on older/aging consumers, there were a lot more companies developing great products but ignoring older/aging consumers as a vital part of their market.

The first type of company develops products and services that uniquely serve aspects of the older consumer's life. This category includes caregiving technologies like home-monitoring, and software to sharpen brain skills.

The second type of company sells electronic products or services developed for any active adult consumer.

During the day I spent at the CES conference called the Silvers Summit (focused on the 50+ market), I wondered if both types of companies may be missing the point.

While the passionate entrepreneurs at the Silvers Summit talked about nothing but Boomers and Seniors, the thousands of exhibitors at CES itself talk about anything but Boomers and Seniors.

Maybe a successful future will look different than either group now recognizes.

As we learned from a recent VibrantNation.com survey, 16% of Vibrant Women in our community own iPhones. (The iPhone is moving towards 30% share of the overall market – it was at 17% a year ago.) Is this because the iPhone is a great product for Boomers? Is it because these Vibrant Boomer Women are so obsessed with seeming hip that they buy a product they can't use? Of course not. The iPhone is penetrating the Boomer market because it is a phenomenal product and easy for anyone to use.

Best-selling products have strong consumer appeal, not just demographic appeal. While some products will succeed with Boomers because retailers learn how to meet the needs of aging consumers, others will succeed with Boomers because consumer-product companies do what they’re supposed to do: creating simple products that serve market needs.

And maybe Boomer conferences will not segregate the companies that make products for older consumers but help all consumer product companies learn how to better serve a fast-growing demographic they can't live without. more flash forward»