Like many who engage in the Baby Boomer space (like many of you, probably), I am a regular reader of Mike Winerip's "Generation B" column in the Sunday New York Times Styles Section.

Imagine my surprise when opening the Times on Sunday, February 21 to fine Winerip write about...my MediaPost editor at "Engage: Boomers," Nina Lentini. I was already impressed with what Lentini pulls together for MediaPost, but Winerip's column left me even more impressed at how much she and other Boomer professionals accomplish.

Winerip describes how MediaPost has added task after task to Lentini's job description as it expands content offerings to meet the endless needs of digital media. And he contrasts that new, never-ending job producing dozens of separate newsletters weekly (for which Lentini is grateful) with an earlier position she held (20 years ago) at Adweek, where the weekly printed newsletter was delivered (at least to her fellow New Yorkers) ...by hand.

Winerip's portrait of a fellow Boomer journalist didn't offer the complaints that GenX and Millennial workers often suspect their older colleagues of making. He (like Nina Lentini) recognizes that this is the new reality – for journalism in the digital age and for our employment in our rapidly-changing and recession-battered country.

Winerip's article successfully connects the role of professional Boomers (who will work longer than their parents did) with professional journalists (who have already worked through more dramatic workplace changes than any previous generation).

Although Winerip doesn't have answers, he is right to highlight the importance of these trends. I know from frequent conversations at VibrantNation.com that Boomer women struggle with these changes and the challenges of working with new technologies and new generations of workers.

Why should this matter for marketers? For several reasons.

First, they need to understand their consumers. Marketers obsess over the busy lives of moms, but rarely talk about – or offer products of services specifically targeted at – hard-working Boomers, whether they are moms or not. Show the Boomer Woman (many of whom are self-employed) that you offer financial services, convenient meals, and retail experiences that make her life (and not just her daughter's life) easier.

Second, the dramatic changes in the workplace (including the multi-generation workforce) should be addressed head-on. Create some ads that (gently) mock both generations for their weaknesses (Boomers for their willingness to compare things to the good old days of the IBM Selectric and Millennials for thinking that everyone wants to hear everything they think). Given that all generations are experiencing the same workplace stress, there is more common ground to build on than marketers suspect.

I think younger workers would find such ads engaging. And I suspect that Boomers – who have gained healthy doses of experience, humility and humor – will laugh first. more flash forward»