Advertising to Baby Boomers

Two Old Guys Talk About A Sneaker

noreply@blogger.com (Chuck Nyren) — Wed, 29 Dec 2021 11:50:00 -0800

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
…. When you are targeting any market, age is one of many factors. But this does not mean campaigns should mention age. Advertising aimed at Baby Boomers with themes such as 'Because you're older," or "Feel (or look) young again" can be jarring to the senses … The subtext may imply a specific age range, but there is rarely a need to point it out …

As far as the other info and advice in the NYT article (spending power, life stages, focusing on the product, blah, blah) – all have been covered ad nauseam by Yours Truly and others over the last almost two decades. I’d link to dozens of examples from my book, blog – but I’m too old to do it right now.

I’m also too tired to lace up and head out for a slow run. I need a nap.

“Where’s the beef?”

noreply@blogger.com (Chuck Nyren) — Sun, 12 Sep 2021 13:00:00 -0700

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 is someone I’ve admired for years. I met 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. From 2003:

Back into the Fold
by Chuck Nyren
… The Giant Leap: there had better be a minor revolution in the creative end of the advertising industry. Talented men and women in their late forties and fifties need to be brought back into the fold if you want to reach us. This includes copywriters, graphic artists, producers, directors, and creative directors.

And in 2005 Yours Truly wrote a book about it: Advertising to Baby Boomers. It was selected as a classroom resource by The Advertising Educational Foundation.

I write at length about ageism in the book and on this blog. If you want more ‘history’ about it all, download the Introduction and 1st Chapter of the book (Chapter One is all about ageism):

Advertising to Baby Boomers (PDF)

However, there are instances of overzealousness in the anti-ageism movement. The AARP Bulletin article cites a 1980s Wendy’s ad campaign, declaring it “blatant ageist advertising.” Nonsense. If anything, it celebrates the perspicacity and bluntness of old age:

The character portrayed by Clara Peller is a truth-teller. Think The Emperor’s New Clothes, Shakespeare’s Fool in King Lear. The comic foils marked for derision are the (McDonald’s/Burger King) patty and bun – certainly not the ladies.

Circling back, the article begins with comments about a Christmas spot for DocMorris. It’s a good one. Across the pond they take pride in Christmas adverts. Here’s one from France I love:

But according to the overzealous, I must be wrong. It ticks all the ageist boxes: The father (later, grandfather) is quite a dunderhead and sickeningly immature. He makes a public spectacle of himself and embarrasses his adult son. This spot is blatantly ageist.

I think not.

Models! Old Models! Old Beautiful Models!

noreply@blogger.com (Chuck Nyren) — Thu, 19 Aug 2021 00:13:00 -0700

Yours Truly doesn’t need much coaxing to blog about beautiful models. I’ve been doing it for years and 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:

17 JUNE 2005
Rubbing yourself and smiling.

01 SEPTEMBER 2007
Bottled Blondes and Man-Made Brunettes

02 JULY 2008
Demand for older models grows

21 FEBRUARY 2018
Women

25 APRIL 2018
Women Redux

Recent articles from Newsday, Newsweek, People…

Older Models Aren't a Passing Fashion, They Make Sense Financially and Socially
by Cat Woods
… "I'm the oldest model they [the modelling agency] have, but I really hope they don't stop this trend. I did a nude shoot for Vogue Singapore in December 2020, which came out in February. It was a brutal moment for me, but since I've been receiving comments from around the world. I went from 75 followers to 1,400 overnight when it was published," Warren said…

Judith Ann Warren Went From Arizona Choirgirl to LA Punk Singer to Mature Vogue Model

If you’re interested in breaking into the mature-model biz, some good advice:

Modeling matures as marketers court baby-boomer spending
“My son is proud that I returned to modeling,” said La Veda Davis, who in her 20s and 30s stomped the catwalk in Miami, appeared in commercial spots for Isotoner gloves and had a role in “Miami Vice.”

Older than a Baby Boomer, older than a member of The Silent Generation – and modeling:

99-Year-Old Great-Grandmother Becomes Fan-Favorite Model for Makeup Brand
Helene Simon tells PEOPLE that being the new face of her granddaughter Laney Crowell's beauty brand, Saie, has "put a little pizzazz in my life"

Hoity-toity in England:

Silver & Sassy Fashion Show
Silver haired models Rachel Peru and Annie Stirk have joined forces to make this a positive celebration of women with Silver, Grey and White hair at our beautiful 16th century hall.

The Good News: No noticeable photoshopping going on in all these pics, ads. Not the case a decade ago when Olay got slammed…

05 January 2010
Twiggy & Me
The '60s fashion star appeared virtually wrinkle-free in the ads and, since her baby-faced visage was selling anti-aging cream to older women, quite a few people—including bloggers, news outlets, and the British Parliament—grew quite disturbed.

More Housing No News News

noreply@blogger.com (Chuck Nyren) — Mon, 7 Jun 2021 14:57:00 -0700

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 of 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 many lakes and golf courses they install on the property, and how large the gym and swimming pool are, baby boomers want an entirely different experience.

Past generations tended to get excited about modern conveniences that would make their lives easier. They'd walk into a planned housing unit and exclaim, "Look! It's got this and this and this and this!" The more features, the better. The more 'planned,' the better. It was time to start a new life. Time to be rewarded for all the hard work, and relax.

Not so with Baby Boomers. We take most modern conveniences for granted. And we don't want to start new lives, but continue the lives we already have.
Baby Boomers will be anticipating a seamless transition. Instead of "Look! It has this and this and this," we'll be sniffing around for friendly, useful spaces. You'll want us to say, "Look! There's a perfect place for my pottery wheel," or "There are plenty of windows and sunlight. My house plants and indoor herb garden will do fine in here," or "Good. I
can put up big, deep shelves for my books and CDs," or "Here's the perfect room for our side business on Ebay," or "Here's a place where I can soundproof a recording studio or entertainment center," or "This oversized back door is great because I can roll my bicycle in and out without squeezing and jerking it around - and the extra-wide hallway means there's plenty of room so I can just lean it against the wall and we won't bang into it every time we walk past it."

These will be the selling points. Less is more.

From the Forbes article:

… Communities of people with similar interests and backgrounds will hold greater allure than fancy amenities … How about communities for aging writers and journalists? How about a community for lifelong athletes? What about a community for those who spent their lives in medicine or science or those who want to make and show their art? What about a community of builders and woodworkers?

Some sociology experts predict that semi-retirement and retirement communities will naturally develop personalities based on shared interests. These could be gardening, motorcycles, vegetarianism, the arts, sports-related activities — even a community where shared interest might be financial speculation.

A PDF culled from the book:

Selling Universal Design To Baby Boomers/Aging In Place

And a (fairly) recent post about housing, retirement communities, etc.:

04 February 2020
Communities for Boomers
The elder-centric housing industry is about to explode every which way …

Busting The Myth-Busters

noreply@blogger.com (Chuck Nyren) — Thu, 20 May 2021 01:07:00 -0700

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 check out the full release if you are interested…

The gist:

New Research Busts the Myth of the Tech-Challenged Senior'
A new landmark study by marketing consultancy, *** ** *******, is about to shatter a number of myths and have more companies and brands taking notice of the huge opportunity to reach consumers 55+ via digital devices, across multiple aspects of the lives.

Let me shatter the myth that any of this is even remotely myth-shattering…

From my book Advertising to Baby Boomers published in 2005:

“It will be the Baby Boomers who will be the first to pick and choose, to ignore or be seduced by leading-edge technology marketing. There’s a simple reason for this. We have the money to buy this stuff. Experts say we’ll continue to have the money for at least the next twenty years. Write us off at your own peril.”

A blog post:

14 November 2005
My Favorite Cyber-Myth
How I snicker and roll my eyes whenever I read about Baby Boomers fumbling around on computers, scratching their heads, totally flummoxed. Sure, a percentage of any age group is technologically challenged - but Boomers as a whole have embraced the internet and aren't afraid to plunge into the ether brain first.

There are dozens and dozens more posts through the years about 50+ folk and technology – but I’ll spare you.

The ‘landmark’ myth-busting report is all about how over the last year or so tons more people over fifty-five are now banking online and buying stuff online.

Wow. I never would’ve guessed.

Why is advertising so unpopular?

noreply@blogger.com (Chuck Nyren) — Thu, 4 Mar 2021 13:55:00 -0800

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 so unpopular?:

…Online advertising has contributed to this enormously, with the interruptions to people’s browsing experience by pop-ups, the creepiness of much retargeting and the sheer annoyance of autoplay videos often listed as the main offenders. There seems to be no escaping the persistent noise of advertising…

All this sounds eerily familiar. A post from 2010:

Foretellings
…The more people use smartphones, the less they’ll tolerate silly graphical doodads mucking up their small screens … Advertising on smartphones will be considered an annoyance, invasive, and rather dinky…

And 2012:

Digital Distractions
Advertisers are getting wise to the drawbacks of marketing in the digital nest … Digital interruptions are headache-inducing…

Bouncing back to Mr. Feldwick’s piece:

… Advertising as an industry regards itself as ‘of the moment’ yet, as with anything else, there is much to learn from the past. As Paul says, ‘If we don’t understand the past, we have no hope of making sense of the future.’ There is a great deal to learn from the history of advertising that has a tremendous relevance today…

Sounds about right to me. I’ve been ‘teaching’ a course on Udemy about creative advertising – dipping into the past for inspiration. The course is also on YouTube:

So kudos to Paul Feldwick. We're similar-minded fellows floating in the ether.

Walk On By

noreply@blogger.com (Chuck Nyren) — Wed, 3 Feb 2021 11:55:00 -0800

It’s difficult to get a grip on the real world, just as difficult 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 missing much.

Boomers Are Going to Drive a Silver Surge
Companies tend to neglect older generations, focusing instead on millennials and Gen Z. Such a strategy will be costly this year.

It’s costly every year.

Supermodel Paulina Porizkova, 55, Wears Nothing In Sexy New Pic As She Claps Back At Age-Shamers

If interested, click around for the naked pic. I don’t know who she is but I like her.

And if you’re wondering what’s happening in Poland…

Urban Mobility and Smart Ageing Conference
UMSA 2021 will discuss the most contemporary topics connecting mobility and smart ageing issues. It is an independent, multinational networking conference, where urban mobility and all related ageing issues are in the spotlight. Fact Sheet (PDF)

Until next time – when I hope there’s something to grab on to.

What’s happening and what’ll probably happen.

noreply@blogger.com (Chuck Nyren) — Mon, 18 Jan 2021 22:20:00 -0800

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 that I’m bored doing that:

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 TV. As always, television is the best place for advertising.

17 MAY 2019
We’ve done that already.
Nothing I can think of is as lively and chipper as television in its final throes.

Magazines have been making a sort-of comeback. People are getting exhausted staring at their phones/computers. To break the monotony they’re picking up, getting sucked into magazines they might normally only flip through: Costco Connection, AARP publications, all special interest magazines. This more than likely also includes general interest magazines (although I have to admit that I don’t recognize any of the people in People Magazine anymore).

Like everybody, we’re rarin’ to go just about anywhere as soon as it’s safe. Plans are being hatched:

Over-50s rush to book holidays as vaccine boosts confidence
By Simon Browning
National Express's coach holiday businesses say bookings made by those 65 and over have increased by 185% in the last fortnight compared to last year.

That’s also happening and will be happening in the U.S. and elsewhere.

Advertising. It’ll continue to be a slow, arduous, bumpy ride with stops and starts for the first half of 2021 – then …

A Slightly Too Soon Look Back On 2020

noreply@blogger.com (Chuck Nyren) — Mon, 7 Dec 2020 11:47:00 -0800

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 February 2020
Communities for Boomers
The elder-centric housing industry is about to explode every which way …

That didn’t happen. Everybody (I hope) is staying put. But it will explode eventually.

This post was runner-up in popularity:

23 September 2020
Do you want to feel old?
Golly, gee … he’s only a baby!

Finally, my favorite post of the year:

30 October 2020
Those Irrepressible Boomers
I just can’t get all hot ’n bothered by all this pro/anti Boomer stuff.

Not a productive year for me or for most folks.

The good news: It’s almost done with.

The bad news: It’ll be more of the same or worse for the first six months (or more) of 2021.

The craziness will be over and we’ll be able to go back to being our crazy selves.

Those Irrepressible Boomers

noreply@blogger.com (Chuck Nyren) — Fri, 30 Oct 2020 15:28:00 -0700

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 Page
Published 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 really is the true legacy of the Boomers?

Good book. Read Brent Green’s take on it: Redefining Generational Greatness.

Professor Steinhorn was featured in a Washington Post Magazine piece in January:

He wrote the book on boomers, and he thinks the Gen Z rap against them isn’t quite OK
By Graham Vyse
… As a millennial raised by a pair of liberal boomers, I’m instinctively sympathetic to Steinhorn’s case. I’m close to my parents, and I share their values, so it made sense when Steinhorn told me there’s much less of a cultural “generation gap” between boomers and younger cohorts than between boomers and their parents.

Now David Cravit is tossing up videos about it all. He does a fine job walking us through the history of Boomers, demolishing dumb myths:

The Unapologetic Boomer
... If you're a Baby Boomer tired of being blamed for everything, this is your place. I offer a blunt, but evidence-based, argument for why the Boomers have nothing to apologize for.

And Ashton Applewhite is pulverizing parallel myths about Ageism:

This Chair Rocks
… From childhood on, we’re barraged by messages that it’s sad to be old. That wrinkles are embarrassing, and old people useless …

May I mention that yours truly is mentioned in Ms. Applewhite’s book?

The Chuck is Very Cool and Cutting-Edge and a Very Important Person Post
… Ashton Applewhite, a leading activist and shaker-upper in the You’re-An-Asshole-If-You’re-Ageist world, quoted me in her book This Chair Rocks: A Manifesto Against Ageism …

My takes on these subjects are usually tongue-in-cheek. A few years ago a silly book came out and I had fun goofing on it:

76 Million Sociopaths Outed
… Being a narcissistic boomer, I loved reading the article - although it was rather vague, didn’t have any substance or facts. But that’s fine. It’s a teaser. No doubt the author has impressive degrees in history and sociology, maybe even psychology. So the book should be fantastic, and not written by some dildo blowhard with nothing much to say …

And there are other underlying reasons why my generation is the tops:

People are always coming up to me and asking, “Chuck, why are Baby Boomers so wonderful?”
How rare it is to have an infinite number of correct answers to a single question! One of my standard replies: It has to do with our alimentary intake during adolescence …

Blaming Boomers. It’s just simple-minded people looking for simple-minded answers.

Growing Bolder & Ken Dychtwald

noreply@blogger.com (Chuck Nyren) — Thu, 24 Sep 2020 11:47:00 -0700

Virtual friend Marc Middleton and his crew have been producing Growing Bolder for ….

Well, he was just a young whippersnapper when it all began:

04 October 2008
Growing Bolder Series on PBS
Hi Chuck,
I thought you might be interested in our news about the Growing Bolder TV Show…

It’s returning this fall:

Sneak Preview of Growing Bolder Season 6
This season, we’re proud to bring you more stories of ordinary people living extraordinary lives…

The GB web site is full of great info, entertainment, videos. Recently, Marc interviewed Gerontologist-Extraordinaire Ken Dychtwald. It’s a down-to-earth, casual, revealing chit-chat:

Good work, Marc!

Do you want to feel old?

noreply@blogger.com (Chuck Nyren) — Wed, 23 Sep 2020 12:05:00 -0700

I’ve been writing about ageism for decades – even before I knew there was a term for it.

Apparently, I was behind the curve. Ageism was coined in 1969. Back then yours truly was nineteen. I don’t remember being ageist. Maybe I was. I thought people were wonderful or idiots for whatever reasons. The reasons weren’t based on age. My heroes and villains were young and old.

When I was forty-eight or so someone sent me an email (I had a blog about Baby Boomers). A fellow was in the advertising business and said he was fired because he was fifty. I scoffed. Surely he was fired because he was an idiot.

Then I turned fifty.

That was over twenty years ago.

Recently I stumbled upon a post on Linked-In:

Saeed Zaman
VP, Head of Digital Innovation & Integrated Media

I have been getting a lot of messages from people implying that #age has anything to do with anything. I am 42 and will be 43 in December - there, I said it. Which #apparently means I am not up to the #fake and beyond #superficial standards of our #industry (and other industries) obsessed with #Youth and #PopCulture. I don’t care if you’re in your 50s, 60s, 70s, 80s or beyond. Just like I don’t care if you’re in your 20s, 30s or 40s. If you’re #smart, #intelligent and can make sense of your surroundings with a highly #rational and #logical point of view, I’m your biggest fan and you’re most definitely part of my #team. That’s it. Beyond that, I really don’t give a $#%€!

Golly, gee … he’s only a baby!

(Whoops! Am I showing my reverse-ageism?)

Over forty and you’re through. If this trend holds, by 2030 all ad agencies will be staffed by five-to-eleven-year-olds.

Because once you’re twelve, you’re through.

Back

noreply@blogger.com (Chuck Nyren) — Wed, 29 Jul 2020 17:49:00 -0700

Where have I been? Like most, Yours Truly has been self-isolating and pretending I’m working.

Advertising to Baby Boomers. For some reason, I haven’t been excited about this subject for the last few months. By the time I get my mask to fit properly without fogging up the glasses and slather on hand sanitizer I forget what I’m supposed to be doing. Then I turn and catch myself in the mirror and with those mask bands pulling on the back of my ears I look like Dopey.

Just a tedious list of things I’ve glanced at since the lockdown:

Boomers and millennials both love Apple and Amazon, but here are the brands they don’t agree on

Well, we’re also older than sixty-four, but who cares about anybody older than sixty-four.

Don’t Forget Baby Boomers Recognition Day

Nobody over the age of sixty can discern what’s on their smartphone screen with sunglasses on. Other than that, a perfect representation of this cohort.

Boomers Are the Future of AI and Virtual Reality, Not Millennials
A growing number of firms are developing tech targeted specifically at older people

“It will be the Baby Boomers who will be the first to pick and choose, to ignore or be seduced by leading-edge technology marketing. There’s a simple reason for this. We have the money to buy this stuff. Experts say we’ll continue to have the money for at least the next twenty years. Write us off at your own peril.”

About Advertising but not
about Baby Boomers
Yesterday I tossed up an online course about creativity and advertising. Click the link to watch the introductory video. It’s a fun romp. If for no other reason, you can see how creepy and old I am nowadays:

Digging Around in The Past for Inspiration

Advertising to Yolds

noreply@blogger.com (Chuck Nyren) — Wed, 18 Mar 2020 13:19:00 -0700

That’s what many of us are now. Young-Olds – or Yolds. Hey, it could’ve been even sillier: Old-Youngs – or Oyoungs.

The decade of the "young old" begins
People turning 65 will not retire quietly into the background, predicts John Parker
THE YEAR 2020 will mark the beginning of the decade of the yold…

Contrary to popular myth, Baby Boomers do not believe that they are still teenagers or young adults. (Some probably do, but they need therapy.) Boomers are slyly redefining what it means to be the ages they are. Included in this new definition are some youthful attitudes - but the real change is that instead of winding down, many are winding up. We're not 'looking forward to retirement,' we're looking forward to new lives, new challenges. Only a small percentage will opt for pure retirement. (I predict that in twenty years the word 'retirement' will still be in dictionaries, but followed by the modifier archaic.)

17 AUGUST 2007
Time to Retire the 'R' Word
… Many baby boomers, now turning 60, are healthier and want to work forever. Many shift to different kinds of careers … So "retirement" is kind of an inoperative word.

In a related non-development:

Managers: 3 Compelling Reasons Why You Should Hire More Baby Boomers
Hiring in this demographic may be the best strategy to build a thriving work culture.
By Marcel Schwantes

Good article. It would’ve likewise been good way back in 2003 when I wrote this:

Back into the Fold
… The Giant Leap: there had better be a minor revolution in the creative end of the advertising industry. Talented men and women in their late forties and fifties need to be brought back into the fold if you want to reach us. This includes copywriters, graphic artists, producers, directors, and creative directors.

Since then … take a look at a collection of moldy yold posts:

Human Resources/Brain Power

I’ll end with one moldy yold post from 2009 that covers both yolds & hiring yolds:

17 SEPTEMBER 2009
Late Bloomer Boomers
The Late Bloomer Boomer Movement is going full blast, and there’s no stopping it. The magic equation: Thirty-odd years of experience plus not feeling old and being relatively healthy plus knowing you have another 25 years of productivity in you equals …

Off-Topic & Just For Fun:

The Chuck is Very Cool and Cutting-Edge and a Very Important Person Post
Ashton Applewhite, a leading activist and shaker-upper in the You’re-An-Asshole-If-You’re-Ageist world, quoted me in her book This Chair Rocks: A Manifesto Against Ageism.

Another Dumb Article: Boomer Big Data

noreply@blogger.com (Chuck Nyren) — Tue, 18 Feb 2020 11:58:00 -0800

Echoing a previous post:

17 APRIL 2019
No News News & Fake News
I’m not linking to any more dumb articles…

It’s amazing how many data firms are out there. I have no idea why there is such an insatiable appetite for jumbles of numbers, slices of shaded pies, arrays of multi-colored lines going every which way. Abstract art at its most incomprehensible.

Marketers specially love all the mystifying razzle-dazzle.

I read an article recently by someone who works at a big data firm. The article made no sense. Or the writer was so blinded by numbers, pies, and lines that it was impossible for this person to think intelligently. Or the proofreader was on vacation. (I’ve found that most proofreaders nowadays are on permanent vacation.)

Let’s take a look at the first few sentences:

Baby boomers are the fastest-growing demographic in the United States…

Fastest growing demographic? Baby Boomers were born from 1946 to 1964. It is not a fast or slow-growing demographic. This person obviously thinks that people get old and magically morph into baby boomers.

In 20 years, the population aged 55 and over will account for almost one-third of the U.S. population.

Well, that’s fascinating. But why the above sentence is in the paragraph and why it’s relevant to the article eludes me. Especially when followed by:

Unlike millennials, who are often burdened by student debt and the costs of supporting growing families, boomers have expendable income for in-store and online purchases.

I have no idea what any of the above means, or is trying to mean. Random facts and arbitrary time-frames are haphazardly commingled with jargon-laden gibberish.

Here are the facts:

Today, all baby boomers are over fifty-five years old. If you were born in 1964, you are fifty-five, fifty-six. Millennials were born between 1981 and 1996 (some sociology experts and demographic outfits assign slightly different years).

In twenty years, all of Gen X and even a handful of Millennials will be 55+.

What the hell does “unlike millennials” have to do with anything?

… After rereading this post, I’m even more confused. It’s difficult to unpack nonsense because unpacking nonsense often makes nonsense more nonsensical, if that makes any sense.

All I know is this: If I get any older, I’ll automatically become a member of the Silent Generation, and if I get really old, I’ll all of a sudden become a member of the WWII generation.

And if I live to be two-hundred and fifty, I’ll automatically become a Founding Father.

Communities for Boomers

noreply@blogger.com (Chuck Nyren) — Tue, 4 Feb 2020 17:03:00 -0800

The elder-centric housing industry is about to explode every which way.

My tongue-in-cheek take on it:

03 December 2018
Where are old people going to live?
It used to be that old people lived wherever they lived – and that was that.

And I’ve written about this ad nauseam for over fifteen years. A list of related posts:

Aging In Place & Universal Design

Something you can skim or skip:

Selling Universal Design To Baby Boomers/Aging In Place (PDF)
… What is ‘aging in place’? Baby Boomers staying
put in their condos or houses for the rest of their lives. Others refer to aging in place as remodeling current residences with Universal Design as the blueprint. Still others use the term to describe Baby Boomers moving into condos or active adult communities not far from where they are now – this so they can still be near work, family, friends.

The powers-that-be are getting smart. They’re starting to target middle-income boomers - not solely the better-offs everybody covets.

The latest collection of offerings (the article is dense, a bit convoluted – so again, skim):

6 Senior Living Providers to Watch in 2020
…. Baby boomers will come to the space demanding variety in care and amenities, but many may not be able to afford the existing, dominant private pay model of senior housing.

Boomer thinker and marketing maven Matt Thornhill has a new adult community project that fascinates me. Add it to the list:

Cozy Home Community
… It’s a new type of rentable housing unit specifically designed and built for middle-income Boomers, or folks between 60 and 80.

Two bedrooms, two full baths, and an open floor plan with kitchen, dining and family room — all on one floor. Approximately 1,200 square feet, there’s plenty of space for two people to share.

Culled from my book Advertising to Baby Boomers:

Some Baby Boomer sociology experts predict that semi-retirement and retirement communities will naturally develop personalities based on shared interests.These could be gardening, motorcycles, vegetarianism, the arts, even a community where the shared interest might be financial speculation.

If correct, I can’t think of a better architectural template than Cozy Home Community.

2020: The Year of Tech

noreply@blogger.com (Chuck Nyren) — Fri, 17 Jan 2020 11:28:00 -0800

A new year. A new decade. Nothing new.

But here’s my prediction: It’ll be The Year of Tech.

Keep Older Adults at Top of Mind, AARP CEO Urges Tech Industry
50-plus Americans spent $140 billion on technology in 2018, AARP report finds

OK, Boomers: CES 2020 was more about you than ever
January 15, 2020 by
Kevin C. Tofel

As always, any ‘tech’ for Baby Boomers is medical tech. I’ve written about the silliness and shortsightedness of this ad nauseum:

13 December 2017
We’re always sick.
No matter what the product or service, when Mad Ave tries to ‘reach’ us we’re always sick. Or something’s horribly wrong. (Sorry the commercial is missing. It probably got sick and died.)
15 October 2015
Baby Boomers Not Wearing Wearables
Never Leave The Hospital! Health Tech Wearables, Implanted Chips
By Chuck Nyren
I'm having issues. I'm worried that the medical industry might want me to worry too much about my health. A little worry is good. But constant worry? It seems as if they want me to think of nothing else but my vital signs for the rest of my life.
Finally Live The Life You've Always Wanted With Wearables!
By Chuck Nyren
… Along with Google Glasses, you'll also be wearing Google Nose and Google Mouth.

10 April 2013
AARP Is All New Redux: Part IV
(Entrepreneurs, VCs & Health Tech)

There are a dozen more posts. I’ll spare you.

What (almost) nobody talks about: Tech for older folks that has nothing to do with being sick (do any products exist?), ALL tech products that are marketed to everybody – but because of fonts and buttons and software design and just about everything else, these offerings can be difficult to use.

Back to the beginning – the pull quote from my 2005 book:

“It will be the Baby Boomers who will be the first to pick and choose, to ignore or be seduced by leading-edge technology marketing. There’s a simple reason for this. We have the money to buy this stuff. Experts say we’ll continue to have the money for at least the next twenty years. Write us off at your own peril.”

I’ll leave you with this…

Everybody is picking their favorite whatevers of the last decade. Here’s my favorite video of the last decade:

End Of Year Links: 2019

noreply@blogger.com (Chuck Nyren) — Mon, 23 Dec 2019 11:25:00 -0800

I’m just so tired. Probably of politics. So this last post of the year is going to be snooze-worthy. There’s no energy left.

People hate ads.

noreply@blogger.com (Chuck Nyren) — Tue, 26 Nov 2019 12:18:00 -0800

*The following post is about advertising ~~to baby boomers~~.

A shocking research report featured in The New York Times:

The Advertising Industry Has a Problem: People Hate Ads
By Tiffany Hsu
… The advertising industry faces an “existential need for change,” according to a blunt report published on Monday by the research firm Forrester. Now the agencies must “disassemble what remains of their outmoded model” or risk “falling further into irrelevance,” the report concludes.

And there are various surveys from multiple sources to back this up:

Scary! Except … I forgot to add the dates of these surveys:

Most of the above statistics are from The Mirror Makers by Stephen Fox:

So not much has changed. Or maybe a lot has changed. Nowadays:

… As advertisers bombard consumers across platforms like Twitch, Facebook, television, billboards and more, consumers are trying to get away, signing up for ad blockers and subscription services …

The truth is messier. Few people admit to enjoying ads. In the olden days, advertising on radio and television was often tastelessly intertwined. Today (or maybe it was ten years ago, it’s hard to keep up) we would call this Madison & Vine or Product Placement or Native Advertising or Stealth Advertising. There were complaints, and things changed. By the late 1950s, you listened to/watched a program – then came the commercial breaks. This technique is still effective today.

Most people don’t mind and many even like advertising - if it’s positioned as such, doesn’t constantly bombard you. I wrote about this years ago:

06 March 2012
Digital Distractions
Advertisers are getting wise to the drawbacks of marketing in the digital nest … The more people use smartphones, the less they’ll tolerate silly graphical doodads mucking up their small screens.

Back to the NYT article:

… Agencies must “disassemble what remains of their outmoded model” or risk “falling further into irrelevance,” the report concludes …

The “outmoded model” happened when the internet exploded – and the industry became greedy. With greed came all this and this and this:

Digital Ad Shenanigans
It’s been a bad week or so for online advertising foolishness and chicanery.
Black Ops Advertising by Mara Einstein
What a wacky virtual world we live in! Streams of prose, pictures, videos, all not what they seem. Alice in Wonderland, by comparison, is rather prosaic.

Follow this crazy guy if you want to know more:

The Ad Contrarian

*The link below is to a silly piece about ~~advertising to~~ baby boomers:

Should older people be allowed to change their age?
by Chuck Nyren
Nov 4 · 2 min read

Jumping On The Bandwagon

noreply@blogger.com (Chuck Nyren) — Tue, 22 Oct 2019 00:09:00 -0700

Cindy Gallop hops on:

Disrupting Ageism in Advertising
By Grace Birnstengel
This outspoken 2019 Influencer in Aging has a few choice words for the ad world…

From a 2017 post about Joseph Coughlin:

…. There are lots of folks who’ve educated us and continue to educate us. Names off the top of my head: Robert N. Butler, David Wolfe, Ken Dychtwald, John Migliaccio, Kurt Medina, Matt Thornhill, Brent Green, Marti Barletta, Mary Furlong, Myrna Blyth, Carol Orsborn, Rick Moody, Mark Miller, Paul Kleyman, Scott Rains, Kevin Lavery, Dick Stroud, Reg Starkey, Laurie Orlov, Richard Adler, Todd Harff, Bill Thomas, Louis Tenenbaum, Arjan in’t Veld, Martijn de Haas, David Cravit, Moses Znaimer, Maxime de Jenlis, Florian Kohlbacher, Christopher Simpson, Gail Sheehy, Marc Middleton, Ronni Bennett, Jim Gilmartin, Gill Walker, Dave McCaughan, Kim Walker, Tony Mariani, Barry Robertson, Frédéric Serriere, Bob Hoffman, have I left any out? No doubt.

Culled from the Next Avenue interview:

“There’s a very simple way to address negative stereotype depictions of aging in advertising. When you have older people creating ads, producing, approving — problem solved.”

Sounds familiar. A 2003 article of mine courtesy of The Way Back Machine:

Advertising to Baby Boomers - Back into the Fold
The Giant Leap: there had better be a minor revolution in the creative end of the advertising industry. Talented men and women in their late forties and fifties need to be brought back into the fold if you want to reach us. This includes copywriters, graphic artists, producers, directors, and creative directors.

… Truth is, you can analyze marketing fodder all day and night, read countless books about marketing to Baby Boomers, attend advertising and marketing conventions around the world, and soak up everything all the experts have to say … But if you plan on implementing a creative strategy, and turn it over to a different generation of advertising professionals - you'll forfeit the natural sensibilities required to generate vital campaigns.

For more background, download the Intro & 1st Chapter of Advertising to Baby Boomers (selected as a Classroom Resource by The Advertising Educational Foundation)

Intro & First Chapter (PDF)

There’s also a chapter in the book titled Get Rid of The Stereotypes.

It’s great to have Ms. Gallop aboard.
__________________________________________
*** The above is an update post from last October:

AARP & NostraChuckus

Another Dumb Article

noreply@blogger.com (Chuck Nyren) — Tue, 24 Sep 2019 12:03:00 -0700

Dilemma.

For years I’ve blogged about no news news. One of too many posts:

16 NOVEMBER 2015
The Déjà Vu No New News
It’s always a treat to get up, make some coffee, open the newspaper (pixels or pulp) and read nothing new.

And recently, I promised never to link to any more dumb articles:

17 APRIL 2019
No News News & Fake News
…Someone over at one of the major business magazines recently wrote about Baby Boomers, advertising/marketing, technology. He said nothing I (and others) haven’t been saying for almost twenty years…

Here’s the dilemma: There’s a brand-new no news news article I don’t want to link to -- but the comments are fun and worth reading.

So close your left eye and just read what’s on the right:

Older People Are Ignored and Distorted in Ageist Marketing, Report Finds

That Big Concert Fifty Years Ago

noreply@blogger.com (Chuck Nyren) — Fri, 16 Aug 2019 11:28:00 -0700

I wasn’t there. If you want, you can read about why I wasn’t there:

76 Million Sociopaths Outed (HuffPo)

There are so many articles/blog posts floating around commemorating/condemning the event that I’ve OD'd. One more could do me in. This could be the one.

Advertising. I’ve written about how dumb it is to heavy-handedly invoke ‘60s stuff to reach Baby Boomers:

03 OCTOBER 2005
Invoking "The Sixties": Fidelity Financial vs. Ameriprise
Two major financial planning companies, Fidelity Investments and Ameriprise, are all agog over Baby Boomers.

There are a dozen more subsequent posts, but I’ll spare you.

Barry Robertson has a take on it all (and he’s even more fed up than yours truly):

50 Years of Woodshtick
For the next week or so, prepare to endure the 50th anniversary of Woodshtick – the endgame of five long decades of punditry and pontification over a messy 1969 mudfest in upstate New York that, supposedly, defines the Baby Boom generation.

Now I’m off to a walk-in clinic to see if they have any sort of antidote for Nostalgia Overdose.

We’ve done that already.

noreply@blogger.com (Chuck Nyren) — Fri, 17 May 2019 12:06:00 -0700

I keep hearing that the internet is ruining our attention spans. I’m starting to believe it. I can easily get through a book, a TV show, a movie - but web pages bore me within nanoseconds and I’m constantly clicking. (Something tells me this isn’t good for advertising.)

Or maybe it’s the content. I’ve seen it all before. I say to myself, “We’ve done that already.”

Samuel Scott does a good job dissecting and presenting the enduring power of the tube:

Which advertising channels are best when all else is equal?
… In the three years we have been considering media effectiveness, TV outperforms Facebook and YouTube in all these areas …

Sounds right to me:

21 JULY 2017
The Interminable Death of Television
Nothing I can think of is as lively and chipper as television in its final throes.

From Entrepreneur:

It's Never Too Late: Entrepreneurship Has No Age
… A study suggests that businesses are more likely to succeed as their founders’ age increase up until about age 40 …

I wrote a book years ago. Huge chunks of it had to do with entrepreneurs:

ADVERTISING TO BABY BOOMERS
Targets Clients and Entrepreneurs
Paramount Market Publishing, Ithaca, N.Y.
… Chuck Nyren's egalitarian approach to advertising and the creation of campaigns is all-inclusive. A large section of the book is dedicated to helping Baby Boomer entrepreneurs get their marketing and advertising up and running.

And there are a bunch of other recent articles not worth reading so I won’t link to them, subjects covered ad nauseam through the years, like Baby Boomers in No Rush to Retire (we’ve known this for over a decade), Creativity Is Not Just For The Young (I feel like I was young when I blogged it in 2007), The Misconception Of Baby Boomers And The Age Of Technology (My Favorite Cyber-Myth).

Or maybe I’m so technically-challenged that it’s impossible for me to find anything newsworthy on the internet – and I should just retire.

No News News & Fake News

noreply@blogger.com (Chuck Nyren) — Wed, 17 Apr 2019 17:51:00 -0700

I’m not linking to any more dumb articles.

Or fake news. Fake news to me can be broken up into two categories:

News that’s half-fake and half-not fake. There might be some good advice in an article, but if it also has a lot of bad advice – then no link.
News that’s fobbed off as new when it’s really old. In the past I’ve called this No News News.

Someone over at one of the major business magazines recently wrote about Baby Boomers, advertising/marketing, technology. He said nothing I (and others) haven’t been saying for almost twenty years. Just about every point he makes can be found in the Intro and 1st Chapter of my book © 2005-2007:

Folks Are Still Reading My 2005 Book
… Truth is, you can analyze marketing fodder all day and night, read countless books about marketing to Baby Boomers, attend advertising and marketing conventions around the world, and soak up everything all the experts have to say. Much of what is out there is valuable and useful … But if you plan on implementing a creative strategy and turn it over to a different generation of advertising professionals—you'll forfeit the natural sensibilities required to generate vital campaigns…

Intro & 1st Chapter (PDF)

Another major business mag (this one in the U.K.) just published two articles full of admixtures of old good advice, old bad advice. Trouble is, I don’t want to be 50+ Marketing Snopes.com and have to sift through the diamonds and dreck. No links.

Instead, read Dick Stroud and Kevin Lavery.

Goings On About Town

noreply@blogger.com (Chuck Nyren) — Thu, 14 Mar 2019 11:32:00 -0700

For years I’ve been championing the marketing and advertising of normal everyday products to Baby Boomers:

Boomer Backlash II
If every time someone over fifty sees a commercial targeting them and it’s always for an age-related product or service, pretty soon their eyes will glaze over, they’ll get itchy and grumpy.
The Real Issue: Marketing and advertising folks grasping the fact that Boomers will be buying billions (trillions?) of dollars worth of non-age related products for the next twenty-odd years. If you target this group for toothpaste, computers, clothes, food, nail polish, sporting equipment, toenail clippers - anything at all (almost), and you do it with respect and finesse, they will appreciate and consider your product.

And I scream about easy-to-open packaging, easy-on-older-eyes print, usability, etc.

But sometimes what I find out there is just silly. Read it and wipe:

Ranking The Best Five Toilet Papers For Seniors

____

Feeling old? Down in the dumps? Want a pep talk? A little kick-in-the-pants inspiration so you can carry on?

Of course, if you feel okay about yourself you don’t need to read about how incredible you could be. Possible negative side effect: Getting depressed finding out how wonderful other people are.

Immerse yourself in or ignore the latest feel-good (or bad) site:

WELCOME TO AGEIST
We are a global movement living longer and better than ever before. Join us for culture, style, travels, health sciences and things that inspire.

Of course, if you’re really old, say thirty or so, you’ll really need help. A motivational weekend might do the trick:

A New Luxury Retreat Caters to Elderly Workers in Tech (Ages 30 and Up)
… The group would place stickers with ageist slurs all over their chests, arms and faces, and then hurl the stickers into a fire. Later, there would be healing sessions focused on intergenerational collaboration and accepting mortality.

____

There’s a famous quote attributed to … well, lots of people:

“If You Remember the ’60s, you really weren’t there.”

There are always exceptions to rules. Brent Green has rounded up a few folks who swear they remember, and their credentials convince me they’re (probably) not lying.

Check out Are You Still Listening?: 1969 Stories & Essays on Amazon.com.

I don’t remember the ‘50s, ‘60s, ‘70s, ‘80s, ‘90s, ‘00s, or the ‘10s (except for maybe up to an hour or so ago), so I’m no help.