The Star Wars franchise turns forty this year; look for quotes and metaphors to crop up ad nauseam in marketing circles. Always ahead of the pack, we’ll get ours out early. In another 2017 milestone, for the third year in a row over four million members of Generation X – born 1965-1981 – will reach their 50th birthday and disappear from mainstream brand advertising. Thanks to Madison Avenue’s remorseless …
How The Boomers Took America Global
By Barry Robertson – When January rolls around, many Americans turn their thoughts to vacation planning. And, as in most other areas of the U.S. economy, Boomers are the driving force behind the travel industry. It’s not just about loading the family into the minivan for an interminable are we there yet road trip to see the world’s largest ball …
Santa Claus Is Coming To Town, Thanks To Those Spoiled Boomers
By Barry Robertson – The doting parents of the Boomer generation grew up in tough times. The economy crashed in 1929 triggering the Great Depression of the 1930s – during which unemployment never once fell below 14% – followed immediately by World War II. So when the U.S. entered a period of incredible post war prosperity and self-confidence that lasted from 1945 until the mid-60s, our …
Marketing To Baby Boomers – Is It A Game Of Chance?
by Jim Gilmartin – An esteemed colleague once told me that no category of business expense contains as much waste as marketing. The amounts are astounding. Some marketing-related activities are estimated to cost companies about $500 billion annually. There are those that consider that figure is double what it should be. That claim is not as outlandish as it might …
How Boomers Revolutionized The Luxury Car Market
By Barry Robertson – The 2016 LA Auto Show opened on November 18 and will run through the Sunday after Thanksgiving. It gives Los Angelenos a chance to walk off all that turkey and holiday goodies. Who knows, maybe somewhere in the glittering array there are vehicles as transformative as in the 1990 show when the shiny new Lexus LS400 was on display. Thanks to …
Marketing To Baby Boomers: Stories Connect
By Jim Gilmartin – Most of us love stories. That’s nothing new. However, marketers need to understand better the value of storytelling in communicating messages. As we age, stories play an even more important role in how our brains process information about your products and services. Jonas Kaplan of the University of Southern California published a study in January 2016 …
Boomer Girls Still Just Want To Have Fun
by Barry Robertson – Who says Boomers aren’t adaptable? For sure, not the defunct music cassette industry… Back in 1980, when Donna Summer rocked our disco world, vinyl records were at the peak of their popularity – we just called them “records” in those days, the traditional term handed down from our parents and grandparents. However, cassette sales were already …
The 50+ Digital Marketing Opportunity
By Mike Neerhof – originally posted on Lever Interactive’s blog Coming of Age, together with Lever Interactive and Google, recently hosted a happy hour marketing event at Google’s Chicago office entitled “Untapped: The 50+ Marketing Opportunity in Digital”. Through presentations from Jim Gilmartin of Coming of Age, Adam Yellin of Google and Brian Yaro of Lever Interactive, we learned about …
Memo To Smartphone Marketers: Don’t Put Boomers On Hold
by Barry Robertson – One ringy dingy, two ringy dingy … Rowan and Martin’s Laugh-In (1968-1973) was a TV favorite among leading edge Boomers. It debuted on NBC Television as the top-rated series of the 1968/69 season, with an average rating of 31.8 (TV Facts, Cobbett Steinberg). Eat your heart out, Big Bang Theory (3.4 rating, season finale May 12, 2016, Nielsen). Okay, it’s …
People Make All Purchase Decisions
“All purchase decisions are made by people.” Gavin Finn, CEO of Kaon Interactive, wrote in a recent article. “While data science and analytics have become an essential element of every modern marketing arsenal, it is wise to remember that people make all purchase decisions.” He goes on to say, “Even in business purchases, the individual decision-makers are subject to the same …
