27 August 2009

Advertising to Baby Boomers Can Be Tricky Business

imageSometimes I stop talking about something because the point has been made and I don’t want to drone on.  Then whatever it was pops up again and NostraChuckus has to dig around in his bag of tattered, crumpled, verbal/graphic ether-dust.  It’s sort of nostalgic for me.

A recent ‘news’ story:

Advertising to Baby Boomers Can Be Tricky Business
imageWe have all seen our fare share of reverse mortgage websites or commercials portraying seniors holding hands on a beach watching the sunset and I’ve always wondered if that is the best way to reach baby boomers.

Wonder no longer.  From my book, first published in early 2005:

image At first it was refreshing to see folks over forty-five portrayed in ads and on the web—but now almost every 50+ site is centered around generic photos of smiling, vapid, mindless people in their fifties and sixties, usually in warm-up suits, always prancing around beaches, if not staring lovingly at one another, then in groups, arms draped and tucked every which way like groping octopi.

Up until a few years ago I had a section in my presentations that went something like this:

“Here are six slogans, corporate tags, mission statements, whatever you want to call them, for six web sites targeting Boomers.”

inspirational

  “And here are the six graphics associated with the corporate tags.”

2009-08-27_134156

“Now, take out a pencil and paper.  It’s time for a test.  Match the graphics with the tag lines.”

test

A few seconds of silence, then chuckles.

Maybe I should slip these slides back into my presentations.

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