2009 Boomer Venture Summit

Mary Furlong, my good friend and heroine of all things Boomer, is hosting the sixth annual Silicon Valley Boomer Venture Summit on June 16th and 17th.

We invite you to join us for an exciting two-day program consisting of leaders across a wide range of industries. They all have one thing in common – they invest in or serve the boomer consumer.

The juiciest event will be The Boomer Business Plan Competition:

Grand Prize Winners will be selected on Wednesday, June 17, 2009. All finalists will present their business plans to an esteemed panel of judges at the 2009 Silicon Valley Boomer Venture Business Plan Competition at Santa Clara University, Santa Clara, CA.

If you’re not able to attend, make sure to track down press about it afterwards.  You'll find out about the winner and many of the finalists.  Their ideas for products and services are always refreshing, creative, and smart.

A post about The 2006  Boomer Venture Summit.

Advertising/Marketing Resources

Evergreen Advertising/Marketing in Australia offers free PDF downloads of some sterling resources, including:

• The introduction to Section One of David Wolfe’s seminal Ageless Marketing
  
  
• Chapter Two of Dick Stroud’s 50-PLUS MARKET (Yours Truly contributed a section elsewhere)
  
  
• An issue of Prophets Profit magazine focusing on the 50+ market 
  
  
• A Brochure for The Evergreen Report
  Women over 50: Their perspectives on
  life and portrayal in advertising
  
  
• The Preface and Introduction (The Geritol Syndrome) from my book Advertising To Baby Boomers
  

When you get there scroll a bit and click the thumbnails for downloads:

Evergreen Resources

 

A direct link: Advertising To Baby Boomers Preface & Introduction

Oprah & Dan … & Chuck

I’ve blogged Dan Pink:

What Kind of Genius Are You?
A new theory suggests that creativity comes in two distinct types - quick and dramatic, or careful and quiet … Science News reports on a study that says an aging brain may be a more emotionally astute brain…

And I talk about his book A Whole New Mind in my presentations.

Of course, Oprah and Chuck go way back:

Boomers Beyond: Marketing to a 50-Plus Audience (2005)
I'm the selfless sort. If Oprah's name cozying up to mine will boost her career, I'm glad to help.

So it was especially gratifying to me when they finally powwowed:

Oprah Talks to Daniel Pink
... I think baby boomers are going to do something quite spectacular. They say, "Sixty's not old. Oh, I've got 25 years left." Then they look back 25 years and say, "Holy smokes, that sure happened fast. Are the next 25 years going to happen as fast? And if they are, what's my legacy going to be? When am I going to live my best life? What kind of imprint am I going to leave on the world?" Roughly 100 baby boomers turn 60 every 18 minutes in this country. Imagine the collective force of that …

I’m a bit miffed that they didn’t invite me to join them. Oh, well. You know how people get when they go big time. They forget who helped them get there …

Not About The Kindle Controversy

I don’t want to get into a brouhaha over Amazon’s Kindle and whether it’s a swindle or a savior or Beelzebub.  (Although the talking version seems to need elocution lessons.)

I’m only interested in this:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

70 percent of Kindle owners over 40?
by David Carnoy
We can't call this the most scientific poll ever taken, but it's probably a good indicator of the Kindle's age demographic. If you add it all up, over half the owners are over 50 and 70 percent are over 40.

That might be news to most folks – but not to readers of my book and this blog.  Pulled from the cover of the 1st edition (March, 2005):

 

 

 

 

 

The newest Kindle is bigger and (of course) better:

Amazon Introduces Big-Screen Kindle
By BRAD STONE and MOTOKO RICH
The device, called the Kindle DX (for deluxe), has a screen two and a half times the size of those on the two older versions of the Kindle, which were aimed primarily at displaying book pages.

Do you think Amazon and their ad agency will be doggedly targeting Baby Boomers with their campaign? 

We’ll see.

(As I fiddled with this post, a really good idea for a TV spot burst into this noggin of mine.  When we finally see a campaign for Kindle DX, I’ll tell you what it was.  Or maybe I’ll drive down to Seattle and harangue Jeff Bezos …)

Businesses Fighting For Baby Boomer Dollars

A very good piece by Mary Motzko – and not necessarily because I’m quoted.  Yours Truly is in heady company:

Businesses Fighting For Baby Boomer Dollars
Marketing Campaigns Aimed At Boomer Generation
While baby boomers are open to advertising, there are certain avenues companies should avoid as to not turn their targeted audience against their product.

After being interviewed, I suggested that Ms. Motzko contact Dr. Harry (Rick) Moody.  She did:

When creating an ad aimed at baby boomers, Harry Moody, the director of academic affairs for AARP, warns companies to not generalize those over 50 into one group. Moody said that grouping all baby boomers together as the same audience "is sure to lead to disaster."

Also interviewed is Mark Bradbury, Research Director at AARP:

According to Bradbury, baby boomers are used to redefining what it means to be a certain age. They did it when they were young, then again in their teens and 20s, and now they're trying to redefine what it means to be 50.

That sounds familiar.  From my book:

Or you can hear me scream it over The Who and Led Zeppelin.