Growing Bolder

Thanks to Matt Thornhill's Boomer Project newsletter for turning me on to this crazy place, Growing Bolder:

We're in uncharted territory. All of the stereotypes of aging are being smashed. There's a new stage in the human lifecycle and it holds more promise than any other. Anything is possible.

I guess it's a web site, a radio show, a place to hang out and post discussions - and who knows what else. They don't even know yet.

What's refreshing is that this isn't some cookie-cutter site with boring Baby Boomers in sweat suits, blandly smiling like pod people. Everyone seems to be having a blast over at Growing Bolder.

I'm checking in every week to see what they're up to.

A press release about it:

Marc Middleton, founder of Boomer Broadcasting Inc. has launched a network targeting America's fastest growing and most powerful demographic. The Active Aging Network consists of GrowingBolder.com - a multimedia website, The Growing Bolder Radio Show and the Growing Bolder Newspaper Column.

Insatiable Appetite for Information

Baby Boomers the most Likely to Book Online after Researching Hotels and Flights

Insatiable Appetite for Information: Baby Boomers view an average of 36 pages of travel content when researching online…. Of the travel content viewed by this group, over 70% takes place on agency, hotel supplier, and airline carrier websites.

I write about this in my book - and have blogged about it before:

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.

Also read about a few off-beat vacations Baby Boomers are taking.

More In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida

A few others are weighing in on the Fidelity spot:

In-A-Gadda-Da-What? (Aging Hipsters)

Investments...stupid stoner song...what the hell dots are they trying to connect here?

Iron Butterfly's in an IRA ad? Bummer (Michael Stetz, San Diego Union-Tribune)

"In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida" is in a class by itself. Hear it and a veteran of the '60s might think water bong, not 401(k) rollovers.

Intuition: Aging, the boomer way (Karen Heller, Philadelphia Inquirer)

Soon, I imagine, Metamucil will be given an Andy Warhol treatment, retirement communities will turn up the volume not simply due to hearing loss, and Zep lyrics will pop up all over the place, though not, perhaps, "Stairway to Heaven."

Maybe I do want to see this commercial.

I did see a wacky spot for M&Ms the other day that was sort of like eating them while on LSD. (Not that I admit to ever eating M&Ms.)

Ameriprise vs. Fidelity Financial Redux

I guess you should first read the blog entry from October '05. That'll set the stage for this entry and links:

Invoking "The Sixties": Fidelity Financial vs. Ameriprise

The above has been the most popular (or perhaps most infamous) entry of mine over the last year. I know from my stats that Ameriprise has been all over it. It still gets tons of hits.

Recently, others have been writing about these campaigns. A very good piece by Patrick Somerville for The Simon:

Woodstock, Flower Power and Mutual Funds: How Ameriprise Panders to Boomers

The 1960s were about cultural change and political activism. But in Ameriprise's new commercials, the era's touchstones are evoked in the name of money, money, money.

While I've not seen it (and hope I never do), apparently Fidelity Financial has stooped as low as Ameriprise. Read A '60s Anthem is Sold As Bait by Mark Patinkin of The Providence Journal:

"In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida" is being used to get aging hippies to invest for retirement. It's in a Fidelity commercial. Define irony. I strongly doubt that when a circle of stoned 19-year-olds were passing around a joint with Iron Butterfly on the turntable in 1969, they were weighing wealth-preservation versus growth as they considered the most prudent mix of stocks, bonds and other equity instruments … I find that a bit patronizing. That's how you talk to old people who are, like, I don't know, over 50 or something.

Sometimes I'm speechless. Often it's due to gagging. How grateful I am to others when my throat feels like it's been stuffed with a dry mop.

And Mr. Patinkin hints at one of the cautionary themes in my book:

But someone - probably a 29-year-old ad whiz kid who researched boomer music - figured it was the way to hook us.

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Update, 27 April 2006: David Wolfe (Ageless Marketing) is now blogging about the Ameriprise campaigns. As always, his erudite and enlightening comments get your brain roiling:

Ameriprise Doesn't Get It

More on Ameriprise's Misreading of Boomers

Baby Boomers: Web 3.0

It seems as if some big companies are catching on, coming up with good ideas for the web and Baby Boomers. Two stories recently:

Bertelsmann looking to create 'MySpace' for older set:

German media group Bertelsmann plans a return to the Internet and is looking at transforming its Direct Group of book, CD and DVD clubs into an Internet networking scene for older people.

New Company Focused On The 50+ Market

Eons, Inc., a 50+ media company inspiring a generation of boomers and seniors to live the biggest life possible, has secured $10 million in Series A financing, from General Catalyst Partners and Sequoia Capital. Jeff Taylor, founder of Monster.com, is the founder and CEO of Eons(TM), which will formally launch in July 2006.

It's hard to blog much about the above, since they're both in the planning stages. Nothing much to see yet. Eons™ is just a placeholder. But it's coming: The age revolution on the WWW.

Why don't we just call it what it is (or will be): Web 3.0

Or 4.0 or 5.0 - whatever version isn't taken. Because that's what it'll end up being.