Everyone Benefits If You Target Boomers and Their Billions

 By Karen and Erica

Everyone seems to understand that Baby Boomers are an economic resource. We control perhaps 70% of the country’s disposable income. We have billions to spend. And spend we will. As they say, you can't take it with you.

We may account for 80% of the luxury travel market. We are up to date and savvy. More than half of us regularly use the newest media technology. And there are more and more of us every day. Between now and 2030, the 50+ age group is expected to grow by 34%, while the 18 to 49 segment is expected to grow by only 12%.

We Baby Boomers are a dream demographic. And we women are the dreamiest. Women between the ages of 55 and 75 are the biggest consumers of luxury, security and convenience items in the country. Women over 50 spend on average twice as much as others, buying big ticket items like cars, technology-related goods, financial services.

You would think that people would want to sell us their goods and services, especially us women. But we can't think when we have seen an advertisement for goods and services that really connected with us, that got our attention in a positive way. Negative, yes. Many ads seem to want us to feel bad about ourselves--wobbly, dim, needy, and dowdy. Some make fun of us, implying that we have lost touch with the real world or need our children to show us how to use electronics. But few show us as we see ourselves--vibrant, healthy and full of beans, doing something purposeful.

It's not that vendors do not spend to advertise. In 2018, spending for television and digital advertising is expected to top $220 billion. Is any of that is aimed at us? At our egos and our wallets? Are the smart young people in this business unable to imagine what we might want or how we might want to be seen? Have they looked at the statistics? Have they ever considered actually talking to us?

Time to change all that. We want to be positive media targets, because we want to change our image. We want social media of all kinds to picture us as vital people, thinking, interacting with our world, living with purpose, healthy, stylish and socially conscious. That would make us feel valued. And when people feel valued, everyone benefits.