With baby boomers not really babies any longer and quickly becoming a predominant and “old” audience for marketers to reckon with, both agencies and marketers are wrestling with the notion that it ain’t all about the 18-34 year old any more and have begun spouting misleading terms such as “over 35” when they really mean “over 50.” But, “over 50” is so uncool and just doesn’t gracefully roll off the tongue of the typical 20-something, 30-something agency/marketer type.
Companies have tried to re-brand their older-focused companies towards younger audiences and have alienated existing, older customers. Companies have re-branded upward but have focused to a 35 year old when their audience is really 55. And some say the whole age-focused thing is just the wrong way to target and it should be more about psycho graphics. There’s a lively discussion in the Adrants discussion group right now. Are we marketers handling the age thing the right way or the wrong way?
