I’m a Boomer and I’m not taking it anymore!
As a (credit) card carrying member of the most pampered group of Americans (at least in OUR history, which, of course is the ONLY history that matters), there’s a certain Satisfaction (as in “I can’t get no”) in being portrayed in the media as both rebellious and misunderstood.
These thoughts flitted across the black-and-white TV screen of my mind after reading a Feb. 5 article in Advertising Age by William Hupp: “The Misunderstood Generation: By Lumping Them Together, Marketers Fail to Understand Baby Boomers.”
Hupp describes a survey of 1,320 Baby Boomers conducted by Edelman public relations and its in-house market research subsidiary, StrategyOne. Senior Edelman executives—themselves Boomers—“decided to test a theory that says marketers are failing to connect with consumers born between 1946 and 1964.” That is, those 78 million souls who were part of the population boom that lasted nearly 20 years after World War II.
Some of the findings have interesting implications for anyone in marketing, politics, or just trying to buy flowers or candy this Valentine’s Day:
Boomer Denial. Nearly 3 in 10 of those surveyed – or about 22 million Americans – don’t consider themselves Baby Boomers despite evidence (such as birth certificates and wrinkles) to the contrary. Typically these folks—we’ll call them BoomerNots—are either over 60 years old or under 46 years of age.
“While advertisers may think they’re appealing to a wide audience using the term ‘baby boomers,’ they’re in fact distancing those who resent the generalization,” Hupp writes.
Dennis Hopper is Not Everyman/Woman. Marketers should see Boomers “are not a widespread demographic,” one exec told Hupp. “Baby boomers have always been considered the ‘me generation,’ and that doesn’t change with age. We’re still just as self-centered and we want things very customized.”
In light of this latest poke at the “expert” advice of the high priests (marketing guys) of Boomerology, I can imagine thousands of cell phones vibrating off marketers’ belt loops as the Advertising Age report spreads across the Internet. Think of the big bucks at stake as Boomerologists keep feeding clients a steady diet of generational pablum that may be … well, wrong. “The results found that marketers over generalize, misrepresent and sometimes ignore the generation, lumping them together and, in the process, alienating them,” Hupp writes.
Not wait just a minute! I thought this generational navel-gazing held the key to every behavior that our consumer-oriented society is fond of dissecting, such as whether or not we care to buy a newspaper anymore to whether you like to order your Valentine’s Day flowers or candy online.
Me, I plan to swing by my convenient local drug store and buy a dozen roses and some candy. I know, I know, it’s so predictably Boomer. Ozzie Nelson would understand.