As a Boomer, I’m not much of a consumer, really, even though I spent most of my professional life working in corporate PR and marketing. But even when I worked for Mercedes-Benz, I preferred to drive around in a 13-year old lime-green Volkswagen that my Benz bosses made fun of.

I was keen on Reduce-Reuse-Recycle long before these trends became trendy. I don’t shop at malls. Ditto for those hideous Big Box stores. Instead, I like to visit auctions, yard sales, farmers’ markets, consignment shops and my local family-run hardware store. I believe it takes a certain skill to sniff out a truly fantastic bargain. And my shopping motto has always been:

“Any dummy can pay full price retail!”

Yet we Boomers comprise roughly one-quarter of the North American population and have some $3 trillion in buying power, although less than 5% of all advertising dollars are targeted to adults 45-64, according to The Nielsen Company. That’s why I was keen to check out this industry advice to marketers from the Advertising Age White Paper called 50 And Up: What’s Next?  Continue reading →