Advertising and Marcom Thought Starters From Gerontology Counseling

Here are four key things you should think about if you’re planning on marketing to Baby Boomers. Let them really soak in, and you’ll find they’ll help jump-start brainstorming sessions that spark innovative advertising and marcom strategies and tactics.

Ageism:

Research indicates that this prejudice is even more pervasive than racism. Succumb to it, and you’re doomed. Not only is it illegal and immoral, it’s just plain stupid. If there’s one thing Boomers won’t stand for, it’s being labeled in moribund ways that suggest they’re anything other than vibrant individuals. To succeed with Boomers, you must replace this repellent prejudice with new, uplifting concepts based firmly on various aspects of Positive Aging.

Motivational Interviewing:

This counseling paradigm is ideal for conceptualizing advertising and marketing communication campaigns. It’s all about moving people from being unaware through ambivalence toward positive action. Choose and use the most appropriate principles from this paradigm for each of your products and services, and you’ll help Boomers motivate themselves to buy your brands.

Reframing:

This is a fundamental technique of motivational interviewing, as well as other counseling paradigms, and it can help change the way that Boomers see your products and services. It’s not easy, but if you can develop strategies and tactics that redefine concepts (especially those commonly considered negative) in new ways that resonate with and excite Boomers, you can begin to motivate them to seriously consider what you’re selling.

Taking A Holistic Approach:

Boomers are very well educated, thoughtful and sensitive people who see themselves in multiple dimensions, and that’s exactly how you should look at them, too. Assess your products and services in terms of how they might appeal to Boomers in an integrated way, taking into account their physical, mental, psychological, social and spiritual dimensions. And you also need to keep in mind that all the while you’re communicating with “A Market Segment of One.”

Of course, simply reading the above isn’t enough. You need to write down what you think and how you feel about these subjects. In addition, you should do the same with these ideas: What’s Attractive?, What’s Quality?, What’s Wellness?, What’s Positive Aging? Let your observations sit overnight, then look at them with an analytical eye, and ask: Can my own thinking use a little reframing. Would that lead to more realistic attitudes that would help my products and services connect more meaningfully with Boomers?