Boomer Myths and Misconcpetions Blog

Positive Solutions from Posit Science

While drug companies continue to research pills to treat Alzheimer's disease, scientists in California have instead focused on how to use what they learned about lifelong brain elasticity to create a product to exercise one's brain and recapture cognitive loss. One company offering a product that can benefit anyone worried about memory loss is Posit Science (www.positscience.com).

According to Posit Science founder, neuroscientist Dr. Michael Merzenich, people of any age can learn new cognitive skills. Merzenich says scientists are now harnessing the brain's plasticity and encouraging healthy parts of the brain to take on jobs they don't usually do. Posit Science is now selling the Brain Gym for organizations serving older adults as well as a home game for less than $500. Since approximately half of Americans will suffer from dementia by age 85 this innovation offers incredible, positive hope that individual can control No more waitng for a magic pill; but rather we can now take control of our own cognitive development.

This wonderful product was featured on the CBS Morning Show on Sunday, January 15m 2006. if you missed it, go to http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2006/01/15/sunday/main1209916.shtml, you won't be disappointed. I am confident Posit Science is the first of many companies that will once again help our nation replace pills with purpose.

Young Teeth? Give Me A Break!

It would seem Madison Avenue is committed to reaching out to the  Baby Boom as long as they can keep one foot in the youth markets of yesterday. Last evening, I was watching television with my wife when a commercial for Crest toothpaste caught my attention.

The Star of the commercial was a boomer age woman and the message was that using Crest would make you feel and look younger. Well, it worked for me in high school; but give me a break - young looking teeth. Has anyone ever told you, "My what young looking teeth you have?" or to be more crass, "Look at the nice teeth on that young thing," It is making crazy!

Every time I think we are making progress educating American business on the need to adopt new rules and use new tools to reach the new consumer majority of 40 plus adults; a major company takes a giant step backward. I would bet the creative team behind the Crest were all in their 20's and convinced that only "youth sells". Communicating age as seen by young eyes is most likely to offend rather than attract consumers who are maturing normally. As for me, I'll try another brand in the morning.

Boomeritus Could be Terminal

Have you heard? The oldest Baby Boomers turn 60 this year! It is being reported almost as if it was a surprise. While the maturity/majority market continues to grow, America's media companies, ad agencies and businesses have found the same reason to ignore the older market they have used for the past 40 years - focus on Baby Boomers.

As one of those Boomers, I find the majority of the ads soliciting my attention and business to be sophomoric, banal, misdirected or just plain stupid. Like the vast majority of Baby Boomers, I was not at Woodstock; I did not march in any Viet Nam war protests; nor was I an active member in one of the sexual revolution cells - not that there is anything wrong with that. Sure our experiences were different (Viet Nam, Watergate, Rock & Roll, dawn of the Information Age, Disco, Civil Rights Movement); but we will continue to age developmentally pretty much as our parents, grandparents and great grandparents did.

We will continue to be less ego centered (me generation) and more altruistic; less cynical and more spiritual; less objective and more holistic in our thinking; more trusting of our intuition; more spiritual; more autonomous and more in search of learning for the joy of learning rather to advance a career. The lens of our worldview will change as we move through life's third stage. Unfortunately, since, generally speaking, ad agencies and businesses don't know anythign about older adults they are using Boomers to "refine aging" as they would like it to be - an failing miserably with rare exception.

In the past decade, a plethora of "Boomer Focused" agencies, consulting firms and books have appeared. Unfortunately, not many have a grounded understanding of the values common to adullts in life's third stage who are maturing normally. Some early "Boomer Experts" prophicied that we would try to be teenagers forever and go kicking and screaming into later life; as if they like being narcicistic. But the lie resonated with the "youth market paradigm" of yesterday and became accepted a gospel.

Whether you like it or not, the Majority Market now and for the next 20 years is adults over age 40, who increasisngly share common values. To catch Boomeritus and only focus on the members of the Baby Boom is to ignore a HUGE portion of the older market, who still work, save, play tennis, dirve cars, buy groceries, build homes, teach, consult, lead, mentor...and buy, buy, buy. The antidote to Boomeritus is to first recognize that even in the market place and society the Majority Rules both the market place and societal values (See David Wolfe's recent treatise on the Psychological Center of Gravity http://agelessmarketing.typepad.com/ageless_marketing/2006/01/the_psyscologic.html). To shift your paridigm, you will need to abandon the rules and tools of yesterday's youth markets and learn to utilze the new tools being developed to attract and serve the majority.