A New Gray Dawns
Forget "I've fallen, and I can't get up."
Marketers today appeal to aging baby boomers' vivacity and adventurousness
As the gigantic baby-boomer generation ages, more and more marketers are
revamping how they reach the graying consumer. Gone are the portrayals of
retirees sitting in rocking chairs and playing bingo.
Today's older consumers spend on everything from clothes and beauty
products to sporting goods and homes. And they feel inclined to try out
different brands and new products. They're living longer and more
healthfully then their parents did and feel increasingly comfortable with
the notion of advancing age.
Here's a look at some of the ads that have been created specifically to
appeal to the boomer set.
Lovelier the Second Time Around?
After a nine-year hiatus from the brand, supermodel
Christie Brinkley is once again representing CoverGirl, this time as the
face for the company's new Advanced Radiance Age-Defying Makeup.
Brinkley, age 51, offers a sharp contrast to the teenage and
twentysomething models who usually represent cosmetics. CoverGirl hopes
that Brinkley will help bring back boomer women who used its products in
the 1970s and 1980s.
Dove's New Wings
The soap brand believes that consumers have grown
tired of seeing advertising portray beauty in the same old way in
advertising: with young, smooth-skinned, superslim women. In a massive ad
campaign, Dove cast everyday-looking women of various ages and body types,
suggesting that the definition of beauty needn't be so narrow.
The provocative campaign has caught the eye of women around the world.
Dove's sales and market share have jumped accordingly.
Taking the Dough Road
Pillsbury wanted to show aging consumers in an
upbeat, positive light, so it settled on portraying empty-nesters eagerly
embarking on new adventures now that the kids are gone.
In one TV spot, the male half of a fiftyish couple dabbles in new food and
exercise regimens as his female partner affectionately looks on. As the
couple settles down to a dinner that includes Pillsbury's frozen rolls,
she remarks that she can only tolerate so much experimentation, "at
least at the dinner table."
The message: Life after kids is a new adventure, and Pillsbury's frozen
rolls can fit right in.
Scoot 66
When it reentered the U.S. market in 2000, the
motor-scooter maker thought its products would appeal just to customers in
their twenties and thirties.
It turns out that boomers in their fifties are also buying the scooters,
which are reminiscent of the brightly colored models from their youth. To
appeal to older consumers, Vespa has boosted quality and added high-end
accessories including leather seats.
Recreation's Golden Age
Del Webb, the retirement-community division of Pulte
Homes, learned that that its residents, whose average age is 62, aren't
living the sedentary, tranquil lifestyles commonly associated with retired
people.
Its network of retirement communities now features expanded fitness rooms
and countless activities for residents. And in its marketing, Del Webb
presents the notion of retirement as a time to volunteer, pursue hobbies,
and exercise in the company of friends.