Second50Years Marketing Blog

Edelman Public Relations has created a “Boomer Insights Generation Group” to specialize in communications and marketing strategies to reach Baby Boomers.

The group was introduced today with the release of its recent research study of Boomers.

Edelman says it will focus on what it calls “Bull’s Eye Boomers,” highly influential members of that group. “Savvy marketers know the dangers in ‘one size fits all’ strategies. This is an especially huge ‘watch out’ when trying to engage the 78 million Americans born between 1946 and 1964,” said Jody Quinn, Edelman’s veteran consumer marketing counselor, executive vice president and founder of Edelman’s new Boomer Insights Generation Group.

Edelman will work with its clients using strategies developed from its proprietary results of the StrategyOne/Edelman Boomer Insights & Implications Study, through which 1,320 adults ages 43 to 64 were surveyed during July 2007.

Some data points from that study, and shared by Edelman in its press release, include:

• Although baby boomers span an 18-year range from 1946 to 1964, 28 percent of them do not consider themselves to be boomers. This is due partly to being on the edges of the generation and/or rejection of current boomer stereotypes.
• Of self-defined boomers, 72 percent feel that news and media try to appeal to a younger age group.
• The researchers found gender-related gaps on certain issues. For instance, men are more in favor of globalization; women are more likely to be loyal to one brand; and women, by a large margin, believe that government has the greatest responsibility to provide affordable medications to people 65 and older.

A few other boomer insights from the study include that they do not think someone is “old” until they are 74. Some 78 percent say they have “opportunities in my life.” And 75 percent agree that they do not feel as pressured to feel or act in certain ways. They are an optimistic bunch, driven by values, and seeking fulfilling, even indulgent experiences, and balanced lives.

Edelman’s new “Boomers Insights Generation Group” plans to offer clients a couple of workshops. The “Meet The Boomers” seminar is a two-hour workshop to explore insights about boomers. “Can You Dig It?” is a one- or two-day workshop that will delve deeply into a brand to identify its own “Bull’s Eye Boomer,” an Edelman-trademarked name for the best potential group of boomers with whom a brand should engage.

For more information, visit Edelman’s website. See the press release here.