Baby Boom Your Branding Strategy

When looking to create or update the branding strategy foryour business, it’s always important to take every demographic intoconsideration. According to the International Council of Active Aging (ICAA), the majority of adults over the age of 55 feel that advertising does notreflect their current lifestyle, and they are turned off by marketing messages targeted to them. Better Business Bureau is reminding business owners toinclude aging baby boomers in their branding and marketing.

Creating ads that work is one of the top goals for allbusinesses. And while many boomers are much more apt to rely on referrals thanthe younger generation, 90 percent of adults 50 and older also rely on andcomfortably use email, according to ICAA. Forrester Research found that 49 percent of consumers who are 66 or older rely on personal emails to direct themto sites, compared to 28 percent of non-seniors.

One of the problems in today’s marketing world is the fact that many businesses don’t even have a viable strategy for targeting thenation’s 77 million baby boomers, ICAA notes. When creating or sprucing up yourbranding strategy, the best way to make sure that it doesn’t neglect the agingpopulation is to get input from them directly.

BBB and ICAA recommend the following four steps tobusinesses that are looking to make their branding strategy more baby boomerfriendly:

• Create ads that work. Don’t assume that you’ll reach the aging population by default. Actively design ads to portray babyboomers in a positive, uplifting light. Don’t use negative stereotypes of older adults to humor younger audiences.
• Deliver the message effectively. Tell a storyinstead of lecturing. Let your ad arouse emotions and tug at the heart stringsof your audience. Help your audience understand the message by breaking uplengthy facts into short snippets.
• Use terms that work. The key to tugging at thehearts and minds of older adults is to speak their language. Make every wordcount. Business owners should focus their advertising using language thatimplies health, well-being and productivity.
• Focus your ad photos using realistic images. Accordingto a recent study by AARP, researchers discovered that images showing exercisethat looks like too much work turns off older adults. Grimacing, sweaty, straining models won’t entice many 50-plus adults to become engaged. Make sureyour business branding strategy uses images that are both realistic and fun.Baby boomers are more likely to engage with your brand if they feel accuratelyrepresented.

For more information on engaging the aging population visit theInternational Council of Active Aging, www.icaa.cc.