I have been working in the « senior market » now the « mature market » for over 30 years. I started my publishing company when the first « original
I worked with seniors (60s – 80s) doing publications, expos, public relations before the Boomers arrived (me included). My company name has changed over the years and now is The Mature Market Network and on the web as MarketMe2.com. My publications have also changed from newspaper tabloids to slick magazines.
Seniors and Boomers come from different generations and have to be marketed as such; I don’t lump them together. Seniors today watch a lot of TV and this is an ideal medium to reach them IF you have the bucks. If you don’t, try direct mail and next try print medium. Radio is the last resort and like TV, you have to have a lot of money. ; Direct mail is the ideal for both markets. All « senior » publications or inserts of large dailies in NJ are distributed to the homes or placed in community clubhouses. They include mostly health, financial and home improvement ads.
Advertisers attract seniors (70 plus) with discounts or « free » offers; or free food seminars. My « senior » magazine « Caring for Mom & Dad » targets the boomer caregiver children with health ads and news.
The magazine is FREE. It is distributed in medical waiting rooms. ; The radio show targets boomers and focuses on similar topics of caring for elderly parents. I now reach the senior market through the boomer kids. I find that the majority of « seniors » I reached in the late 70s have major health issues and are ; visiting doctor offices or traveling or both. They watch a lot of TV and use the computer only for email. The boomers (myself included) are the « forever teenagers » and again, the best medium to reach us is direct mail.
The next would be TV, computer internet, print and the last radio. I just want to end with this: friends of mine, late 50s, just moved to a « senior » community and said they were embarrassed to tell me or anyone. Another friend (mid 50s) refuses to join the AARP; he is NOT old he says. THAT mindset says it all about
Boomers; AARP and «
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Patricia Jasin
