When I started managing the Boomer Summit for JWT BOOM, one of my first aging heroes was Dr. Gene Cohen. I read The Mature Mind and his bio. He was a thought leader in the aging of the brain. I don’t know what I expected when I met him the first time as he was keynoting our event. Perhaps an Ivy League scientist; a quasi politician / aging activist; an author selling a book. At any rate, he was not who I expected. He was so much more. With all due respect he was a cross between a brilliant scientist and Puck; smart, impish and impossibly hard to ignore. His body of knowledge on how the brain ages and what is possible in later life has been a rallying cry for seniors, business and technology.

I saw Harry (Rick) Moody’s presentation on creativity late in life at a presentation at Willow Valley Retirement Community and had long been fascinated with this notion of artistic self–actualization. I was able to review Gene’s book on late life creativity not long after this. I shared with Gene at our last conference that my Grandmother, now 96, began to draw in earnest in her 80’s. She entered her first art show and won the coveted Blue Ribbon in her late 80’s. He was delighted by her story.

What impresses me now, at his passing, is that Dr. Cohen lived his story. He was incredibly productive late in life—though his life was far too short. And, asserting his belief in “use it or lose it”, he started a company that created board games for people as they age. It defines his perspective and beliefs. Visit: www.genco-games.com.

The field of aging needs more heroes like Gene Cohen.

We have learned over many years of experience that naming is a tricky business. First, it is hard to find a great name that isn’t already in use, with intrinsic meaning, that is memorable to the target consumer. And like any creative endeavor, naming is subjective. Like many organizations (AARP included) Elderhostel had the challenge of moving away from a name that means “old” to something that will resonate with the large Boomer demographic.

The new name has great brand connotations – it is smart, vibrant and says more about the program than “elderhostel” did. But change is hard. Older consumers have very few premium quality product and service offerings that are targeted directly to them. And so there has been backlash – not about the name per se, but what it might mean to program. Older consumers are concerned that programs once dedicated to their style and pace of travel and learning will be overrun by younger consumers who will change the brand experience. Clearly Elderhostel has done an excellent job of defining their brand experience.

James Moses has used the new web site to address these concerns upfront. “Elderhostel has been, and Exploritas will continue to be, a program created for and attractive to older, primarily retired adults. . . Before 1975, older adults had very few organized ways to learn, grow, and experience adventure. When Elderhostel was founded, it was exclusively an organization for adults 60 and over. It was something special, almost a rite of passage, because it provided opportunities that weren’t previously available. Later the age limit was changed to 55, and this change had no impact on the average age of participants. When we launched Road Scholar in 2004, those programs had no age limit (other than the requirement of being legally an adult), yet the average age of participants was still over 60. For years we’ve allowed, even encouraged, people over 55 to bring along their younger spouse or partner, or for that matter, their adult children. . . we all need to remember and remind others that there is a huge difference between “actively seeking” and “not turning away.” Our goal as we relax the 55 age limit is not to change the atmosphere of our programs, but to adopt an open, welcoming posture. We don’t want to turn away any adult who has a genuine thirst for learning, affiliation and meaning, and I believe that anyone who looks beyond the sound bite will agree that this is our proper position and the right decision.”

Very well said, and certainly in the spirit of ageless marketing. Read more at: www.exploritas.org.

The past 15 years have been an uncharted journey. I started learning about the demography of our country and particularly the mature population as I was launching the original Medicare HMO programs.

My grandparents raised me, so speaking to seniors in a relevant, respectful manner was second nature. All the while we were talking to clients about the wave of Boomers who would be moving through the Medicare system. Little did I know I would be working for Ken Dychtwald’s team at Age Wave Impact – the author of the books that informed our client strategies.

Age Wave Impact, and now JWT BOOM, are history. The team at Continuum Crew steadfastly believes in the power of research-informed strategy for engaging mature consumers across all available media. No one does this better than experienced mature market experts.

While seniors and even Ikes, or the Silent Generation, seemed “knowable” for many marketing professionals, the Baby Boomer generation has presented a far greater challenge. Without ongoing research, a thorough understanding of generational influences, life stages, cultural anthropology and developmental psychology, we are a 20 year cohort of endless contradictions. Even knowledge and expertise cannot always explain the hairpin turns taken by the different segments of this population on their way through the aging process.

So when our clients ask, “What are Boomers like?” we stifle a smile. They are both like and unlike generations aging before and after them.

What is surprising to us is that brand and marketing managers forget that the Baby Boomer “boogey man” is everywhere around them every day. Boomers are the people working next to them—in the aisle of the store, in their book club, on their “friends” list. And to know them is to observe them in their natural habitat . . . not just through a mirrored wall in a focus group.

So we dedicate this blog to an anthropological approach to the “pig in the python.”

We are observing Boomers au naturel and interpreting these observations with the help of our research and trend monitoring tools. Join us, and help us, as the journey continues!

As Baby Boomers age and become grandparents themselves, Grandparents Day is taking on a whole new symbolic meaning of how we age, how we parent and, ultimately, how we grandparent.

According to data from Grandparents.com, 54 percent of today’s grandparents are Baby Boomers. Almost 38 million grandparents are younger than 65 years old. To keep this in perspective, remember there are about 78 million Baby Boomers.

That’s a lot of grandparents and prospective grandmommies and daddies out there. To read the rest of the article, go to Examiner.com…