Starting a company when the rest of the business world is shrinking or budgeting very conservatively seems counterintuitive. But then Baby Boomers have been driving the small-business start-ups during this recession. Lori Bitter, CEO of Continuum Crew, and an expert on Boomers and what drives them, decided to do just that.

Bitter, the former President of JWT BOOM, founded Continuum Crew, the only completely integrated agency focused on consumers 40+. Following a surprise closure announced in January, Bitter set about creating the agency of the future to communicate with the nation’s oldest consumers. Three partners, also from JWT BOOM, join her: Patrick Mercier; Amy Ruff; and James Wood; and an experienced staff of mature-market professionals.

“The structure of this agency is very different from the firms we’ve all been part of before; it is driven by changes in media, consumption, the role of the consumer, and the need to both listen in new ways and to communicate in very different ways,” said Bitter. “We continue to provide a full range of traditional agency services to our clients – who include many firms who chose to follow us to Continuum – but we have the best set of online communications tools created for consumers over 40. And it isn’t just about the tools. We have the research, experience and insights to create relevant engagement strategies and communications.”

Patrick Mercier, who leads the Interactive team, is the former Senior Producer for JWT BOOM, garnering numerous awards for web sites and online campaigns. He has worked for Goodby Silverstein & Partners, Grey SF and Real Branding.

Amy Ruff is charged with Client Services and is the former Client Director for JWT BOOM. She and Bitter also worked together at Age Wave Impact, a mature-market focused agency in Emeryville, CA, owned by Boomer guru Ken Dychtwald.

James Wood joined the JWT BOOM team as Creative Services Director after a stint as Group Production Manager for Leo Burnett’s studio in Chicago. He is responsible for Continuum Crew’s Operations and day-to-day management.

Continuum Crew works with a national roster of clients in retirement community and active-adult real estate, retiree associations, packaged goods, software, health care, medical devices and death care.

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. [Read more →]