Ageism kept creeping into the Super Bowl spots tonight. I counted three older adults on motorized scooters/wheelchairs—one of them a former Chicago Bear who is also a boomer. I continue to wonder why men want to be portrayed as:

1. Immature buffoons
2. Hen-pecked men
3. Men in prison or getting dumped

I don’t think agency planners are giving creatives the actual brief on the Super Bowl audience. (Hint: It’s not just men! And the men who are watching aren’t all 24!) And really, GoDaddy, Denny’s and Skechers spent money on time, but not creative. Go big or stay home.

Google’s French spot was the highlight for me. To reference David Wolfe, it was “ageless.” We all understand the power of the tool and they did an amazing job of storytelling in 30 seconds. Loved it.

I think Kia’s Sock Monkey spot was very funny and unexpected (loved the tattoo!), as was KGB. It’s hard to make tech engaging; KGB did; Intel missed. Etrade revived an old direction, but upped their game a bit with the girl babies and the airplane spot. It was cute but derivative. Audi did a great job with “Green Police” although it will likely hit a nerve with some consumers (at least on our coast).

The advertising was very uneven this year; makes me wonder if we put too much emphasis on this event as a benchmark for great advertising. Perhaps Pepsi had the right idea – taking it to the streets! This is one year the game was WAY better than the creative – go Saints. Laissez les bons temps rouler!

The first half of the Super Bowl is complete and the ads are in. This might be the first year I enjoyed the football more than the advertising. Tru TV and FLO TV stood out for me as smart and interesting spots. And I’m talking about FLO TV’s My Generation spot which had wonderful storytelling qualities, a great anthem and had intergenerational energy and values. And I’ll give a nod to Honda for consumer generated content and an idea that represented the brand.

I think the network did a horrible job of pairing ads in the breaks. Did we really see two spots back to back with men in no pants? Seriously? And neither very good. And back as a theme – hen-pecked men/bad men: Teleflora, FLO TV and the Dodge Charger. It all makes me want to stuff Doritos and finish my Bud.

Thursday January 21 at 10:30 a.m.

The International Builders’ Show is the largest annual building industry tradeshow in the country, and the National Association of Home Builders is holding the 50+ Lifestyle Central Suite at IBS. This is a new addition to the 50+ HC offerings at IBS in intended to be a way to engage with the leaders and influencers in the Active Adult Builder community including the associate members of the industry. The 50+ Lifestyle Central should be the hub of activity for IBS attendees that are actively involved in the 50+ Housing Segment of the market. I am looking forward to seeing how this new format works.

If you’ll be at IBS next week, come participate in our panel “Networking Using Facebook, Blogs and New Media to Market Your 50+ Communities Panel”: Social media is gaining a foothold in the housing industry – find out how to make it work for your business. Social media, like signage to your active adult community, steers prospects to your web site and builds awareness and credibility. In this interactive session, find out how to use these new tools and technologies to connect to potential 50+ buyers, get them talking about your community and build your sales. We will be sharing our research on how different mature consumers are using social media.

Exploritas is the new name chosen for the very successful Elderhostel program. The program offers nearly 8,000 educational tours in every state and over 90 countries. The Elderhostel program has been the not-for-profit leader in educational travel since 1975, and has effectively targeted seniors who value in-depth, engaging travel experiences. Read more from President James Moses.

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.

Continuum Crew – Engaging Consumers > 40 has moved into new offices on Maiden Lane in San Francisco. Maiden Lane has been the launchpad for a number of successful agencies.

The new agency, founded by Lori Bitter, former President of JWT BOOM, is the only completely integrated agency focused on consumers 40+. She is joined by three partners, also from JWT BOOM: Patrick Mercier, EVP Interactive; Amy Ruff, EVP Client Services; and James Wood, EVP Operations; plus an experienced staff of mature-market professionals.

“Maiden Lane is a fantastic location for our crew – it is a stimulating environment without an ounce of corporate underpinning,” laughed Bitter. “You have the beauty of the boutiques like Hermes, Chanel and Marc Jacobs, plus the people-watching at the cafes and bistros. It is as though someone dropped a little European street into heart of San Francisco’s Union Square. When we were moving in, there was a classical opera singer performing at the Gates in the Lane.”

Find Continuum Crew at 111 Maiden Lane, Suite 540, in San Francisco, or online at www.continuumcrew.com.

On July 8, Media Bistro reported stats from iStategyLabs for Facebook.

The report says that there have been rumors that “younger users are being alienated by their parents joining the service. And this data seems to prove it.”

All jokes aside, my grad school stats text “How To Lie and Cheat with Statistics” seems apropos here. At the very least, this is opinion-bending—at its worst, it is faulty analysis and logic.

Media Bistro chose to headline this article, “Next for Facebook: Early Bird Specials?” While my initial response is some sort of primal scream, this really is “everything old is new again.”

Apparently Facebook’s key advertising demographic is age 18-24. That demo is now outpaced by 25-34 (60.8% growth) year olds and 35-54 (190.2% growth) year olds, and then there is the dreaded 513.7% growth in the 55+ demo.

“That puts a damper on Facebook’s 70.8% overall growth, which looks good on its face but doesn’t bode well for advertising.” (The site also experienced 142.4% growth in Atlanta, but we aren’t blaming the South for its demise!) [Read more →]

Continuum Crew has had several months of celebration – new clients, client successes with new campaigns, and of course, completion of our wonderful office on Maiden Lane in San Francisco. But today we are very excited about the launch of our new website, www.continuumcrew.com and blog, “Boomers in the Wild.”

Boomers in the Wild is an important part of the expanded services provided by Continuum Crew, which includes consulting, product development, and trend spotting in the boomer and senior space, in addition to the full complement of agency services provided by this team at JWT BOOM. We continue to offer a complete suite of research services, and now have expanded that to listening, observing and monitoring trends in the mature consumer market and reporting those to our clients and followers.

Watch for a new trend report from The Boomer Lab on the top trends for 2010. The Boomer Lab and The Senior Lab at Continuum Crew are also currently focused on 40+ consumer user studies in online media, and our proprietary approach to helping clients analyze their sites to maximize the results of their campaigns.

Join us in a virtual celebratory toast!