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11/21/2004: "Baby Boomers Mean Business."

Not too long ago, Madison Avenue ad people disregarded baby boomers --- those folks born between 1946 and 1964. They considered them set in their ways and not open to new products or services. So they concentrated their advertising on the younger set.

Well, that's changing. If you are a smart advertiser, you'll change too.

Spending by 50-plus households will increase by more than $900 billion this decade, according to the Mature Market Group of J. Walter Thompson Worldwide.

One study found older adults appeared in just 3 percent of magazine ads and only 2 percent of TV commercials. Today, more and more, older adults are being depicted in ads as regular people doing regular things.

An AARP study found that older consumers are just as likely as younger adults to experiment with or switch brands.

"Our study smashed a lot of myths about 50-plus consumers," said Stephen Frost, research director for AARP Publications, which publishes the 22.5 million-circulation AARP The Magazine. "Brand loyalty doesn't increase with age."

This year, AARP Publications used those survey findings in an ad campaign designed to get advertisers to rethink the mature market. The eye-catching ads, placed in trade magazines, showed older consumers who had been body-bagged or toe-tagged while still living, breathing and trying to shop.

Lured by the fact that baby boomers have more disposable income than their children, advertisers are devising the best possible strategies for reaching 50-plus consumers.

Just as 20-year-old models are a no-no, so are models who look too old, advertising executives say.

"We're an aging nation, and we have to adjust our strategies," said Jim Ferguson, chairman and chief creative officer of Dallas-based TM Advertising. "But no one wants to see some old guy selling him something."

Ann Fishman, a New Orleans-based consultant who advises companies on how to market to different generations, tells her clients that baby boomers think of themselves as 10 to 15 years younger than they really are.

"Fifty is the new 30," she said.

Boomers also are less likely than previous generations to respect authority, Fishman said.

"The Silent Generation grew up during World War II with figures like Patton, Truman and Ike, so using role models in advertising works well for that age group," she said. "Boomers, on the other hand, rebelled against the establishment when they were young, so they resent expert opinions and are more interested in what their peers have to say."

So with those thoughts in mind and with this new data, you would be smart to count the older folks in. That is if you want some of their money.