October 31, 2006

The steady glow of the Boom tube

By ERIC DEGGANS

It's something Linda Ellerbee can feel, like a cold breeze on the back of her neck, every time she meets with somebody from Madison Avenue.

At age 62, Ellerbee is a survivor. Her close-cropped, graying mane is a lasting souvenir from a battle with cancer 14 years ago that took her breasts and much of her hair. Her saucy, knowing attitude comes courtesy of a 13-year career in network TV news that included co-anchoring one of the smartest newscasts of the mid ?'0s, NBC News Overnight.

And now that she heads her own TV production company, Lucky Duck Productions, Ellerbee still can't get over how disinterested some advertising people are in bankrolling projects centered on the largest market around: baby boomers.

"Yes, our feelings are being hurt when we are told by television that we are too old to matter, because we have mattered our whole lives," said Ellerbee, calling from her office in New York City.

"Nobody's interested in anyone over the age of 42 anymore; it's such an odd thing:," said the producer, author and writer, now best known as host/producer of documentaries for Nickelodeon's Nick News series. "I just need for the 35-year-olds who run advertising and the 25-year-olds who run TV networks to catch up with the facts of life. We still have money, and we still watch television . . . They ought to be paying attention to us; we're their last and best hope."

Technically defined as the generation born between the years 1946 and 1964 -- demographers define generations in 18-year increments -- more than 78-million baby boomers are reaching ages previously seen as elderly and geriatric with different priorities and resources.

Consider these facts: Consumers older than 50 control half of the discretionary spending in the United States (Age Wave research); people ages 40 to 60 spend $2-trillion annually, twice the amount of those under 40 (Age Wave); those older than 50 account for 40 percent of consumer demand, control 80 percent of all money in savings accounts and own 79 percent of America?s financial assets (SoldOnSeniors.com).

As the bulge of the baby boomers teeter on the age of 49, they face a curious irony: They are aging out of the very youth-oriented advertising and marketing principles created decades ago to target them. Which means everything from TV series to magazine ads are focusing on the needs of younger consumers.But, armed with their youthful attitudes and bursting bankrolls, baby boomers are not prepared to shuffle off pop culture's centerstage without a serious fight.

"(Boomers) are always the focus of our culture and society and economy, and because of that, they have the power to shape things as they move along," said David Baxter, vice president of research for Age Wave, a San Francisco marketing research firm that specializes in older consumers. "It's a generation that has historically been transformative --  they don't just migrate through life stages, they transform them," Baxter said. "This year, as they turn 60, they have begun to transform the latest life stages and how they're portrayed.

But they face a mountain of assumptions: Older consumers don't change brands easily. Older consumers are too savvy to be swayed by peer pressure or fads. Older people aren't interested in consumer items such as fast food, fashionable clothing, electronics or entertainment. Older consumers will watch advertising messages targeted to young people, but young people won't reciprocate.