• Ad Age, DM News, Monday, July 19, 2010 10:47 AM

Brian Steinberg reports that, according to Nielsen researchers, advertisers' focus on younger customers between the ages of 18 and 49 is out of date, thanks to a massive population of baby boomers, smaller salaries for younger families who are also likely to have fewer children, and changes in consumers' lifestyle sparked by new technology.

The key point is that there will be a lot of geezers trolling the aisles in coming decades. "This is not something that demographers and anthropologists have tons of models sitting around that they can talk about," says Doug Anderson, Nielsen's senior vp-research and thought leadership. "We as a species have never had this many older people before. It's new ground."

Boomers in 2010 account for approximately 38.5% of all dollars spent on consumer package-goods such as diapers, toothpaste and laundry detergent, Nielsen says, as well as 40% of customers paying for wireless services and 41% paying for Apple computers. Changing technology spawns new brand loyalties no matter what age the consumer may be, it points out.

DMNews' Jennifer Mann, meanwhile, offers case histories from Gaia Online and Rite Aid, both of whom are pursuing the skittish tween/teen market. "It's a road rife with pitfalls, but also rich in opportunity with the approximately 35 million teens in the U.S. controlling an estimated $208 billion in largely disposable income, according to Packaged Facts," Mann writes.

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