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Stephen Reily

Member since August 2008Contact Stephen

Stephen is the Founder, Chairman & General Counsel of IMC, an agency that develops new products for global consumer brands through brand licensing and other partnerships. IMC's influencer marketing division is Vibrant Nation, the, leading online community and influencer network for women 35+.

Articles by Stephen All articles by Stephen

  • Divorce, Boomer-Style, And What It Means For You  in Engage:Boomers on 04/10/2017

    The Pew Research Center recently reported that Americans 50+ are divorcing at twice the rate they did 25 years ago. In 1990, only 5 out of every 1,000 Americans got divorced in a given year; by 2015 that number had risen to 10 out of every 1,000 - during a period when divorce rates among Americans aged 25-39 declined by 21%.

  • Influencer Marketing For Boomers: It's About Experience, Not Marketing in Engage:Boomers on 02/13/2017

    Influencer marketing is not only the fastest-growing trend in marketing; it's more than a trend and appears poised to become a permanent fixture in marketing and communications planning. 84% of marketers say they will use it in 2017.

  • Hillary And Michelle: Boomer Influencers Rock! in Engage:Boomers on 12/12/2016

    Hillary Clinton and Michelle Obama represent the bookends of the Baby Boomer generation. Clinton (now 69) was born in 1947 and Obama (who will turn 53 before her husband leaves office) was born in 1964.

  • Boomerang Kids Forever: The New Normal in Engage:Boomers on 10/10/2016

    While unemployment seemed to drive millions of young adults back to their childhood homes, the fact of having gotten jobs did not result in their moving out. Recent research suggests that the adult Millennial child and his or her Boomer parents are now a permanent part of our landscape. Marketers need to face this new reality: their "coveted 18-34 year old" is probably eating food, sitting on furniture, and streaming content via wifi that has all been purchased by his or her midlife parent.

  • In Video, Boomers are #1 in Engage:Boomers on 08/08/2016

    Recent research from BuzzStream and Fractl on generational use of content tells us that the #1 content form that Boomers share is video, and they share video content more than either GenXers or Millennials. If you are trying to reach Boomers (or any consumer over 45), you'd better make video a part of your plan.

  • Women STILL Hate Wall Street - Just When They Need It Most in Engage:Boomers on 06/13/2016

    Many years after some of the nation's largest financial services firms set out to win business from Boomer women, we're still in a spot where little has actually changed. Like a chauvinistic boss who thinks his resistant female employees will finally respond if he just keeps trying, the industry's attempts to charm women assumes that simply wanting to succeed will get them to respond differently. Well, it hasn't worked.

  • Women 45+: Worth Targeting In EVERY Category in Engage:Boomers on 04/11/2016

    As in other categories, these women are routinely ignored or taken for granted. While people who read this column know that Boomers and Gen X consumers are worth targeting, you may not realize that they are worth targeting not just for age-related products and services but for all products, including housewares.

  • How To Sell Fitness? It's All About Energy! in Engage:Boomers on 02/08/2016

    As January spills into February, New Year's resolutions may be also be falling away, but people still want to be fit, and marketers across categories, from gyms to food to clothing, still need to sell fitness. How should they talk about it when resolutions may already be more about 2017 than 2016?

  • Smaller Homes, Second Homes: More Homes Mean More Furniture in Engage:Boomers on 12/14/2015

    Tens of millions of Americans 45+ are going to buy new houses in the next few years. Are you ready to sell them the new furniture they need?

  • Boomers Want To Hear About The 'America' In American-Made Cars  in Engage:Boomers on 10/12/2015

    You know that Boomers love their country, but did you know that they shop that way, too?

Comments by Stephen All comments by Stephen

  • Influencer Marketing For Boomers: It's About Experience, Not Marketing by Stephen Reily (Engage:Boomers on 02/13/2017)

    Thanks, Jim.  I especially lke your point "Moreover, women are three times more likely as men to recommend brands when they know friends are looking for a particular product or service."In terms of influencer marketing, this means that women who are influenced (usually by a peer) are 3X more likely to become influencers themselves.  They represent a great investment.

  • Boomerang Kids Forever: The New Normal by Stephen Reily (Engage:Boomers on 10/10/2016)

    For anyone interested, here's another articles addressing this trend, this time on the long-term savings habits of Millennials:https://www.vancity.com/AboutVancity/News/MediaReleases/MillennialsLivingAtHome-Sep29-2016/

  • Boomerang Kids Forever: The New Normal by Stephen Reily (Engage:Boomers on 10/10/2016)

    Exactly! There are millions of millennials who will not be buying starter homes (or even renting starter apartments) as home builders and developers expected.

  • Women STILL Hate Wall Street - Just When They Need It Most by Stephen Reily (Engage:Boomers on 06/13/2016)

    Great point about financial literacy and education. I agree with its importance, but also feel that the education can happen at the same time as the management. Nutritional education is part of learning how to lose weight, but Weight Watchers manages to get people doing both at the same time. I've seen it in the lives of real people, and we see it working at the startup our research informed: www.sum180.com

  • Women STILL Hate Wall Street - Just When They Need It Most by Stephen Reily (Engage:Boomers on 06/13/2016)

    Thanks, Kristi, for summarizing so many of the reasons that this gap should not exist. Why do you think it is that we can keep telling this to the industry but not much changes?

  • Smaller Homes, Second Homes: More Homes Mean More Furniture by Stephen Reily (Engage:Boomers on 12/14/2015)

    For anyone who's interested in creative ways to market furniture to big spenders (who aren't young), check out my friend Bridget Brennan's post about Restoration Hardware's use of experiential retail marketing on a large scale in Chicago: http://onforb.es/1O79ult This is just what the midlife consumer is looking for!

  • Smaller Homes, Second Homes: More Homes Mean More Furniture by Stephen Reily (Engage:Boomers on 12/14/2015)

    I want to thank Bill McLoughlin and his colleagues at Furniture Today for leeting us conduct this research and present it at the Furniture Today Leadership Conference - a great group of manufacturers and retailers who appreciate the value of their middle-aged customers!

  • Are You Ready To Be Dumped? by Stephen Reily (Engage:Boomers on 04/13/2015)

    You are so right - about travel, too.  Our Vibrant Nation research showed that women are making  travel (destination and spending) decisions by themselves - even for trips where they are bringing their husbands along.  Thanks!

  • 3G's Creative Destruction Of Kraft/Heinz by Michael Bollinger (Marketing: CPG on 04/08/2015)

    Great analysis.  The sad point, from either end of the political spectrum, is that running either of CPG businesses with a strong spirit of innovation and growth is the best way to serve shareholders AND keep the efficiency vultures at bay.  Employees will now pay the price for decades of risk-averse complacency by executives and boards who couldn't adapt to new markets, new trends, and a changing consumer landscape.

  • Do You Read Restaurant Menus In The Bathroom? by Stephen Reily (Engage:Boomers on 10/13/2014)

    Hi Anne-Marie and thanks for sharing your thoughts - I like a friendly debate. You make some good points, which were certainly clear from our research and I hope were clear from my piece. As I pointed out, 40% of respondents told us that wearing reading glasses could age them, meaning that a majority of women do NOT feel that way. So you are in good company! The results we uncovered were not predetermined, however, and the survey was conducted among our community of 100,000+ women 45+ at Vibrant Nation. I wouldn't write something here that wasn't grounded in real research, and in fact these results were consistent with the 7 years of research we've done showing that, for many women, physical challenges that arrive at midlife are often associated with aging in a negative way. We have managed successful influencer campaigns for stylish reading glasses as well, so I certainly understand that there is a wide range of consumer feeling on this topic. Marketers who ignore that all these different views, however, do so at their own risk.

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