• by Stephen Reily , Columnist, July 6, 2010

Something interesting happened to us last week. We were about to release the results of our most recent survey on Boomer women. In this case, it was a sex survey, and the wire service we usually use was refusing to send our release.

I should first explain the survey's findings. More than half of our respondents told us that they are dissatisfied with their sex lives. But even more of them also told us they are doing something about it. Eighty percent said they masturbate and 56% use sex toys (another 10% is interested in them).

Faced with evidence that the Boomer woman is far less passive than marketers imagine, we drafted the following headline: "VibrantNation.com Research Shows that While Sex May Frustrate Boomer Women, They are Taking Matters into Their Own Hands."

Businesswire said that it couldn't run a headline that included the word "sex" with the phrase "taking matters into their own hands." It said it contained "innuendo" that has no place in a wire release.

It was happy to substitute a headline that focused on the "dissatisfaction" angle, but we were unwilling to run a headline that inaccurately portrayed the Boomer woman solely complaining about a life that has passed her by, while ignoring that she also feels empowered to do something about it. We decided to take a pass.

Why am I telling this story in a marketing blog?

Because it illustrates an important lesson about the market's discomfort with a vital aspect in the lives of over 40 million women 50+, and it does nothing to help marketers understand how to serve the intimate needs of these vibrant consumers.

As we all know, the nightly news features Viagra ads that advise viewers of side effects for aging men that include "four-hour erections."

Yet, an all-male panel of the FDA recently rejected Boehringer Ingelheim's application to approve flibanserin (the "female Viagra") for human use because the average test user reported an increase of "only" one additional satisfying sexual event per month. Although the flibanserin tests were conducted on pre-menopausal women, these results could represent a life-changing benefit for the 44% of our survey respondents who have sex less than once a month now.

A medical solution for female sexual dysfunction could build a giant business (The New York Times cited a 2005 study that estimated a market opportunity of at least $4 billion), yet women know that it will be addressed more slowly, and more quietly, than the same market opportunity for men.

Who will meet their needs first, and best?

I found one surprising answer to that question while reading a copy of the Vermont Country Store catalog.

You know the Vermont Country Story, right? That black-and-white catalog full of antique-y and out-of-stock products? Think again. Somewhere between the crochet-neck muumuus and the "Pssssst Instant Spray Shampoo," I found a half-page ad for "personal massagers for women." Its three offerings were all battery-operated pleasure devices; the store's website sells 15 kinds.

Sex-related products are gaining in mainstream distribution and sales, but I wonder how many marketers and retailers recognize that the fast-growing demographic of Boomer women may be driving much of this trend.

Smart marketers (like those at the Vermont Country Store, other women-friendly websites, and some drug chains) do recognize this fact, and are doing just what they should do by answering real human needs and offering products and services that actually improve life.

Maybe in the future they'll actually be able to say so, too.