• The New York Times, Wednesday, October 11, 2006 1 PM

Baby boomers--the 78 million people born between 1946 and 1964--are still coveted by marketers, even as they rapidly age out of the coveted 18-49 demo. Although they are a mass of contradictions as a group, most consultants are unanimous on one thing: The boomers thrive on change and reinvention. They did not grow up with the Internet, for example--yet they readily go online to plot out vacations and seek bargains. They have no use for nostalgia, yet they relate wonderfully to the icons of their past. Marketers say, for example, that Aleve hit a home run when it showed Leonard Nimoy, Mr. Spock of "Star Trek," having trouble making the "Live Long and Prosper" sign with arthritic hands. And "old age" is relative to them. Boomers under 50, when asked, "How old is old?" in a recent Roper survey, answered 68. Boomers over 50 said old age set in at 78. The concept of age-appropriate behavior--and thus, of age-related buying habits--is simply alien to them.

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