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« What Marketers Need to Know About Aging Boomers (Part 2) | Main | What Marketers Need to Know About Aging Boomers (Part 4) »

May 24, 2007

What Marketers Need to Know About Aging Boomers (Part 3)

How to Make Aging a Plus in Marketing

Turning 40 makes some people feel like they’ve just been slugged in the gut by a prizefighter. Looming thoughts of their mortality throw them off balance. Jung’s first task of aging – facing the reality of aging and dying – has presented itself.

Initial responses to midlife reminders of our ephemeral earthly essence widely vary, some of which facilitate continuing personal development, while others work against it.

People look to cosmetic surgery, skin treatments, hair transplants and other measures to express in physical ways a deep desire to deny their aging. Some work on changing lifestyle habits, but many soon return to old ways.

Coming to terms with aging and dying is a long process. Most of us generally do not achieve resolution of this task until well into our 60s. Some never do. Sadly, they face an increasingly sorrowful old age filled with regrets and grief. They may spend a king’s ransom to see a younger face in the mirror each morning, but no amount of anti-aging potions, injections and surgery can retard the progress of aging – only the appearances of aging.

Those who have successfully carried out Jung’s first task of aging have grown ageless in their outlook. Moreover, they have discovered that the last quarter of life is not as lousy an experience as they might have anticipated at age 40.

One benefit of reaching this state is an almost adolescent feeling of being beyond harm’s way. Abraham Maslow saw this arising from a lifestyle in which “A day is a minute, a minute is a day.” It’s about living in the moment in a constructive way.

Dove_proage_3 Dove’s new Pro-aging campaign for a line of personal products makes it probably the very first in its category to follow Jung’s admonition to face the reality of aging not only withy dignity, but with joy. In this view, age is to be celebrated, not denigrated. As Eleanor Roosevelt said, “Beautiful young people are accidents of nature; beautiful older people are works of art.”

Knowledge of our own aging and dying may cause us deep dread, but it may also goad us to pursue immortality through our works, children, and relationships. This is the foundation of legacy aspirations – a dimension of life in its second half rarely reflected in marketing. A focus on legacy is the creative alternative to a narcissistic focus on aging. By focusing on our legacy, we transcend the depressing realms of self pity over our aging and paralyzing fear of dying.

So how does this information inform more effective marketing? Readers who have a copy of Ageless Marketing may turn to page 330 to see a print ad that invokes legacy values. Patek Phillipe has run ads on that theme for years because it has been so effective. The ad can also be seen here.

Next: It’s Not About Nostalgia; It’s About Life Review

May 24, 2007 in Advertising, Aging, Consumer Behavior, Human Development, Marketing |

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Comments

Carolina Event Planning

You are so right! The marketing folks who follow the Baby Boomers will do well.

Ed
http://www.CarolinaEventPlanning.com

Posted by: Carolina Event Planning | May 24, 2007 at 10:26 PM

The Individual Voice

That quote by Eleanor Roosevelt is wonderful. "Beautiful young people are accidents of nature. Beautiful old people are works of art." Thank you for that.

Posted by: The Individual Voice | August 08, 2007 at 02:28 PM

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