BouncingBabyBoomer.com

Mother Nature's Facebook Page

As your friends grow fat and happy (or not), so do your own odds of each increase, says a fascinating new study. This might seem to be restating the obvious, but we rarely see it quantified or illustrated this dynamically.

How the study evolved is also a fascinating story involving two enterprising researchers who produced new renditions of unused data found in dusty old records from the Framingham Heart Study, one of the largest long-term efforts to track thousands of participants for cardiac risk starting in 1948.

All of it is highly relevant to we of the almost-aging. Today we get, as they didn't back then, that these very same cardiac risks factor out far beyond the heart to sustaining healthy bodies and brains as we age. Today we know (or some of us do) that lifestyle change can hugely reduce our risk for other unhappy endings such as Alzheimer's too. And today we are really beginning to see how often healthy habits can even trump our genes. If you had any doubt about any of that, data like this will help you believe it.

But in particular, this latest finding from Framingham adds a vivid picture of how fast and how pervasively health habits propagate between people. It's almost as if Mother Nature was using Twitter and Facebook unseen. Read the whole story and see its great graphics (from Wired magazine) here.

Pitch Points That Work (and Not) for Boomer Consumers

As both a journalist and a marketing vet, I spend some time watching sales pitches lobbed at people my age. At the same time, I am watching our evolving sense of identity as the gray on our heads grows more dense.

 

A recent piece aimed at ad pros by Robin Raff at MediaPost explores selling health care to Boomers. I found this angle a bit ironic since the larger question in Boomer health today is how the almost-aging can access decent service at decent rates, not what it takes to make us want it. But it was interesting to see what she thinks will be motivational, since ad types still seem conflicted about how to sell into the Boomer niche.

Below is my own rendition of some of the"pitch points" on which she and I agree along with some added thoughts from me:

• Self-Reliance
  Boomers may like hearing advice, but they don't want to be told what to do, Robin and her sources suggest.

This gets a "bingo" from me. Boomers don't like to feel like sheep, even when they appear to be moving in herds.

Cost and Convenience
Show Boomers how you will save them time and/or money, the author offers next.

As both a journalist and a marketing vet, I spend some time watching sales pitches lobbed at people my age. At the same time, I am watching our evolving sense of identity as the gray on our heads grows more dense.

 

A recent piece aimed at ad pros by Robin Raff at MediaPost explores selling health care to Boomers. I found this angle a bit ironic since the larger question in Boomer health today is how the almost-aging can access decent service at decent rates, not what it takes to make us want it. But it was interesting to see what she thinks will be motivational, since ad types still seem conflicted about how to sell into the Boomer niche.

Below is my own rendition of some of the"pitch points" on which she and I agree along with some added thoughts from me:

• Self-Reliance
  Boomers may like hearing advice, but they don't want to be told what to do, Robin and her sources suggest.

This gets a "bingo" from me. Boomers don't like to feel like sheep, even when they appear to be moving in herds.

As both a journalist and a marketing vet, I spend some time watching sales pitches lobbed at people my age. At the same time, I am watching our evolving sense of identity as the gray on our heads grows more dense.

 

A recent piece aimed at ad pros by Robin Raff at MediaPost explores selling health care to Boomers. I found this angle a bit ironic since the larger question in Boomer health today is how the almost-aging can access decent service at decent rates, not what it takes to make us want it. But it was interesting to see what she thinks will be motivational, since ad types still seem conflicted about how to sell into the Boomer niche.

Below is my own rendition of some of the"pitch points" on which she and I agree along with some added thoughts from me:

• Self-Reliance
  Boomers may like hearing advice, but they don't want to be told what to do, Robin and her sources suggest.

This gets a "bingo" from me. Boomers don't like to feel like sheep, even when they appear to be moving in herds.

That also gets a big "aye" from me. Most Boomers love a good bargain, especially today.

But note to any merchant tempted to bait and switch: We will take the time to verify the bargain is real. (See also next item.)