Articles
The Journal on Active Aging brings articles of value to professionals dedicated to older-adult quality of life. Content sweeps across the active-aging landscape to focus on education and practice. Find articles of interest by searching the article archives in three ways: Enter a keyword in the articles search bar; click on search by topic; or type a keyword or phrase in the general search bar at the top of the page.
Topic- Marketing
Tackling graywashing: what drives it, how to recognize and avoid it by Marilynn Larkin, MA
Shortly after the launch of the International Council on Active Aging (ICAA)’s Changing the Way We Age® Campaign, ICAA CEO Colin Milner was researching his book chapter for the World Economic Forum when he had an “aha” moment. “In our ICAA publications and press releases about the campaign, we had rightly pointed out that Boomers and their parents are finally becoming a market force,” Milner says. “But the downside to that development is that many companies are now jumping on the bandwagon with products that are completely inappropriate for older adults.” With that, he came up with a word—graywashing—to describe the phenomenon.
moreMarketing
Innovative premarketing strategies: how to close sales before breaking ground by Marilynn Larkin, MA
It’s one thing to sell a community or facility when the property is up and running, and all the bells and whistles are in place. But generating excitement about something still in the development stage can be a challenge. That’s especially true if you’re marketing to Boomers, according to Diane Gaynor, an owner of San Diego, California-based Roni Hicks and Associates, a full-service marketing firm for master-planned communities.
“Marketing used to be based on set parameters that said, ‘If you’re this age, you’re supposed to act this way.’ That’s been blown out of the box,” Gaynor declares.
Marketing
Hiring a marketing agency: seven critical considerations by Kathy Osen East, MPA, MIRM
If you want to hire a new marketing, public relations or advertising agency, or wonder if the firm you currently use is the best possible marketing partner, you could benefit from asking yourself a few key questions. The knowledge you will gain by contemplating these questions will clarify your expectations.
moreMarketing
Boomers and social media: six tips for getting started by Lori Bitter, MS
In 2010 the biggest marketing question of all types of business is about the use of social media. In the aging consumer arena, we face these questions:
• Are people ages 50-plus online?
• Are they using social media?
• Are they reading blogs?
Marketing
The six Ps of marketing by Helen Foster
For the past 15 years or so, I’ve supported developers and government entities in their efforts to attract and accommodate age 50-plus adults, and I’m often asked to advise on “best practices”—illuminating what’s worked for others and, perhaps more importantly, what has not. The dialogue almost always begins with “product” observations. These might include popular development paradigms or product types, clubhouse or common space amenities, level plans and floor plans, unit mixes, and so on.
moreMarketing
Brand matters in an aging marketplaceby G. Richard Ambrosius, MA
With all the ink being devoted to Baby Boomers these days, one could easily conclude there is no need to look at anyone over 65, at least this year, when developing branding strategies. It would be a critical mistake, however, to ignore what we have learned about older consumers and branding in the last couple of decades. While the life experiences of Boomers have been uniquely different due to the size of this cohort, the values that will guide them in life’s second half are not all that different from those of their parents and grandparents.
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