Age Lessons Forecasts Top 10 Boomer Trends for 2007 - From Ear Prompters to Anniversoirees to Retro Sports |
CHICAGO—If you're wondering what's on the Baby Boomer agenda for the coming year, Age Lessons, a consulting firm specializing in Boomer marketing and workplace issues, has assembled a list of the Top 10 Boomer Trends on the bubble for 2007. Trends include ear prompters, faux families, retro sports, cultural Renaissance, storytelling, micro housing developments, envirohats, vitaMEns, anniversoirees and sAGE power. “By dint of size and purchasing clout, the Boomer cohort continues to set trends in areas as wide-ranging as the workplace, wellness, technology, recreation, family life and politics,” noted Age Lessons President Laurel Kennedy, a well-known thought leader on Boomer marketing and workplace issues. “Boomers are redefining what mid-life looks, feels and sounds like in American society, embracing technologies that enable them to remain engaged and active longer.” 2007 Age Lessons Boomer Trends Forecast™ 1. Technology/Ear prompters. Those ubiquitous ear buds will enjoy another reincarnation providing real-time data feeds to Boomers having a “senior moment” by supplying missing data points. 2. Family/Faux families . Unmarried, single Boomers will form faux families to share daily living, holidays, birthdays and life's major moments, based on shared interests and affinities. 3. Sports/Retro sports. Anticipate a revival of non-contact, less demanding sports options like tether ball, flag tag, hopscotch, Earth Games that minimize the wear and tear on aging knees and cartilage. 4. Social/Cultural Renaissance. Boomers will pursue long-dormant artistic interests in music, painting, writing sidelined by the demands of work and child care. 5. Folklore/Storytelling returns with a modern twist as a social outlet that allows Boomers to connect with children, grandchildren, each other in response to ubiquitous, impersonal electronic media. 6. Housing/Micro developments featuring streets based on niche interests will pop up, with cul de sacs dedicated to a single activity—marathon mews, aerobic avenue, song street, hiking heights, golf grove, tennis terrace. 7. Safety/Envirohats. Flu epidemic? No problem. Air pollution? Breathe easy. Boomers will be fully protected by envirohats that generate a clean, toxin-free mini-atmosphere treated and balanced to individual requirements. 8. Health/Vita-ME-ns . The fountain of youth is at hand with custom-tailored vitamin elixirs and beverages designed to add what's missing and counteract what's extraneous, tuned to one's personal body chemistry. 9. Marriage/Anniversoirees. Reality TV has covered over-the-top weddings and Sweet Sixteen parties. Next up? Aging Boomers, celebrating successful marriages with blow-out 25 th anniversary parties that show the kids how it's done. 10. Work/sAGE Power. Gray is the new power color in grassroots politics, as aging Boomers rediscover their revolutionary roots and engage in the political fray to influence the electoral agenda and outcomes. |
Did You Know?
2/3 of all Boomers log on
to Facebook?
Boomer caregivers spend
over 150 minutes/person/
month on Facebook?
Boomers over-index on
MyLife, LinkedIn and Shopzilla?
Boomer caregivers browse 75%
more Facebook pages than the
average viewer?
43% of single adults are over
age 45
Twitter.com is in the Top 10 list
of popular sites for Boomer
caregivers?
Caregivers spend 16 times as many
minutes on Amazon as other
Internet users?
100% of Boomers visit business to
business and real estate web sites
each month?