While television in particular has relentlessly pursued the 18 – 34 age group, here’s something to think about.  The baby boomers, most of whom are now age 50 and above, generate over 40% of all disposable income in the U.S., buy half of all new cars and 60% of packaged goods — and are online…

Who do you trust when it comes to choosing a product or service?  People you know top the list, but the second most-trusted source is online consumer ratings.  Target is a great example of a retailer who lets buyers rate products and post their comments, good or bad, online.  It may seem counterintuitive, but the…

Studies show that, as we age, we become more right-brained.  And that’s the hemisphere where memory, emotion and our senses rule.  So if you’re marketing to baby boomers and beyond with a purely logical appeal, you’re not getting the biggest bang for your buck.  Look at every part of your “pitch,” from headline and copy…

Not sure that owning a “brand” is all that valuable?  Consider this.  Every major supermarket sells “store brands” – generic versions of the branded products on its shelves.  Every consumer knows that the same companies that make the name brand products often make the store brands.  So if customers know that a store brand is…

When you can order from thousands of choices on Netflix or browse a ton of titles at your local video store, how could Redbox – the DVD kiosk you see at McDonald’s and supermarkets, stand a chance?  They saw a niche and filled it.  They’re in more locations (in other words, more convenient) than Blockbuster. …

Sure, Walgreen’s Health & Wellness division is smart.  Its in-store clinics, staffed by nurse practitioners, can treat patients faster and cheaper for everyday maladies.  And while the clinics are self-supporting profit centers (they pass break-even in 2 to 3 years), the bonus is that nearly a third of patients become new customers for Walgreen’s pharmacies. …

Too often, businesses behave as though there’s one big, homogeneous market.  So a great first step in making your marketing more effective (and this is true whether you sell to other businesses or consumers) is to divide your target audience into segments with similar needs and interests.  For example, if you’re selling bank services, a…

A new iPhone app makes it easier to bring donuts to the office.  Using DunkinRun.com, you can alert co-workers that you’re making a donut run.  They go to an online menu and add their choices to your list.  You print the list and hand it to the cashier at Dunkin’ Donuts, or simply show them…

To promote its new vampire series, “True Blood,” HBO put up signs that read, “In Case of Vampire.”  The signs have rows of wooden stakes attached which can be snapped off by passersby.  What’s really a windfall for HBO is the number of people who have taken pictures of the signs and posted them on…

In the past two years, U.S. adults have doubled their time online to nearly four hours a day.  This includes people who are heavy newspaper readers.  In fact, the internet now accounts for a third of all the media we’re exposed to during the day.  Is a third of your media budget devoted to online…