Getting a vital new conversation going -- aging and the boomers

This is a post related to a new client of ours at partners + jeary, but is relevant to marketing questions facing us all. The baby boomers, the immortal generation, is now, not only seeing their parents age, they are starting to age -- seriously age -- themselves. Jane Gross, of the New York Times, has jumped on this with her blog, "The New Old Age," http://newoldage.blogs.nytimes.com/, and as it regards our new clients, Jewish Home Lifecare, it is showing us the entire world of marketing through a new lens. The Pepsi Generation is facing some harsh realities. While much of the commentary on Gross's blog is bleak, it is our task to find the positive aspects, to see that there are ways to take control, to the best of our abilities, the lack of control that aging poses. This has to be more than an ad campaign. Not only because ads, as we know them, are not reaching enough audience at the right price, but because we have a unique opportunity to understand and define a leadership position in a growing social trend. Not easy. Certainly not like doing an ad for Shake 'n Bake (and, truth be told, that's not easy either.) But dealing with a loaded, charged, emotional, and rapidly evolving topic like this -- well, owning that conversation, starting it, being responsible stewards of it, that will be a challenge we relish. Stay tuned.