Advertising to Baby Boomers: An Analysis of Interviews With UK Advertising Practitioners

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Baby boomers may be the largest demographic group the world has seen. In the UK anyone born between the years 1946 and 1964 are part of this group. This group are comparatively wealthy. They were the first age group to be described as consumers and the first to respond to the concept of brands. Many are highly visual, being brought up in the years when TV was the dominant media. Yet the advertising industry seems to have been slow at recognising the potential of them as a market. As part of my PhD into the subject I interviewed UK advertising agency art directors, copywriters and creative directors to find their views on advertising to baby boomers. This paper is based upon the analysis of those interviews. The title of the PhD is Advertising imagery for UK baby boomers aged 50 to 60: A comparison between the brand values expressed through advertising imagery and the consumer values held by older UK baby boomers

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Paper: Advertising to Baby Boomers

I am currently Subject Leader of Graphic Design and a Senior Lecturer on the BA (Hons) Visual Communication Course at Birmingham City University. I'm also Chair of the UK Direct Marketing Association's Charity for helping new creative graduates enter the integrated advertising industry (The Graeme Robertson Trust). I am completing a PhD on Advertising to Baby Boomers. For 30 years I worked in graphic design as an art director, designer, creative director and managing director of design consultancies, advertising agencies and marketing consultancies; winning 13 international and national awards in the process. I eventually became a part owner of, and helped to build, one of the world's leading consultancies in integrated marketing communications. In my 40s I achieved an MA in Information Design at De Montfort University, which is were my interest in designing for older consumers began. My supervisor at the time was Jeremy Myerson who is now Director of The Helen Hamlyn Foundation at the RCA, specialising in Inclusive Design. Also in my 40s I studied with the great graphic designer Milton Glaser in New York.