Book Review: Generation Ageless 1 - An Overview

Daniel Yankelovich founded a research firm in 1958 known as Yankelovich, Inc. One of their first projects was to study the generation the founder coined as the Baby Boomers, those of us born between the years 1946 and 1965. To learn more about how this study got started, please read this article by authors J. Walker Smith and Ann Clurman.

The central theme of the book emphasizes how the Boomers view themselves. They are a 78 million-person group with a mission; they know they are not finished changing the country for the better, so they refuse to think of themselves as getting old. In fact, they prefer to be thought of as "middle-ageless."

In 2006, the leading Boomers turned 60.* The trailing Boomers had just reached 40 years of age. From their birth, their numbers made tremendous impact on the economy and marketplace, and they knew it. Now in 2008, they are looking back on the world they have influenced for better or worse for over half a century and are determined to continue to matter. As a result, the generation as a whole seems obsessed about staying young in thought and body and spirit.

Boomers see that they have so much yet to accomplish that they are unwilling to retire in the same manner as previous generations. "Boomers see a plethora of causes worthy of their commitment. There is no shortage of choices for taking on a mission." (p. 211). Boomers are not slowing down. They have at least another 40 years of influence and they plan to make the most of it. By then they will have impacted an entire century through their viewpoints, buying power, political influence, marketing trends, social reform, and self-indulgent improvements. Although much of this effort has been focused on themselves, what they improve will pave the way to benefit the following generations.

*For the fun of it, here's a list of some of the Boomers who turned 60 in 2006:

Former President Bill Clinton
President George W. Bush
Steven Spielberg
Cher
Reggie Jackson
Liza Minnelli
Donald Trump
Diane Keaton
Sylvester Stallone
Dolly Parton
Susan Sarandon
Suzanne Somers
Loni Anderson
Linda Ronstadt
Susan St. James
Ken Starr
Oliver Stone
Joe Greene
Tommy Lee Jones
Pat Sajak
Bob Beamon
Candice Bergen
Connie Chung
Al Green
Cheech Marin
Naomi Judd
Richard Carpenter
David Lynch
Patricia Nixon Cox
Larry Csonka
Patty Duke
Sandy Duncan
Sally Field

Roughly 8,000 Baby Boomers turned 60 every day in 2006. The number will grow to more than 10,000 a day as the middle Boomers reach 60.

"Many things have been posited as characteristic of this generation: individualistic, spiritual, organic, experiential, experimental, adventurous, discriminating, extravagant, vigorous, self-righteous, rebellious, skeptical, questioning, searching, self-absorbed, self-seeking. To a greater or lesser extent, all of these things are true...but an underlying mindset of youthfulness accounts for all of them" (p. 25).

One of the most challenging aspects in the coming years for Boomers will be how they face the physical realities and intersect it with this pervasive attitude of youthfulness. It would be best for marketers and others who wish to earn the allegiance of this large segment of the population to take Boomers seriously. They aren't fading away any time soon.

Source: Generation Agless

by J. Walker Smith, President

and Ann Clurman, Senior Partner

Yankelovich, Inc.

HarperCollins Publishers, 2007.

US $24.95/ Canada $28.95/ UK L 14.99

Continue to the next segment of this review:

Part 2

Part 3

Part 4