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All roads lead to boomers

The Financial Post, 9/29/07

Abstract:

After many frustrating years trying to target coveted 18- to 53-year-old consumers during the 1900s tech boom, marketers have finally wised up to where the demographics were leading them — towards baby boomers.

Baby boomers, those born between 1947 and 1966, make up more than a third of Canada's population, control 55 percent of Canada's discretionary spending power, own 80 percent of the wealth in financial institutions and hold 50 percent of the credit cards, according to the Baby Boomer Marketing Division of National Public Relations.

"I think everybody is starting to jump on the bandwagon right now and in the next few years you will see even more [marketing] spending," said Lina Ko, a partner at National who oversees the division.

Ads with images of sailboats and sandy white beaches have proliferated for years from financial institutions trying to court pre-retirees, but the broader scope of baby boomers were often ignored a decade ago.

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