---------- Forwarded message ----------
Date: Sat, 1 Mar 2003 14:44:09 EST
From: BrentLance@aol.com
To: sixties@lists.village.virginia.edu
Subject: New book about Vietnam era baby boomers and "genism"
Sixties-L Moderator.
Â
I'm a former list member with several prior posts on the site, as well as a
personal narrative. Of interest to you and the community is the publication
of my new book, Marketing to Leading-edge Baby Boomers. I've pasted a media
release below.
Â
I will be unveiling this book in two weeks with a speech I'm giving to the
National Council on the Aging / American Society on Aging joint conference.
Â
Among other topics, the book explores how denigration of baby boomers during
the Vietnam War era has led to increasing vilification of the generation in
contemporary media. (e.g. David Horowitz, et. al.). I raise serious concerns
about societal intolerance of baby boomers and the growing impact of ageism
(employment discrimination, for one).
This is not just a marketing book. It's a new look at discriminatory behavior
that's getting worse.
Â
Best regards,
Â
Brent Green
Â
Brent Green & Associates, Inc.
1011 So. Valentia St., Suite #86
Denver, COÂ Â 80247
Â
303-743-0140
303-743-0373 (fax)
303-520-7200 (cell)
<A HREF="http://www.marketingtoboomers.com/">www.marketingtoboomers.com</A>
Â
Baby Boomers Poised to Confront
Stereotypical Marketing and Ageism
Â
Marketing to Leading-edge Baby Boomers
Brent Green
March 1, 2003, Denver, Colo. â^À^Ó Americans born between 1946 and 1955 are ready
to shatter traditional assumptions about early retirement. Their journey into
the Golden Years will be groundbreaking.
      Called Leading-Edge Baby Boomers, this forceful segment has over $500
billion in spending power and today controls a significant percentage of the
nation's assets. Even more staggering is an unfolding demographic truth: more
than 30 percent of Americans will be over 50 by 2010.
      Brent Green, an experienced counseling therapist and award-winning
creative director and copywriter, has published a book focused on this
lucrative pre- and early-retirement segment. Entitled Marketing to
Leading-edge Baby Boomers, Green's analysis reveals the psychological,
sociological and interpersonal dimensions of a generation quickly reaching
the life stage associated with quiescence.
      As the author declares: â^À^ÜThey will not be quiet, calm, or disengaged.
They will collectively redefine the connotations of aging and the purpose of
life's closing years. They will set the stage for a long-term reorientation
of American business to the value of its previously most undervalued
population segment. They will bring to aging culture what they bequest to
youth culture when they were boisterously becoming young adults four decades
ago.â^À^Ý
      Today, opportunity and reality are at odds. Somewhere between
Woodstock Nation and Over-The-Hill, the most sought after market in America
became passe. The fiftysomething-to-sixty crowd has not been attracting its
fair share of commercial attention from advertisers and ad agencies. As Green
challenges, this is a problem larger than benign neglect.
      Baby Boomers have often been the source of contempt and ridicule, a
byproduct of disdain for the group's alleged self-absorbed, unpatriotic
character, historically rooted in the Vietnam War era. Green provides
troubling evidence for an emerging ageism directed at those in their
mid-forties to mid-fifties. A side effect of historical distaste and today's
growing ageism is often dreadful marketing: hackneyed pitches, rife with
stereotypes and generational invectives.
      In thirty-six fast-paced chapters, Green analyzes such topical issues
as Boomer spirituality, an emerging creativity, political agendas,
age-defying strategies, corporate malfeasance, lifestyle downsizing,
adventure travel, and communal instincts. The book also provides
well-developed case studies of marketing programs that have worked powerfully
with Boomers.
      A long-term social observer and critic, Brent Green understands the
positive marketing implications of his feisty generation: â^À^ÜThey will not
tolerate typecasting, stereotypes, pandering or ageism. They will expect
stylish products to instill value beyond mere utility. They will invest in
products and services that resonate, and they will reward those who crack the
idiosyncratic marketing code.â^À^Ý
      An unusual aspect of this traditional business book is Green's
inclusion of two convincing short stories about Leading-edge Baby Boomers.
The first story explores the Internet's impact on a dormant relationship from
the sixties, raising larger questions about unresolved generational agendas
and the coming struggle for relevance and meaning.
      The second story presents an Orwellian view of an ageist society in
2028. The protagonist, a successful trial attorney who has dedicated her life
to women's issues, is awakening to the new reality of generational
condemnation, discrimination, and violence. This story makes a solid case for
heightened awareness of Green's descriptive term: Genism.Â
###
Author Biography: Brent Green is a former counseling therapist, and today he
is a marketing communications consultant with over 25 years of experience. He
has had numerous successes marketing a multitude of products and services to
Baby Boomers. Over fifty regional, national, and international awards
acknowledge his creative and commercial accomplishments. Green has also
written and published Noble Chaos, an award-winning literary novel about Baby
Boomers during the Vietnam War era. As with any foray into fiction writing,
this challenge required the author to think intensely and critically about
the sociology and culture of this coming-of-age period, as well as to
understand the indelible values that persist within an influential
generational segment. Green has also twice received critical recognition from
Writer's Digest, most recently for a forward-looking essay about Baby Boomers
in midlife.
Â
Title: Marketing to Leading-edge Baby Boomers
Author: Brent Green
Publisher:Â iUniverse, 2021 Pine Lake Road, Suite 100, Lincoln, NE 68512
ISBN:Â 0-595-26409-3
Publication date: March 14, 2003
Price: $16.95, paperback; $26.95 hard cover
Author Contact: (303) 743-0140 or <A HREF="mailto:brent@bgassociates.com">brent@bgassociates.com</A>
Book Availability: <A HREF="http://www.barnesandnoble.com/">www.barnesandnoble.com</A>
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