MARKETING TO BABY BOOMERS

Leading-Edge vs. Trailing-Edge Boomers

Sociologists typically divide the Boomers into two segments: Leading-Edge and Trailing-Edge, each carrying a different portfolio of attitudes and interests. Brent Green, president of Brent Green & Associates Inc., a full-service, direct-marketing firm based in Denver, Colorado, reports on those differences in his book, Marketing to Leading-Edge Baby Boomers: Perceptions, Principles, Practices, Predictions. A Leading-Edge Boomer, himself, Green discusses some of the distinctions within the Boomer ranks.

How do Leading-Edge Boomers differ from Trailing-Edge Boomers, demographically and culturally?

Leading-Edge Boomers were born between 1946 and 1955, while Trailing-Edge Boomers were born between 1956 and 1964. The two sub-generations or cohorts differ in some fundamental ways.

Members of the older group shared teenage encounters with the galvanizing experiences of Vietnam and the “cultural revolution,” including modern feminism, civil rights, and environmentalism. They came of age when pugnacious social and cultural forces crashed in on the Eisenhower era and President John Kennedy’s Camelot. They are most often associated with the protest movements of the sixties, as well as over-publicized experimentation with sex and drugs.

Trailing-Edge Boomers entered college and started careers after the Vietnam War ended in early 1975, and most experienced a more peaceful, less culturally chaotic period. They began their young adult lives with ebullient expectations – a sense that “the world is my oyster” – but then they confronted sky-high interest rates, malaise during the Carter administration, and, because of their numbers, extreme economic competition. They were offered a plethora of credit cards from puberty onward; accordingly, many have accumulated enormous consumer debts. Many have had greater difficulty launching careers and creating long-term financial stability.

Cultural influences are also different between these groups. For example, older Boomers rallied behind “Make Love, Not War,” while younger Boomers chanted “No Nukes.” Older Boomers displayed political engagement with the peace symbol; younger Boomers wore POW bracelets. A significant defining event in the lives of older Boomers was, of course, Woodstock. Younger Boomers gathered at Live Aid. Older Boomers often point to Bob Dylan as their poet and bard. Trailing-Edge Boomers embrace Bruce Springsteen.

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Leading-Edge vs. Trailing-Edge Boomers

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