(NAPS)—If America’s 77.5 mil- lion baby boomers—its largest generation—were to unite, they would have enough resources and clout to start their own country. But, baby boomersare also America’s most disenfranchised demo- graphic, ignored by mass mar- keters and the media, who tend to gravitate toward younger and more impressionable audiences. It doesn’t make sense. Born between 1946 and 1964, boomers today are the nation’s leaders, the most influential and affluent group of people in the world. Look around, and you will see that the well-being of the country is in the ing as the Internet grows. One site that solely targets baby hands of the boomer generation, starting with the President. boomers is BoomerCaf. Launched space,” as Don McLean sang in “American Pie.” Nowhere is that BoomerCaf is creating the first Yet, it’s “a generation lost in more obvious than on the Inter- net, where only a handful of sites cater to baby boomers, even though boomers are online in greater numbers and spend more in every online transaction than any other generation. Today, 85 percent of them—or 66 million by and for boomers as an online magazine (called an “eZine”), Internet channel of knowledge, content and e-commerce exclu- sively for today’s active boomers. The site shares essential information andarticles: ideas for enhanc- ing lifestyle, health andfitness, finance and investing, relation- boomers—areactively online each ships andrecreation goals. Here’s a checklist of the key Web While boomers spend on aver- among their audiences, ranging from glitzy to practical: week. By 2003, one in three Internet users will be a baby boomer. age over $300 each time they shop online, mass marketers have yet to sites that include baby boomers ThirdAge (www.thirdage.com) BoomerCaf (www.boomer seriously focus on them. Without cafe.com) out the naturalinclination younger time.com) Your Time! (www.your-time. com) Boomers will remain dominant and influential consumers in the American marketplace for years to come. By nature, they will continue to expect to be someone’s center of attention. Herein lies the an Internet that seeks them out (and, according to research, withusers haveto “surf the net”), online boomers have to work harder than other groups to find sites that fill their needs. There’s no central Internet “Home” for boomers to find the best deals on such things as airline tickets, vacation packages, sports equipment, wine, cos- metics and clothing. Fortunately, all that is chang- e AARP (www.aarp.org) MyPrimeTime (www.myprime next opportunity and challenge for the Internet.
