My grandmother moved in with my mom in the eary 1990s, and Mom jokes the household suffered instant memory loss. Nana completely forgot that my mom was an intelligent woman who had travelled the world, worked and raised a family. Mom quickly forgot what it was like to finish a story by herself. “That’s not the way it happened,” Nana would correct.
Now, both of these amazing women have been known to favor a good story over a true story. And their stories are something I prize, as someone who now specializes in marketing to older generations.
* Now 97 years old, my Nana (Depression-era) shares tales about air raid drills during the war. (Read the similar memories of 98-year-old Josephine Wallis, here.)
* My mother-in-law reveals she fought with her brother over who got to smush the orange pill into the oleo, to make it look more like real butter during WWII.
* Mr. Johnson at the coffee shop brushes over fighting in the Pacific, but happily chats about his career in Rhode Island’s jewelry industry in the 1940s and 50s.
* And my 76-year old mother (another Silent Generation, or Ike) tells of learning that President Kennedy had been shot while she was out shopping. For the next two years, the family wore nothing but black or navy, a reflection of her saddened and stunned mindset that day. It was for her a visible sign of the feelings of tragedy, loss and uncertainty dominated the 1960s.
These stories – these memories – help folks in marketing to Baby Boomers and beyond see past the data and statistics about older generations.
As thesis #2 of The Cluetrain Manifesto put it, ”Markets consist of human beings, not demographic sectors.” We learn about human beings through their stories, and marketers can connect with them through our stories – if those tales are real and relevant to the mature consumer. As the authors of Cluetrain warn, while the Internet and social networking sites make it easy to talk,
“Talk is cheap… The human voice reaches directly into our beings and touches our spirits.”
How can your marketing – on or offline – share stories and touch spirits?
It might seem unrelated, but November is National Alzheimer’s Awareness Month. One brain researcher has predicted the US will have a tidal wave of dementia as Baby Boomers age. Memories and personal stories will be lost.
November is also the month for US Thanksgiving celebrations. Storycorps is asking all of us to take advantage of time with relatives, especially older adults, and have their memories touch our spirits. “Record Your Grandma’s Stories,” encourages BlogHer Contributing Editor, Britt Bravo.
This week, give thanks for the memories.
