Staking a Claim in the "Old Rush"

If you39re a marketer you should be raring to join what I call quotThe Old Rushquot a modernday chance to strike it rich by prioritizing the highly valuable aging consumeramp160 To do so you must be every bit as opportunistic as the miners were and you must move quickly to secure the riches firstamp160 While there is no learning precedent for marketing to the Baby Boomers in their 50s and beyond we do have the Gold Rush and the analogies are remarkably relevantThe Gold Rush began in 1848 when James W Marshall found gold at Sutter39s Mill in Coloma Californiaamp160 Word of the discovery spread quickly and by the end of the following yearamp160some 300000plus prospectors aka 49ers from every region of the world had made the trip to California While it clearly required resourcefulness perseverance and optimism to succeed once you got to the Gold Rush imagine what it took to have made the decision to go there in the first placeUnlike buying a Powerball ticket choosing to go to the Gold Rush posed a significant financial risk and real physical danger for a reward that was both mysterious and elusiveamp160amp160Yet hundreds of thousands of people who were already leading good lives looked the other way atamp160this excessive risk because the prospect of reward was exceptional mining for gold like marketing to age was virgin territoryThat which fueled these opportunists should fuel youamp160 As has always been true of trendsetters those who identify and act on the opportunity first will be judged and questioned by conventional mindsamp160 However all conservatism is abandoned once the precedent of success is establishedamp160 It39s only a matter of time before someone in your market space capitalizes on the lucrative aging opportunityamp160 By the time the trend followers catch up with this trendsetter the easy pickings will be goneamp160 By analogy those who got to the gold first found nuggets on the groundamp160 Those who waited and watched had to pan and dig for dustOur history reminds us that the 49ers were true leaders and risk takersamp160 Here39s what you can do to pioneer marketing to age for your categoryLeave familiarity behindamp160 As the Gold Rush unfolded the dreamers stayed homeamp160and the leaders moved west where they were rewarded for their pioneering spiritamp160 They knew that moving ahead fundamentally required leaving something behindamp160 For the getrichquick opportunity that we39re calling marketing to age familiarity is the practice of doing things the way they39ve always been done akaamp160quotbest practicesquotamp160 None of the 49ers had mined for gold before just asamp160most brands have never marketed to ageamp160 To succeed in doing what others have yet to do you will need to think like a miner and believe that you39re industrious enough to figure it out along the wayamp160 Your organization will embrace you for taking the risk to mine new business in new placesGear upamp160 Have what you need to succeedamp160 To do well in the Old Rush you will need to act quickly and plan carefullyamp160 Start by determining how much rush is necessary to capitalize on the Old Rush as every market space is differentamp160 Act too quickly and you may risk not executing effectively act too slowly and the best plan in the world may not make up for the missed opportunityamp160 Most of the 49ers didn39t overthink this There was simply too much at stake so they started heading west and finetuned their plan along the wayamp160 We rarely do this in business but here39s a case where you shouldOnce you have an initial plan provisioning comes next ie what types of people partners and resources will you need to execute your plan for getting to the Old Rushamp160 Keep it simple and don39t quotoverpackquotamp160 You can39t afford to have a cumbersome process or a big team that will slow you down as you are trying to speed your way to unexplored territoryamp160 Lastly prepare to be unpreparedamp160 You39re going to be marketing to age for the first time learning asamp160you go and quickly adaptingKnow where the gold isamp160 Lacking geological maps and technology most of the miners dug for gold where gold had already been foundamp160 If one of your competitors is already mining the aging space successfully then you might want to consider some type of adjacency playamp160 If not then you39re going to need to prospectamp160 Prospecting is about exploring and discoveringamp160 Which Boomers are the most valuableamp160 How should you reach themamp160 What does your brand need to be for themamp160 Since you are first you have the advantage of positioning your offering in a preemptive wayamp160 Think like a miner who has just found goldamp160 Stake your claim to fenceout future prospectorsIn the end thriving in the Old Rush is all about striving to do what hasn39t been done beforeamp160 It39s also inherently about speedamp160 At a time when businesses are being disrupted or transformed overnight it has never been more important to have your own differentiated fast growth strategyamp160 As for marketing there simply isn39t another fast growth opportunity as enticing as unexploited aging space and the way forward is relatively simpleClick the social buttons above or below to share this story with your friends and colleaguesThe opinions and points of view expressed in this content are exclusively the views of the author andor subjects and do not necessarily represent the views of MediaVillagecomMyersBizNet Inc management or associated writers

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Staking a Claim in the "Old Rush"

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Peter Hubbell

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Staking a Claim in the "Old Rush"

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