Summer temps are going up, up, up. Here’s a round-up of the “hot” links related to 50+ marketing from last week, based on clicks, comments and shares across various social platforms.
1. MOST CLICKED: The iPad club for Massachusetts senior living residents helps members of the North Hill retirement community stay connected and changing with the world. Nice profile of seniors embracing technology by SeniorsForLiving.com.
Read the article: http://bit.ly/MuPz1z
2. A new report on social responsibility suggests that baby boomers never deserved that “ME generation” label given them by media and pundits over the years.
“The report published in the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology (March 5, 2012) revealed that the Millennial generation — people born after 1982 — considered “money, image and fame more important” than values like community involvement and self-acceptance. The extreme opposite of baby boomers and GenX’ers when they were young adults.
The study found that millennials were less interested in donating to charities, participating in politics or helping the environment. The results support the so-called “Generation Me” theory over the “Generation We” description often used in reference to today’s young people.”
While I’ve never shared the view that boomers are a selfish group, I’m personally curious about how much the current economic crisis has influenced attitudes. Millennials are highly educated yet very much underemployed, while baby boomers enjoyed prosperity and easy access to jobs at that age. It’s hard to consider donating to charities when you’re dependent on your parents for day-to-day expenses. We’d love to hear your thoughts in the comments, below.
Read Technorati’s summary: http://bit.ly/Lvc20a
Read the original study in the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology: http://bit.ly/Ky2HhS
3. MOST SHARED: 13 Brands using LinkedIn Company Pages the Right Way – a nice overview from HubSpot that includes multiple screen grabs. Why should you care about Linkedin 
when you’re marketing to baby boomers and beyond? Because 57% of users are over 45 and it’s terrific for search engine optimization and building trust with sometimes-skeptical matures.
Read the post: http://bit.ly/Ojnzkq
4. Storytelling is especially effective with older consumers. Wondering how to give your marketing story a “happily ever after”? MarketingProfs shared 5 solid tips last week, including tapping user-generated content and using real-life examples.
Read the post: http://bit.ly/LVVwpr
A case study of how powerful real-life examples can be is seen in the the North Hill iPad story. A few months ago a local paper – The Needham Times – also covered the story (http://www.northhill.org/entry/north-hill-needham-seniors-learn-to-use-ipads-in-class—needham-times). Within a few hours of publication, a North Hill event mentioned in the piece had sold out and the community added a second segment. A happy ending for all involved!