A "booming" opportunity: are marketers focusing on the Baby Boomers of today? Ignoring them could be a trillion-dollar mistake.

"It's not often that a group of 76 million people comes around that not only has money, but is willing to spend it." That is Todd Hale, senior vice president of consumer insights for ACNielsen, speaking about a generation of spenders that candy marketers would be wise to get reacquainted with:

the Baby Boomers, the oldest of whom are just turning 60, but still have a combined spending power of a whopping $1 trillion per year, according to Time and Business Week. Boomers also represent over 27 percent of the U.S. population and make up 46 million households.

And yet, some confusion surrounds this generation now that the eldest are starting to enter "senior" status--will they continue to spend their money?

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Why wouldn't they?--is the better question. They certainly have the wherewithal and the mindset to spend, say the experts. And they are used to being targeted by marketers. It would be a great mistake to brush them aside now--just when many of them are experiencing the empty nest syndrome with children flying off, and in many cases, parents dying off. How foolish of marketers to abandon these "ultimate consumers" now, just when they're really focusing back on indulging themselves.

The problem is that prior to the Boomers, "many advertisers felt that the over-50 market is not worth pursuing. They focused on the 18- to 49-year-old marketplace; now, many are beginning to realize the spending power of Boomers," explains Peter Koeppel, founder and president of Koeppel Direct, a direct response advertising agency based in Dallas that analyzes various target markets and finds better ways to reach them.

In his research, Koeppel also found that Boomers are surprisingly not very brand-loyal; something marketers just assumed of "older" generations. "Boomers are experimenters and are not locked into specific brands," Koeppel maintains. "In fact, they are more willing to switch brands than other segments of the population."

How might this relate to candy? Candy marketers shouldn't assume that new items, limited editions, and even more "kid friendly" confections will be a turn-off to Boomers. They are not locked into favorite/nostalgic treats at the exclusion of trying something new; in fact, they have a very youthful attitude when it comes to product/brand experimentation. The industry should strongly consider marketing to them specifically when unveiling new brands/line extensions.