Matt Dudas, a loyal reader of Shelf Impact! and a 17-year veteran in package structure, poses an interesting question. Why, in some product categories, does packaging innovation come only after tragedy strikes, he asks.

Does your packaging speak adequately to baby boomers and compel them to buy your product? Following are eight tips for marketing to baby boomers. They are adapted from the report “Design Your Packaging for the Ultimate Target Audience—Boomers.” The report is available through Women in Packaging Inc.

1. Don't associate boomers or consumers older than 50 with being old. Boomers view themselves as younger than they are (typically, by 20 years). They don’t want to be referred to as old. Use positive words and avoid an “over the hill” context. The term “mature” works well with this audience.

2. Make it easy to use. Emphasize convenience or ease-of-use. Boomers like to spend time on activities such as cooking. They just don't want to spend a lot of time getting things together to do it.

The Centers for Disease Control projects that the number of U.S. consumers age 65 or older with doctor-diagnosed arthritis will more than double, from 15.7 million in 2002 to 33.3 million in 2030.

Designing packaging to accommodate this market is a good idea. The first step toward designing for users with arthritis is understanding the problems they face. In research at the Georgia Tech Research Institute, we found that users with arthritis struggle with many actions associated with transporting or opening packaging. These include pinching, twisting off tops or caps, and lifting heavy objects.

In order to accommodate people with arthritis, packaging solutions that require one or more physical activities that challenge them should be avoided. However, it is often impractical to avoid all these activities. In such cases, task requirements can be analyzed and the packaging solution modified to better meet the abilities of the intended market.

Many of the 79 million Baby Boomers are transitioning into “empty nesters.” But the next great growth wave, the Echo Boomers (ages 10-27), offers imposing brand growth potential for brand managers and retailers who understand the motivations and preferences of this 75-million consumer segment.

Key will be examining Echo Boomers’ shopping and purchase behaviors, says Janet Eden-Harris, Global Chief Marketing Officer at Information Resources Inc., a market information solutions provider.

Based on IRI’s research, here are some factors that could influence package design for products targeted to Echo Boomers:

• Supercenters, emphasizing value, capture a significantly greater share of Echo Boomer consumer products spending than that of the overall population.

Two senior couples complained about how hard it was to open what looked like a prescription or vitamin bottle. Describing it as “childproof,” one of the women opened it while her friend quipped, “you mean adult-proof.” Heard at a hotel restaurant in New Orleans during a recent business trip, the all-too-frequent lament continues to upset consumers.

More quantitative evidence comes from a new survey and report about the consumer friendliness of packaging from Mona Doyle at The Consumer Network, Inc. Surveying 475 shoppers from across the United States, the research found that opening and reclosing challenges were the most frequently encountered problems.