Though Martino & Binzer has been in business since 1980, it wasn't until 1988 that the agency was first approached to lend our assistance to a new CCRC being developed just down the road. It was our first foray into ageless marketing and advertising to seniors. Did we call it luck? Maybe. Serendipity? Perhaps. Fate?

Back then we might have had a different answer, but looking back on it now, yeah, you might call it fate.

What immediately set us apart from the other agencies the developer had worked with was that we chose to sit down with the audience and ask questions rather than blindly follow the client's input. We just wanted to ask them – these "people" in their 70s – a couple of questions before we put marker to paper (it's true, we actually used to use markers back then).

What we learned, and what has been the cornerstone of our approach, is that though they were older, they didn't see themselves as old (you're always younger than someone out there).

They didn't see themselves as "senior citizens" or in their "Golden Years." They were just Bob, Kate, Steve, and Robin. That's when we learned that marketing communications should speak to the individual, not their age.

Today there are many ad agencies that have recognized the financial opportunity of positioning themselves as "mature market specialists." They can spout all the facts and figures about the "age wave," the "boomer segmentation," and the billions of dollars in discretionary spending.

The truth is, spend fifteen minutes searching the Internet and you can learn it all for yourself. The facts and figures change every day, the only thing that doesn't is your need for qualified leads.