Yesterday, we buried my 98-year-old grandmother, Claire Ogg.  This week has truly been a celebration of her life – far more smiles than tears. 

Born in 1912, “Nana” was a member of the cohort we call the Greatest Generation.  She had lived through the Great Depression and it defined many of her attitudes and behaviors.  For years she kept money literally under her mattress.  And in her latter years, her most important documents were kept in a small green cash box.  That little box holds not only memories but insights for those marketing to Baby Boomers and beyond.

* People are driven by their passions.  Nana was an RN who had served as a visiting nurse in Rhode Island for more than 12 years.  The little box had several items related to nursing, even though she had retired many decades ago.  Her passion for medicine and wellness was evident until the end.  If you’re marketing to retirees, don’t forget that these people are more than their employment status.  How does your community, your product or service help them stay connected to lifelong passions … or even develop new ones?

Passions are not just a Boomer or senior marketing issue.   As eMarketer noted this week, influencers in the social media sphere – those brand advocates many companies are trying to cultivate for earned media - are “most identifiable not by demographics but by behavior.”

* Life is funny.  Comic strips and funny cards found were among her treasures.  Nana’s quick wit was legend within our family and within the wonderful Jeanne Jugan Residence, a nursing home run by the Little Sisters of the Poor where she spent the last four years of her life.  

Humor was one of the ways she dealt with the physical realities of aging.  She loved to tell of the great-grandchild who, on Easter morning, asked “Was Nana there when Jesus died?”

Life is full of fun, no matter what your age.  Try some humor in your marketing and you’ll be connecting with your targets on a whole new (and effective) level.

* Family first.  The lock box was filled with birth certificates of those who came before and after our Claire.  My grandmother was an only child.  She had two children, 13 grandchildren and 32 great-grandchildren.  (#33 is due in August.)  Family was paramount.  And family influenced her purchases.  Even when she didn’t consult us, she always considered us when making decisions, which is another valuable insight for marketers.

* You can make your own family.  Nana’s dad skipped out on the family a few weeks before she was born.  Nana’s mom moved them into a house with an unrelated grandfather and several aunts.  It made economic sense.  I see echoes of this in Pew’s recent research showing the “return of the multi-generational family household.”  It also made emotional sense; my Nana benefited from a built-in family.

When Claire herself was in her 40s, she and my “Boppa” made the young couple living downstairs a part of their family.  So, in addition to my 10 real cousins, I can count another 9 sort-of-cousins thanks to Nana.  Mixed in with the memories in that little green box were clippings on “cousin” John’s high school track triumphs and “cousin” Jim’s wedding announcement.

My own generation – Gen X – has been distinguished by the way we create our own families.  Many of us were latch-key kids, with childhoods marked by divorce.  Our biological families may be scattered across the country or globe, so we cobble together our own clans.  Just one more insight that helps marketers see beyond a definition of age and focus on what matters to individuals.

* Manners count. That young couple from downstairs had 4 children in 5 years.  We found in Nana’s box a letter thanking her for watching the kids while they took a much-needed vacation.  We smiled as we read this and other notes of gratitude that she had kept and re-read, some for 50 years.  Where are manners in your marketing program?  Do you build in opportunities to show your gratitude, to say “thanks”?

I hope as mature marketers we can take some time to think about targets and what they keep in their own small green box.  Then, give thanks to my Nana for her insights.  I know I always will.