“Baby Boomers Plus Fun Equals “Twifties”

“Baby Boomers Plus Fun Equals “Twifties”

Fifty is the New Twenty

New word “Twifties” gaining ground in English Language. Old is the new Young or
Is it really true that nobody older than 32 uses Paypal?

The new word “Twifties” meaning “fun people around age 50 and up” is gaining traction in the English language and on the internet. So says wordsmith and inventor Lauren Traub Teton, who created the word Twifties in 2008. “One reason we need this word is because I looked at the different photos representing customers and vendors on Paypal.com today, and didn’t see anyone over age 32! Is it really true that nobody older uses Paypal? Of course not. Baby Boomers and the lively Twifties subset of Boomers are just invisible to marketers! We have money to spend and time to do things, and we love to have fun. Yet the only people I see in ads who are my age are selling hair color and wrinkle creams and drugs for erectile dysfunction. Without a name, this group has no clout.”

The word Twifties was defined in MORE Magazine (hard copy) in May 2010, and accepted into online resources UrbanDictionary.com and Wordnik.com in August 2010. Twifties are the fun people around age 50 and up. The derivation of the word is "Fifty is the new Twenty. Twenty, Fifty, ...Twifty." Teton felt the need to create this word because the Twifty demographic is a group often wrongly ignored by marketers of fun products, who she says stick to the old model of capturing the 18 to 34 year old age group. Of the 74 million Baby Boomers, possibly one third to one half of them are Twifties" estimates Teton. By having a name for the group, we are defining it and giving Twifties a way to gather and find others who are living vibrantly and who share similar interests, whatever they may be” says Teton.

'Baby Boomers' was a great moniker, and it stuck, and described an age group in just two words, for the last 40 years. But it's tired now, and doesn't target the exact group I'm thinking of" says Teton. We should share our joy and knowledge in reaching this age and in fine-tuning the art of being healthy and having fun in our lives."

Being around 50 and up these days is far different than it was even 20 years ago. Teton explains that "the biggest birth years of the Baby Boom spawned people who are now 48 to 52 years old, and they are not sitting in rocking chairs on porches. Instead they are the bulls-eye of the target of consumers, controlling huge amounts of discretionary spending, and taking the time to enjoy recreation and fun, despite all the bad economic news. We should be recognized as an extremely valuable target market, have products designed that cater specifically to us, be marketed to in a respectful way, and see people like us in the ads for these products" says Teton.

Another example she gives is in the snow sports world. According to SIA, in 2007 there were 1.8 million skiers and almost 200,000 snowboarders over age 44. Snow sports gear is an extremely competitive market, and targeting this age group could be a goldmine and really set a company apart. “Yet Skiingmag.com doesn’t even allow subscribers to enter a birth year earlier than 1964” when registering on their website, chuckles Teton.

However it’s not just about spending money. Twifties are at a point in life where they know how to follow their passions and enjoy life without necessarily spending a lot of money. The Twifties Lifestyle is an attitude of living the good life, having friends and activity companions to do things with, and being self-actualized about good health, mentally, physically, and spiritually. Twifties is about a positive and rewarding lifestyle through attitude, and at all income levels and as such will be representing a portfolio of products that represent the Twifties lifestyle. The Twifties want to look good, and feel good, by taking care of themselves, and they want to share what works for themselves and find out what is working for others says Teton.

Twifties movement is a "grassroots movement of the people" and Teton plans parties, events, and travel for Twifties who she describes as independent thinkers, discriminating consumers, and adventurers. These people want to meet in real life, and enjoy finding activity companions with similar interests. It’ social networking OFFline in the real world, springboarding off the internet. Lauren Traub Teton is in discussion with several major social networking websites about building a gathering place for this group online where members can share what works and find people like themselves for healthy and fun pursuits.

Twifties.TV is her first Twifties website, and TwiftiesCalendar.com will rolling out by October 2010. She suggests that people sign up for the Twifties List, on Twifties.TV so they can be notified of the TwiftiesCalendar.com kick-off party, when the fun begins! Twifties has a page on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/pages/TwiftiesTV/191972385688?ref=search


For more info or interviews, contact:

Lauren Traub Teton

914 764-0115 in NY

About Lauren Traub Teton

Ms. Teton is an inventor, internet entrpreneur, and professional product namer during her workday. She has created the Teton NameScale, and the TVCOL.TV interface, which is TV Channel Online. She is an avid snowboarder and snowboard journalist, and is the creator of : Twifties, SnowboardSecrets, Name One,TalkingNames.com, Flexmeters.com, SnowboardEventsCalendar.com, SnowboardRegistry.com, SnowboardProfiles.com, realpeoplemarketing.com, OneTakeVideo.TV, and more. She has posted over 200 short videos on YouTube and has over 200,000 views. She says that telephones are the new TV and 3 minutes is the new 30 minute show.