Consumer research company Nielsen wants to know why so few advertisements focus on baby boomers. Media companies typically focus on reaching consumers who are in the coveted 18 to 34 or 18 to 49 demographic. But Nielsen says that “advertisers and consumer goods manufacturers are overlooking a group that has tremendous buying power.”

In fact, less than 5 percent of money spent on advertising for consumer packaged goods targets those between 35 and 64, the company estimates. But Nielsen has found that boomers dominate 98 out of 122 consumer packaged goods categories, watch the most video, are significantly more likely to own a DVD player and are more likely to have broadband Internet access at home.

For example, boomer households account for 59 percent of carbonated beverage sales. They made 58 percent of pet food and 60 percent of beer purchases.

“Boomers should be as desirable for marketers as Millennials and Gen-Xers for years to come; they are the largest single group of consumers, and a valuable target audience. As the U.S. continues to age, reaching this group will continue to be critical for advertisers,” said Pat McDonough, Senior Vice President, Insights, Analysis and Policy at the Nielsen Company.

To read more about boomer buying trends and advertising, go to http://en_us.nielsen.com/content/.../issue_14/baby_boomers.html.