There was a time when age used to matter for marketers. We would buy media based on presumed age ranges of audiences in the hopes that this bit of demographic information would help us reach the right people. In fact, this is one of the most time-honored traditions of marketing planning. It is also one of the dumbest. The thing about age is that it was always used as a proxy for interest. If you knew that someone was a male between the ages of 18-34, you could make a guess that they might like sports, or need deodorant, or drink beer.
The inherent problem with this model is that you are just guessing at relevance--but at the time this was the best you could do. Today, you can do better. Online, people are telling you what they are interested in. They are broadcasting their interests. Their activities are not a hidden black box, they are out in the open. So you don't have to guess that a 25-year-old male who is watching football might eat your pretzels--you can use social media and active listening to find the 41-year-old mom who has already told her friends those pretzels are her favorite food in the world.
Oh, and by the way, you can find the five friends she shared that with too.
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