Brands hire Gen X and boomer influencers as the ‘power of the silver influencer’ rises

When you think of influencer marketing, you typically picture brands working with a younger creator to target Gen Z (ages 13-28) or Gen Alpha (up to 12 years old). That’s not always the case. As the influencer marketing space and creator economy continues to grow, so-called silver influencers, or creators from Gen X (45-60 years old) and boomer generations (ages 61-79) are increasingly catching marketers’ attention.

Progresso Soup and Harmless Harvest, a coconut product company, are eyeing the older cohort of creators to earn some cultural cache and boost brand awareness. They’re not alone. Brands’ interest in Gen X and Boomer influencers has been on the uptick in recent years, according to previous Digiday reporting. Alaska Airlines, Mountain Dew and clean beauty brand Ilia have made similar campaigns over the past few years.

“They’re still [linear] TV watchers. But also, it’s a pretty social group,” said Maria Carolina Comings, vice president of the sweet and savory business unit at General Mills, referring to the soup brand’s 55-plus consumers. “So one of the places we went to was TikTok.”

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