Here's another sign that the country's baby boomers are approaching their golden years: Plymouth-based Sonus Hearing Care Professionals last week launched its first marketing campaign to consumers. The $5 million multimedia advertising effort targets nine markets, including the Twin Cities.
The campaign is the work of Minneapolis-based Kruskopf Coontz, and is based on research showing that only 10 percent of Americans who suffer hearing loss use a hearing aid. "The average age [of users] may be in the 60s, but we'll all be there pretty soon," Sue Kruskopf said.
The marketing initiative includes TV, print, direct mail and Internet.
Sonus, a big player in the U.S. hearing aid market, is owned by the Italian firm Amplifon, the world's largest hearing-device distributor.
Sci-tech rating falls Minnesota fell just short of the top 10 states that best use their science and technology assets to promote economic development, according to an annual report by the Milken Institute, an independent think tank based in Santa Monica, Calif.
The institute's State Technology and Science Index, released at last week's BIO conference in San Diego, measures 77 factors, including venture capital, research and development expenditures, academic test scores and number of new start-ups. Milken ranked the 50 states based on an overall score of 1 to 100.
Minnesota scored 64.06, good for 11th place, but down three notches from 2004. Massachusetts ranked at the top, with a score of 82.1, followed by Maryland (80.04), Colorado (78.32), California (74.62), and Washington (72.09).
For a detailed look inside the rankings, go to the Patent Pending blog at www.startribune.com/blogs/pending.
