Rogers Publishing has jumped on the boomer bandwagon by launching EverBetter, a new website for the 50-plus demographic that takes content from Maclean’s, Chatelaine, Canadian Business, the Medical Post, CityTV and 680News and divides it into six categories: health, money, travel, living, relationships and giving back.

Nigel Newton, general manager of EverBetter, says targetting older Canadians was a no-brainer for Rogers. “They're the largest growing sector of our population. As the population ages generally across Canada, then more companies are looking at this affluent group as being a very critical customer base. So we’re anticipating that trend and providing them with an outlet.”

Rogers developed the concept in conjunction with Sid Lee, a creative agency in Montreal. Last fall, Rogers conducted focus groups in Calgary, Edmonton, Vancouver and Toronto. The sixth topic area, giving back, was added as a result of the sessions. Noting the absence of Quebec, Newton says that a second site will be created in the future for French Canada.

EverBetter content is free, while members can join groups and forums to communicate with other users. “We’re looking at a different business model, a different audience, a different way of engaging with them," Newton says. "What we’re doing here is creating an opportunity to serve up content to a new audience."

When asked about the computer skills of the 50-plus population, Newton says, “Sure, they’re not the most active on the Web in comparison with other audience groups. But they’re no foreigners to the Web. Canada has 88% broadband access now at a home level, so you’re now looking at the ability of everyone within our target demographic to be quite comfortable with going online, doing banking, booking travel.”