TACOMA, WASH. — About six or seven years ago, Roman Meal made the decision to focus on health-conscious women between the ages of 50 and 64. With the majority of consumer goods going after women between the ages of 18 and 35, this was a bold choice.

“We did that because most of our loyal users are in that demographic and also we had some sense that that demographic is underserved from a marketing and advertising standpoint,” said Gary Jensen, president of Roman Meal.

Sticking with a specific group of consumers, then developing and maintaining a platform they can get passionate about are winning formulas for transforming a product-specific brand into a broader lifestyle brand that can extend its reach into a wide variety of categories.

“It has been very important to us to stay true to that consumer even when we’ve had people tell us we ought to be younger or different,” Mr. Jensen said.   “If you try to serve too many different demographics, you end up not doing a good job with the ones that are the most important to you as a brand.”

Already having a portfolio of whole grain bread, Roman Meal established a platform on healthy living and helping people incorporate more whole grains into their overall diet.

“If we can do that, then we’ve done something good for people and also made a reasonable return on investment,” he said.