Marketing's age concern

This is the cover story in the latest edition of Marketing Week. Good to see that the subject is getting more coverage. Sorry but the article is subscriber only. This is a taste of what the article says:
"The rapidly ageing UK population isn't just causing a pensions crisis, the marketing world is also being affected by the demographic changes. The accepted strategy of targeting under-35s is coming into question as brands chase the grey pound. But are the over-55s - notorious among marketers for being less prone to brand promiscuity than younger consumers - ready to listen to them?

The issue of how to promote brands to the burgeoning mature market is set to become a major concern for marketers over the next 20 years.
Cruises, coach tours, financial products and medicaments are age-specific and can be directly targeted at the senior market. But the bigger question is how best to promote products such as packaged groceries, new media, cars and clothes, which are bought by people across the age spectrum, when declining childbirth and increased longevity mean there are fewer consumers under 35 and more over 50.
Marketers also sense a looming crisis. Some believe that the age shift will drive the conventions of 20th-century marketing into a crisis, as older people are harder to persuade to change brands or try out new trends. Consumer capitalism itself will suffer as new products have generally been aimed at younger generations.
Others see this as defeatism and believe it is the high numbers of young people working in marketing departments that make so much of their output unattractive to older audiences. They argue that marketing has become "ageist" and will have to change to accommodate the new realities.
But sceptics point out that marketing is predicated on winning new customers under 35, whose brand preferences are then set for the rest of their lives. With their numbers shrinking, the take-up of new technologies will decline while the growth of new markets continues to stagnate.
I will stop at that point since the article goes on about the Y&R Europe planning director Simon Silvester and his report "You're Getting Old. Europe's Demographic Problem is Your Marketing Problem". This must be the most quoted report that puts opinions before evidence.
Co-founder Chris Evers - info@inspirum.dk

Demografien bestemmer alt

”Gennem historien har store demografiske ændringer skabt muligheder for virksomheder – volumen bag nye krav og behov medfører udvikling og formidling af nye produkter og services” – Tom Peters
Fra babyboomere til seniorboomere
Med de store fødselsårgange efter 2. verdenskrig, de seneste årtiers lave fødselstal og befolkningens generelt forbedrede helbredstilstand udgør aldersgruppen 50+ i dag 35% af den danske befolkning, og i løbet af de kommende år vil gruppen stige til 45%. Dermed er det ikke bare første gang i historien at en målgruppe vokser så hurtigt, det er også første gang i den vestlige verden at samfundet står overfor en så stor population af personer over 50 år – med en stor formue, højt uddannelsesniveau, generelt godt helbred og masser af appetit på livet. Da denne gruppe var unge i 60´erne, redefinerede de fuldstændig forestillingen om hvad det ville sige at være ung. Nu vil den samme generation redefinere hvad det vil sige at være ældre.

50+ vil udleve drømmene
Den nye generation af ældre er karakteriseret ved længere levetid, de er stærke og funktionsduelige både fysisk, psykisk og socialt, de har en relativ høj levestandard og de ønsker at bibeholde den for at kunne udleve drømmene. De er vant til at få deres vilje – hvis ikke går de bare et andet sted hen. De søger nye oplevelser, nye udfordringer og ny viden. Som ældre ser de frem til at prøve noget af det de har udskudt mens de var i arbejde eller mens børnene var hjemmeboende.
De har gennem deres levetid været aktivt trendsættende på mange fronter og kan med stigende uddannelsesniveau og veludviklede it-kompetencer også forventes at være det fremover. Da de generelt ikke vil gå meget ned i indtægt efter tilbagetrækning fra arbejdsmarkedet, forbliver købekraften stort set intakt. De vil bruge deres penge mens de kan forøge deres livskvalitet.
Nye muligheder og nye krav
Den demografiske udvikling skaber helt unikke muligheder for virksomheder og betyder at offentlige institutioner skal forberede sig på nye krav til service.
Virksomhederne skal ikke kun tænke i større tekst på labels – hvis de ønsker at skabe vækst er det nødvendigt også at udvikle strategi, produkter/­ydelser og kommunikation overfor de ”nye ældre”. Med andre ord er en af de store udfordringer for virksomheder at bidrage til livskvaliteten – og sikre produkter, teknologi og service, der betyder at de ældre bibeholder deres vitalitet og bevarer deres produk­tivitet.
Det offentlige skal indstille sig på at ældreområdet ikke mere kun er en diskussion om omsorg og pleje. Det drejer sig om at skabe løsninger, som både tager sig af dem, der ikke kan klare sig selv, og som giver mulighed for, at de aktive kan forblive aktive – så længe som muligt. Derfor bliver et samspil og en kombination af offentlige og private tiltag, en af metoderne til at skabe fornuftige og individualiserede løsninger for de ældre borgere.
Co-founder Chris Evers - info@inspirum.dk

Examples, I’ll give you examples

The view of older marketers (50+) is that the marketing world’s is still going to be youth obsessed for some time yet. Well, this is the view of the people I have been interviewing for my forthcoming book. How about this list of consumer products companies who are realising the potential of the 50+.
Sony has poured more than $25 million into advertising to make the company's camcorders, digital cameras and other high-end gadgets more appealing to people between 50 and 64. Sony calls them "zoomers" to reflect their increasingly active lifestyles. (Why do they have to come up with these daft labels?).
Ford realized that American household buys 13 new cars, over the course of a lifetime -- including seven after the head of the household turns 50. The are planning to sell a new sedan (The Five Hundred) that will include popular SUV features and will be the first Ford built on a Volvo chassis, to appeal to 50+’s affinity for European styling.

Virgin Megastores has revamped its San Francisco store to include sections that appeal mostly to older listeners. This store is now outperforming the company's other 21 locations.
Anheuser-Busch is successfully marketing a low-carb Michelob Ultra beer to the 50+. They found (surprise, surprise) that the target audience didn't want Anheuser-Busch to "talk to my age" or show people with grey hair. They wanted people to 'Talk to my lifestyle.' They were more interested in learning about lower carbs and lower calories."
Walt Disney World has rolled out a program called "Magical Gatherings" last year. It allows customers to use a Web site to plan trips and is largely aimed at people over 50 who are organizing outings with golfing buddies, old schoolmates or their grandchildren.
Microsoft Corp started publicizing software tools in February -- with easier-to-read text, audio alerts and mouse alternatives -- to help older workers who are developing vision, hearing and wrist problems.
Procter & Gamble has pinpointed about 30 existing products they can target at older consumers.These examples are taken from the Wall Street Journal (6th April “Marketing surprise: Older consumers buy stuff, too”. You can read a syndicated version at this Web site.
Co-founder Chris Evers inspirum@hotmail.com