Before setting off on my vacation (see posts Vacation Time and Wind, Whales and Wine), I helped to develop a viewpoint on advertising to the “Over 50s,” and why most brands do this so poorly. My vacation experience served to underline our premise that age alone is not an adequate basis on which to develop effective marketing communications.
Before setting off for our kayak expedition, our group met for dinner in Buenos Aires. Had a marketer been observing our group, he would have been hard-pressed to discern what had brought us together, because our connection was not obvious from any visible external traits, and certainly not from our ages, which ranged from 26 to over 60. He might have hazarded a guess that our common interest was food and wine, and that ads placed in gourmet magazines would be the best bet for reaching us. In reality what we shared was a common interest in wildlife and the great outdoors, and we were brought together in Buenos Aires by Whitney & Smith’s ads in outdoor magazines and web sites.
Fresh from my South American adventure, I returned to the presentation convinced that too many ads targeted at Over 50s miss their mark because they define their audience according to its most obvious shared characteristic: age.
Representing a collaboration among JWT, Mindshare and Millward Brown, the Over 50s presentation was developed for one of our joint global clients. A review of ads aimed at the age group from around the world turned up two key concerns. Props such as false teeth, canes, and eyeglasses were apparently considered to be acceptable visual signals of the audience to which the ad ought to appeal. And, the ad copy seemed to reflect a belief that older people want facts, not emotion, which led to lots of boring text in print ads and some pretty mundane TV ads.
The Over 50s is not a homogeneous group—spanning 30-plus years, how could it be? But there are five key principles worth bearing in mind when developing communications for this group:
1) With interests ranging far beyond retirement planning and health concerns, the Over 50s are optimistic about their lives. In China, Europe, and the United States, members of this group express a sense of satisfaction with their current life stage and a positive outlook on the future. It was, in fact, one of the older people on our trip who seemed to lead the most active and adventurous life. (”Sorry,” she said, “I can’t do anything in March. That’s when I’m ski-trekking.”)
2) Over 50s are as interested in brands as any other age group. Our BrandZ database shows them to be neither more nor less Brand Loyal than the 18- to 34- year-old consumers. We do observe that Over 50s have lower awareness and claimed trial of brands, but this is very likely due to the fact that few marketers are making a serious effort to talk to them directly.
3) In terms of communicating with the Over 50s, the essentials are exactly the same as they are for addressing younger consumers. Effective advertising must be enjoyable and relevant to the needs and interests of the target. As I mentioned earlier, the members of my kayaking expedition were all attracted by the same advertising, because it spoke to our common interest in an active outdoor adventure.
4) While this may not be unique to today’s Boomers, Over 50s tend to view themselves as 10 years younger than they really are. Overt signals that “this ad is for you,” such as wrinkles and canes, are not welcome and may cause an active rejection of your message. Dig deeper to identify what will strike a real chord with the intended audience.
5) Over 50s do retain a sense of humor. Some data suggests that this group is less likely to enjoy humorous ads, but we expect this may actually reflect the fact that too often ads are targeted at—and created by—younger people, whose humor may be offensive or irrelevant to an older target. Also, it is perhaps not surprising that the Over 50s are not amused by ads which use old people as the butt of the joke.
Overall, my biggest takeaway is that even among the marketers who seek to communicate with this important group of consumers, very few do so in a relevant and empathetic way. The essential call to action of our presentation is “back to basics.” If you want to communicate effectively to any group of people–old or young–set your stereotyped images aside, and seek to truly understand the wants, needs, interests, and aspriations of your target audience.
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November 28th, 2006 at 6:50 pm
Nigel
Another piece of interesting information about this age group is the level of technology adoption. According to the Pew Global Attitudes Project, it is not just the young who are increasing their use of technology; in many countries computer use has accelerated most rapidly among people over 50.
Pauline
November 29th, 2006 at 11:54 am
Yes, technology adoption has increased but I think we need to put this in perspective.
The increase in Internet usage has been off a low base for this group (more room to grow penetration), and is focused primarily on 50 to 64 year olds in the developed nations. One could argue that for many this is due to the greater prevalence of computers at work for this group. Even in developed nations less than 1 in 3 people aged 65+ claim to go online or use the Internet to send and receive e-mail.
I know that many marketers are disappointed to learn that the Internet is not yet a mass-market medium for many over 65s because it limits their ability to deploy integrated and CRM campaigns with an Internet component. Media planning studies still show TV and print to be the most used mass media among Over 50s on a global basis.
November 29th, 2006 at 6:44 pm
Hola Nigel,
Andrés López recently presented a study of over 50 people in Mexico. One very interesting finding is that there are things a marketer (or indeed any person) may be tempted to talk about with Mexicans over 50 but should avoid:
a)praise their past: as it sounds like a farewell party and they are far from there yet
b)say they are young (or young at heart): because it sounds fake and makes them feel they are being called old
Successful messages appeal to the enjoyment and delight of their present and future (especially women) or appeal to their expertisse and knowledge (men are especially sensitive to this).
Cheers!
November 29th, 2006 at 9:08 pm
Hola Jorge, como le va?
These sound like excellent points to bear in mind. Again, it sounds like the overt messages are the ones to avoid. Of course, in the U.S. suggesting that someone looks younger than they really are is considered flattering, but I suspect that Andres finding refers to cases where the implication is “not too bad for an old person”. Is that correct?
Cheers,
Nigel
December 4th, 2006 at 3:21 pm
Nigel,
Take a step over into the arena of recruitment marketing and the mismatch between message and intent is even stronger. Fascinating, particularly given the speculation (for U.S. markets and several others) that a demographic bust may keep “boomers” working far into what one might imagine would be their retirement years. But to that point, our experience (my agency is in recruitment advertising) is the same as yours: the 50+ crowd tends to see themselves as a decade younger than their chronology would suggest.
Great posting.
David
December 4th, 2006 at 4:38 pm
Thanks for the comment David. It would seem that people might be particularly sensitive to age cues in recuitment advertising because it says a lot about what they have achieved and what their work aspirations might be?
December 4th, 2006 at 7:28 pm
You are correct Nigel. In Andrés words: “To tell a person over 50 that he/she looks younger is to remind him that he/she is getting older. I don’t want that. I rather be inspired by advertising to continue enjoying life and doing things!”
December 13th, 2006 at 3:59 am
Hi Nigel
There was this AcN survey finding recently (pasted below) which talked about how 60s are considered the new “middle age” !
A question I have on this topic : Will it be possible for the same brand to appeal to both the youth and the older genration at the same time ? Or is it necessary to have variant or sub brands for this purpose ? Would you know of any cases of these different strategies having worked for brands ?
The question stems from an interesting strategy adopted by Deutsche Bank during its recent launch in India. They are targetting the young achievers as well as the senior citizens, and have used 2 celebrities - Sunil Gavaskar (a retired cricket icon touching 60 yrs), and the upcoming tennis player Sania Mirza - to appeal to both segments (with no sub / variant brands). The ads have just appeared in the media, and we are waiting to see how this works for DB.
Cheers
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Growing Older is Not What it Used to Be
November 20 2006
World populations may be ageing, but consumers don’t feel their age in the same way they used to, according to findings from ACNielsen. Majorities agree with the research firm’s premises that ‘your 40s are the new 30s’ (60%), ‘your 30s are the new 20s’ (54%) and ‘your 60s are the new middle age’ (56%).
Nielsen asked consumers in 41 markets globally about their attitudes towards age and cosmetic surgery as they get older, and found a majority in agreement that modern lifestyles are helping older people ‘turn back the clock’.
Women were slightly more likely to agree with the statements than men in all cases, by 6-8%. China and Hong Kong were notable exceptions to this trend, with significantly higher proportions of men agreeing than women. Overall, Japan and Korea lead the Asia Pacific region in terms of agreement with the statements.
David McCallum, MD of ACNielsen Customised Research Global, says agreement was strongest where people had current or most recent experience of the age group in question – for example ‘people in their 20s and 30s were most in agreement that 30s are the new 20s – 59% of 25–34 year olds and 56% of 35–44 year olds agreed’. Similarly, 70% of those aged 45+ agreed that ‘your 60s are the new middle age’.
‘Living in the first decade of the 21st century, the goalposts have moved’ says McCallum. ‘Our perspective on what constitutes a ‘young adult’, ‘old’ or ‘middle-aged’ and the lifestyle and behavior appropriate to each of these phases in our lives has changed accordingly.’
December 13th, 2006 at 12:52 pm
Thanks Praveen, this addition is much appreciated. It really drives home point number 4 in the post.
I think the answer to your question really does depend on the context. A key issue would be whether or not the brand’s basic proposition or positioning appealed to needs, beliefs or desires that transcend age. For instance, technology brands, like Apple’s iPod, seem to appeal equally well to young and old. The other issue to consider is whether cultural change has left a brand associated with a past age, e.g. Bournvita in the UK, Twinkies in the US.
Your mention of Sunil Gavaskar suggests that he is on a par with Tiger Woods, David Beckham and Yao Ming as a potentially over-used celebrity. Didn’t I see him dancing in a Pepsi ad a while back?