50-Plus Marketing

Doom, doom and daft names

2008-05-11T08:56:00.002Z

If you believe the media and “research shows PR” then all ages of Europeans are in financial meltdown.

In the UK, Liverpool Victoria (finance company) has done some research and found that 66% of over 50s fear they face an impoverished retirement. Conclusion they should save more – guess what, LV provides saving products.

In today’s Observer there is a report about the young in Spain, France and Italy who are: “facing a lifetime on low salaries with unrewarding jobs, forever poorer than their parents.”

Of course there is an element of truth in both conclusions but you need to dig a lot deeper into the numbers to find what is really happening. Far deeper than you will find in a Sunday newspaper article or a corporate press release.

Other than banging on about the dreadful state of the world these extracts have another thing in common. The both employ a GAUADN (Get attention by using a daft name). So in the case of Liverpool Victoria it is the 'Face Retirement Earnings Doubts' (Freds). In the Observer it is “Baby Losers”.

OK, OK, OK I know it is all about getting attention. But surely the world has moved on and there are more sophisticated ways of doing it! Dick Stroud

AARP Webcast

2008-05-08T06:33:00.000Z

“How retirees are managing today and what effect pension trends and other economic factors will have on future retirees?”

Sound interesting? This is the title of one of the sessions being covered during an AARP webcast. If you are in Washington on the May 14th you can go and see the thing live, otherwise contact AARP for the Web version of the event. Dick Stroud

YouTube for intellectuals

2008-05-08T05:58:00.003Z

Fora.tv is the Web site for intellectually inclined YouTube viewers (i.e. the sort of people that read this blog). This is a smart site. Beautifully created. Have a look at this highlights video of Robert Shapiro talking about the how economies around the world will react to the aging of the baby boom generation. Dick Stroud

Scan not read – repeat again – Scan not read

2008-05-08T05:54:00.000Z

Jakob Nielsen does it again. He sends me a newsletter that I cannot help reading and then blogging about.

This is not a specific 50-plus posting, but as applicable to them as any other age group. Nielsen’s research shows that on average users have time to read at most 28% of the words during an average visit; 20% is the more likely figure.

Another research study is used to provide the data for Nielsen’s conclusions Not Quite the Average: an Empirical Study of Web Use. If you don’t mind the hassle of registering you can also download this paper.

The next time you are sitting in meeting, debating if you should use word A or B remember that most people don’t give a damn because they will not read it. Creating text for web sites is more like painting pictures than crafting exquisite prose. Dick Stroud

Older radio audiences increase (some of them)

2008-05-05T07:28:00.002Z

Saga radio (radio aimed at the 50-plus) was acquired by Guardian Media Group and renamed Smooth Radio. As the blurb says : “Smooth provides a broad mix of easy listening music from the last five decades and intelligent, entertaining speech for the mature 40-something adult”. Smooth has six stations across the UK.

RAJAR (Radio Joint Audience Research), which is the official body in charge of measuring radio audiences in the UK, has just published for the first quarter of 2008. It found that one of the best performing commercial networks was Smooth Radio, which increased its share from 1.9% to 2.1% and grew its reach from 2.19m to 2.38m. Now I wonder why that is? Might it have something to do with demographics?

In truth it also has something to do with Smooth's programming and the marketing campaign to promote the station But of all the commercial radio stations Smooth was the only one to show any significant increase in listeners. Dick Stroud

Consumer segmentation and social media?

2008-05-05T06:44:00.001Z

This article in AdAge (US) gives a summary description of the social networking behaviour of some of the consumer groups used by Simmons Research (part of Experian). It is the first time that I have seen any attempt to overlay social networking behaviour onto lifestyle groups.

I particularly liked the definition of the “Smart Green” group.

They prefer to buy products in recycled packages and eschew products that pollute. They are average users of social networking, blogging and podcasting but slightly above average in message boards. They are older (50-plus) and are most likely to go online for health or financial information. And in the spirit of their eco-friendly attitude toward trees, they're 23% more likely to send electronic greeting cards.

Know anybody like that? Dick Stroud

UK research about pensions

2008-05-04T08:39:00.002Z

The figures published by the Office of National Statistics about UK pension trends make sobering reading. About two thirds of pensioner households received private pension incomes in 2005/06, but 40% of pensioner couples, 55% of single men and 61% of single women pensioners have an annual private pension income of less than £1,000.

The figures show that the average annual private pension income for pensioner couples in 2005/06 was £2,115 for pensioner couples while for single men it was £1,553 and for single women £1,238.

To be honest we have always known that income distribution of people of pensionable age is just as fragmented into the ‘haves’ and the ‘have-nots’ as any age group, more so maybe. This is why it is essential to be rigorous with the way you segment the market.

Marketing magazine had a great article about this subject. The fact that I am quoted hasn't influenced on my judgement. Well maybe a tad. Dick Stroud

YouGov launches a Boomer Tracker

2008-05-04T07:42:00.004Z

Why? Why and thrice why?

Why launch a consumer research tracker about an age cohort (someone born between 1946-1964) that is based on the rise of and fall of the US birthrate but that has little in common with the UK’s demographic profile. See above.

Anyway, if you are interested in research about an age cohort, that has no particular relevance to the UK, you can get it from YouGov. It will cover:

Marketing and Communications
Technology and Health
Financial Services and Retail
Media and Leisure

For those with deep pockets you can buy client specific questions. YouGov always strikes me as a really on-the-ball company. I cannot understand how it the fell into the Baby Boomer trap. I suppose that since most of its clients are equally unaware of the irrelevance of the Baby Boomer cohort, the service will probably sell well. Dick Stroud

Not Madonna again!

2008-05-02T09:10:00.002Z

This is the cover of Marketing Week, here is the article. I am not sure how long this link will remain active so if you want to read it, do it soon. On the other hand it ain’t going to tell you very much new.

There is some stuff about the new tgi50 venture. It’s always a bit worrying when you read that the: “funding for the venture is yet to be finalised and its launch could be six months away”. Mmmm.

There are a few not overly helpful quotes:

This new generation is shocked to find they are hitting their 50s – they have been brought up to believe they were the cool young generation of the Seventies. Mmmm

As people get older, they become more discerning and thoughtful in their purchases. They’ve started to understand what to buy and what not to buy. Mmmm

I would have thought Marketing Week could do a bit better than this for its cover story. Even Madonna deserves more than this. Dick Stroud

Veer – a good source of oldie photos

2008-05-02T08:51:00.004Z

This is their selection of boomer photos. OK, some of it is a bit ‘cheesy’ but there is some good stuff. I also like the very simple search mechanism for finding photos of older people. I wonder when they will provide an option for the over-70s? Dick Stroud

Boomers and cars

2008-05-02T08:43:00.000Z

Has anybody notice that the price of petrol has increased? What a daft question.

As the pump price climbs ever higher and the population ages, U.S. road traffic is falling—and so is fuel consumption

In 2007 the traffic in Palm Beach Florida decreased. It's not just Palm Beach. Traffic levels are trending downward though much of the US. Preliminary figures from the Federal Highway Administration show it falling 1.4% last year. That would be the first annual decline since 1991.

There are lots of explanations for this decline in road transport. Most people seem agreed that a significant contributing factor is the fact that US baby boomers are exiting their peak driving years. This translates into fewer car sales on a per capita basis. I think this is an interesting example of a mega-change created by the ageing population. Good for the environment – bad for the car makers. Dick Stroud

Charities face an interesting few years

2008-04-30T06:19:00.001Z

Yesterday Oxfam announced that it had appointed an agency to develop its legacy marketing to the Baby Boomers (whoever they are).

Charities and all types of organisations that depend on volunteers face an interesting period. On one hand they have loads of older people reaching the age that has historically been associated with ‘giving’ - on the other hand the new-old may not be destined to follow their parent’s generation in giving their time and money.

This is a subject I will be commenting about a lot more. Dick Stroud

Germany’s ageing population

2008-04-30T05:46:00.001Z

In the UK, and I would guess the US, we hear little about Germany’s older market. This short article gives a brief insight. Apparently, every third euro that is spent in the private sector in Germany is by the 60+. A good reason to take an interest. Dick Stroud

Trends go on until they stop

2008-04-29T04:49:00.002Z

Life expectancy is declining in some parts of the US. It is probably the same in the UK.

I suppose there have always been massive differences between the rich and the poor and those with a healthy and not so healthy lifestyle. But since we have been recording ‘healthiness’ it has been improving, albeit in some places faster than others. Not so now.

An article in the New York Times explains what is happening in the US. The US Counties with significant declines were concentrated in Appalachia, the Southeast, Texas, the southern Midwest and along the Mississippi River.

The life expectancy of men in some parts of Glasgow is around 70 which means there is over a ten year difference between the best and worst places in the UK.

The horrible concoction of obesity, drug and drink dependency and HIV are to blame for the problems. There are few signs these are going to improve in the near future.

The reason for telling you this sad story is to reinforce the need to understand the details of demographics and not just the headline averages. Dick Stroud

Chase the Silver Foxes

2008-04-28T19:36:00.002Z

The UK, like the US and the rest of Europe is getting a tad worried about the resilience of consumer spending. More accurately the lack of resilience of consumer spending.

CACI has been analysing the demographics of the UK and concluded that the closer you get to London the more likely consumers are going to be able to plough on through the credit crunch unscathed. The folks living in the frozen north of the country are in for a tough time.

The age group that CACI has identified as most resilient to economic downturns are the over-55s that it terms the “silver foxes” (don’t you just hate these daft names).

This group is 1.5 times more likely than the average household to have an income of more than £100,000. This group accounts for 14% of the population and analysts estimate that they have £23bn to spend on discretionary items, such as clothing, books and CDs, irrespective of a downturn. That is out of total pot of £153bn.

The article in the Observer, where this is all discussed, provides a pen sketch of the foxy rich oldies.

The Silver Foxes are a fifty-something couple living in Epsom, Surrey. He manages the finances; she shops at Marks & Spencer. They are well-informed readers who keep on top of the financial pages. Their favourite food stores are Sainsbury's and M&S, but they also have a penchant for John Lewis.

Most are retired and settled at their financial peaks in pleasant locales, such as Guildford, Winchester and Tunbridge Wells. They are unfazed by house prices as they are mortgage-free and the children have left home. Their savings will be double, often treble, the norm.

I call this group the Charmed Generation. If you prefer Silver Foxes, or rich oldies it doesn't matter - they are a group of consumers that all companies should be targetting. Dick Stroud

London and England have little in common

2008-04-28T11:38:00.001Z

Whenever I talk with clients, speak at conferences or teach about 50-plus marketing I always make the point that London is very different to the rest of the UK. People nod in agreement but I always get the feeling that they don’t really understand that when I say ‘different’ I mean ‘different’.

London-centric companies and London-centric people tend to have a very distorted view about the rest of England – let alone the wild and woolly outposts of Wales and Scotland.

I think this video from the BBC does an excellent job of driving home why basing any marketing thinking on London is fine for London but next to useless for anywhere else – other than maybe New York. Dick Stroud

Goodbye to demographics

2008-04-27T06:10:00.002Z

One of the lead articles on the WARC web site is by the editor-in-chief of MediaPost with the title of this blog posting. I quote

My prediction is that 2008 will be a year in which the advertising and media industries finally challenge the role of demographics as the primary method of targeting consumers with media. It is a challenge that is long overdue. Demographics are crude surrogates at best for who a brand's consumers actually are, how they think, behave and, most importantly, how likely they are to actually purchase a product.

I normally say that: “age is a poor proxy for behaviour.” I think I will add the phrase “Demographics are crude surrogates for who a brand's consumers are, how they think and behave”. Take your choice. As long as you get the message.

Sorry, WARC’s site is subscription only; otherwise I would have provided more of the article.

I like the accompanying image. Dick Stroud

Social Media Lessons to Learn from Eons

2008-04-25T17:18:00.001Z

The guys at Immersion Active are a smart bunch and talk a lot of sense about the older market.

Their current newsletter contains a well written and thoughtful article about the way Eons.com handled (bungled some might say) the relaxation of the age limit on membership.

For observers of the company this was seen as the raising of the white-flag – certainly it was seen as the reason to put the company in the “valley of death” category by the venture capital industry.

Sometimes you have to hold up your hands and say: “it seemed a good idea at the time but it didn’t work”. Much better than see a company die by a thousand cuts – probably also a much better financial option. Dick Stroud

What do you want from Social Networking?

2008-04-25T07:24:00.002Z

I have just completed an online survey for SagaZone. The above shows the most interesting part of the survey - the “wish list” for new features.

Whenever I am invited to be part of a survey my instinctive reaction is: “I wonder what is going wrong that”. I know the smart thing to do is use surveys to ensure continual improvement, but in my experience it isn't how most companies employ user research.

Saga’s registered number of profiles is now 35,000. This is an increase of 4,500 from my last reading in mid January. This means they are adding less than 50 new users/day. During the first few months of the site's life the rate was 100 users/day.

Maybe that explains the survey? Dick Stroud

New over-50s agency

2008-04-25T05:28:00.002Z

Brandrepublic reported the launch of a new agency (tgi50) specializing in the 50-plus market. The launch of tgi50 is scheduled for 16 August, which as everybody knows is Madonna's 50th birthday – must remember to get her a card.

The guys behind the agency are Robert Campbell and Toby Constantine. As can see they have extensive careers in the marketing business.

The company will offer services such as sales promotion, direct marketing, digital, PR, mobile and search-engine optimisation. It does not plan to produce traditional advertising campaigns.Campbell said: "It's a challenger organisation to Saga. We will be acting as a conduit for contemporary brands that usually aim at under-35s that now want to target the over-50s market but wouldn't be seen dead in Saga magazine."

The more companies talking about and selling to this market the better – I wish them well.

The only marketing blog that has picked up this story is Lunar.BBDO. – have a look at the comments. It does amuse me the way that some young marketers respond to ventures that are not aimed at their own age group, but that of their parents. Weird. Dick Stroud

Boomer books

2008-04-21T13:12:00.001Z

This Saturday’s FT contained a book review of Boomer books. It is not the best written review you will ever read. It emitted the feeling that the reviewer (Michael Skapinker) had to churn out 1,800 on a subject that excited him about as much as reading John Prescott’s biography.

Skip reading the review and look at the books he selected. I have yet to start Generation Ageless, haven’t heard of Boom! Voices of the Sixties but can absolutely recommend Boom: Marketing to the Ultimate Power Consumer – The Baby-Boomer Woman by Mary Brown and Carol Orsborn. Am a tad sour that he didn’t review my book? You bet! Dick Stroud

Ageing suits

2008-04-21T12:52:00.002Z

These have been around for ages. Ford was using one over a decade ago.
Good to see that the idea is still developing and being used by Nissan. Dick Stroud

Goodness gracious me. Is this a spoof or for real?

2008-04-21T08:33:00.001Z

I am a great fan of Web video. But, when it goes wrong it goes wrong big time.
Chuck Nyren has posted an item about this video:

I guess the target market is supposed to be older execs, mostly Baby Boomers, who make such decisions in major companies. Or actually the target is the sales force (inside and out) hawking Vista to Boomer execs.

It is that sort of experience that makes me squirm, wriggle about in my seat and in desperation slam the stop button. Surely it is spoof? Microsoft could not have produced this, aimed at any age of audience – could they? Dick Stroud

Accenture Consumer Broadcast Study – make sure you download

2008-04-15T11:08:00.002Z

The report gives the key findings from the Accenture Broadcast Consumer Survey 2008 and contains lots of nice graphs showing how people of different ages and nationalities respond to the changes taking place in the TV broadcasting (whatever that is).

The above chart gives a hint to the report’s conclusions. This is an extract.

The message is clear: watch the youth — they are the leading indicator, and the wave is coming. Our research reveals many correlations between consumers’ age and their attitudes and behaviour about new viewing options. These findings suggest that changes in behaviour will accelerate as these young consumers gain greater spending- power over time. For instance, compared to older consumers — and especially those over 55 — the under- 25 set is:

• Less likely to say they are satisfied with current television options;

• More likely to watch content on alternative devices;

• More likely to be familiar with on-demand TV, and to prefer watching content on demand; and • More willing to ‘pay’ to download content, whether by paying money or agreeing to watch advertisements.

If you believe the findings of this report then the future looks to be one where the 50-plus are glued to the TV in the corner of the room (maybe with pipe and slippers) whilst their children and grandkids are paying for the latest edition of their favourite programme, viewing it on their mobile phone whilst catching a bus.

Maybe, maybe not. Dick Stroud

Hopefully you all know that Google is changing its UK strategy

2008-04-15T09:06:00.002Z

Another age neutral posting. Last one this week - I promise.

This is an important development for UK companies. Hopefully all readers of this blog know that Google's change in policy means that consumers searching for specific brands will, for the first time, receive sponsored listings for their closest rivals.

The new rules are expected to cause the cost of paid-search advertising to rocket, forcing the UK's biggest online advertisers into conflict.

The changes, which come into effect on 5 May, have been described by the IPA as 'radical' and 'unexpected'. The body's head of digital, said: 'This unilateral move by Google shifts the goalposts for all brand owners in the UK.'

The IPA plans to call an emergency meeting with Google to ask it to delay the introduction of the strategy, which it claims will have a massive impact on offline activity as well as paid-search and online advertising. Don’t say you haven’t been warned! Dick Stroud