Grabbing Older Consumers via Cellphone

This is the headline of an article that recently appeared in the Wall Street Journal. If you are quick (next 3 days) you can read the article – after that it goes into the WSJ subscription only locker.

It contains some interesting examples of how US companies are putting their toes in the water of using mobile phones as means of reaching older consumers.

First a few facts. Forrester Research believes that only 3% of consumers trust mobile advertisements. Additionally, only 33% of mobile users aged 45-54 use any form of messaging, compared to 76% of users between ages 18-24.

The Californian mobile-entertainment firm Limbo 41414 seems to be doing good business by partnering with big name brands.

Companies like Hearst's Redbook magazine (average reader is a woman in her mid-30s to mid-40s). Soon the mag will be launching a mobile sweepstakes game. Redbook hopes the sweepstakes games will boost its profile with its readers and provide a new source of ad revenue, through the sale of sponsorships for the sweepstakes.

A few other examples of Limbo’s clients are Bravo (the NBC Universal-owned cable network), Lifetime Television show (average viewer is 48 years old) and Procter & Gamble with its Max Factor brand.

I suspect that Europe is a little further ahead than the US in the use of mobile to reach the over-50s, but not by a great deal. Dick Stroud