Stuck in the past

This article appeared in Advertising Age (US) - thanks to Chuck Nyren for alerting me.

It states the same and often repeated message: “the advertising industry should start taking note of the 50-plus consumer”.

Agencies like to think of themselves as the last bastion of creativity, but they're in many ways the most calcified part of the process. Enlightened clients are beginning to realize this resistance to change is holding them back; the next step is to bypass their agencies' counsel.

I am continually amazed that the advertising industry is so conservative, old fashioned and slow to change. Paradoxically these are their accusations about the over-50s.

These charges don't just apply to age demographics.

The shift to online advertising and the rising importance of social networking are two other developments where the mainstream advertising world has its head firmly stuck (I will let you finish the sentence). Dick Stroud