The Business of Ageing Conference in Dublin

I have already written about this conference and how well run and attended it was.

Most of the presentations are now available for download. You can also see in graphic detail photos of the speakers, including a group shot with the Irish Taoiseach.

The great news for the organisers is that the press coverage keeps coming. This is an article published last week in the Irish Independent.

I couldn’t resist adding this photo of yours truly strutting the stage in the magnificent surroundings of the conference centre. Dick Stroud

Royal Mail workshop

This week I spent a day in Leeds doing a workshop for Royal Mail.

The event was held at the conference rooms at a Royal Mail sorting centre. I had images of a small little office somewhere in downtown Leeds. How wrong could I be?

The location was about the size of four football pitches. It was vast.

I had a good time. I hope the attendees did as well.

If you want to down load the presentations you can via the MMC web site. You will need to register but it is worthwhile since the site publishes a lot of really interesting stuff.

You can also view a Webcast I produced of my session. Dick Stroud

Presentation in Dublin

Today I spoke at a conference in Dublin about global opportunities of the ageing population. A really bright and attentive audience. Fantastic location. You can hear and see the presentation (22 mins run time).

I always like coming back to Ireland. This time is no exception. Dick Stroud

Business of Ageing conference in Dublin

On March 3, I will be speaking at a conference in Dublin called Business of Ageing.

In addition to the conference web site you can get some good background information about what is happening in Ireland, with regard to the 50-plus, from this excellent article that was published in The Sunday Post.
 
Naturally, I am going to say it was an excellent article since it has lot of quotes from me! Dick Stroud

A knoll about 50-plus marketing

Thank you – whoever – for adding one of my articles about 50-plus marketing to Google Knol. This is the first time I have come upon this Google services, even though the article was added in July 2008. Like so many things Google does the real power of the venture doesn’t become clear until sometime in the future. Why would Google want to invest in Blogger for instance? A strange and amazing company. Dick Stroud

All you every wanted to know about marketing to older consumers

A while back I was the lead editor on a series of online talks about marketing to older consumers

The publisher, Henry Stewart, has made available a teaser of the first 5 minutes of each of the sessions. If after watching you don’t buy the whole package I will be astonished!!!

Here are my two sessions. How the older market is evolving internationally and The web and the 50-plus. Dick Stroud

The good old recession and the 50-plus

I have already referenced that I was talking at a conference in Switzerland about “Mature Marketing”.

You can now see and hear what I was saying by downloading this Flash version of the presentation. Enjoy – probably not the right word. Be worried – probably more appropriate. Dick Stroud

Insights into the Asian Pacific market

Kim Walker is the leading specialist in over-50s marketing in the AsiaPac region.

Even if you don’t have an interest in this geographic region it is well worth reading his latest newsletter. Make sure you listen to his interview on the local radio station.

If I had the time I would have loved to have attended the 2 day conference that he is hosting about Marketing to Baby Boomers.

If you listen to Kim’s radio interview you will hear him describe a radically new auditing tool that enables companies to appraise their 50-plus friendliness. This is something that we have been working on for the past 6 months. I will soon be blogging (and probably bragging) about how it can be used and the benefits it delivers. Dick Stroud

A 30 minute presentation about the 50-plus and digital

Yesterday I gave a 30 minute presentation to the marketing seminar that preceded the Retirement Show in London.

These are the three subjects I spoke about:

1. Age and Internet use. What do we know – what assumptions do we make – is age a proxy for Internet use?

2. Where do they (the 50-plus) go –what do they do? Lots of marketers reckon that there is some mystical place where the 50-plus hang-out online and if only they could find where it is they would be able to ‘engage’ them. It aint that simple.

3. So What? After you have heard my pearls of wisdom what should you do? If I am lucky, one of the points from presentation will have stuck in the audience’s head. I gave them five actions to select from. Dick Stroud

June Newsletter has just been published

I haven’t kept my New Year’s resolution and published the 20plus30 newsletter at the beginning of each month. No excuses, just the pressure of work and idleness.

Anyway, I have just made a mid-year resolution and will ensure that a newsletter is published each month from today forward.

The June edition has the following contents:

• Recession forces marketers to get smart - gives access to my latest article.
• Reveals the impact of the recession on the 50-plus - details of the research I conducted with Mature Marketing.
• InTwoFocus -news about the launch of my Web video company
• Best practice in 50-plus marketing – details of the Webinar series I edited that contains contributions from the great and the good of the 50-plus marketing world.

What a feast of great content. Dick Stroud

Insights into the recession’s effect on older consumers

There has been little detailed research done into the impact of the recession on the UK’s over-50s. I decided that it was time to do something about this and joined with Mature Marketing to undertake a survey of over 1,600 older people, using Mature Time’s national newspaper and web site.

I reckon this is most current and thorough research on the subject.

The results are fascinating. Here are a few factlets to whet your appetite.

Over 25% say the recession has had little or no effect with a third reporting that they have not changed their spending patterns.

Over 60% say the recession has resulted in them only making a few cutbacks in their expenditure.

Despite older people holding 80% of savings and investment assets in the UK, the fall in interest rates has seriously affected only 20% of respondents.

Not all of the news is so positive - 12% have cut back drastically on spending.

The banks and the Labour Government are blamed for the economic problems resulting in a significant swing to the Conservatives and minority parties.

The 50-plus are giving far more financial support to their families than they are receiving.

Charitable donations have been badly, and I mean badly, hit by the recession.

If you want to read the detail then all you need to do is download the report. What could be simpler than that? If you would like a PowerPoint version then send me an e-mail.

All I ask in return is that if you use the results that you attribute the research to 20plus30 and Mature Marketing. Dick Stroud

A couple of new presentations

Not sure what to do this weekend. Missing work? Suffering PowerPoint withdrawal symptoms?

I have the solution. Two new presentations for you consider.

My trip to Japan involved presenting at a symposium about oldies and Web 2.0 – learn and listen to what I had to tell them.

This week I ventured to East Anglia (Ipswich) to talk to a bunch of marketers about why “old might be good” in these troubled economic times. No sound but a copy of the presentation.

Are you seriously thinking about reading both presentations? Maybe you should get out more! Dick Stroud

How was the Focalyst conference for you?

The Focalyst conference in New York coincided with a similar event in Tokyo.

As a speaker at the latter (much more of that in future blog postings) I had no choice but to head east, even though the line-up of speakers in New York looked fantastic.

Having just read Matt Thornhill’s comments it might have been a lucky escape. Matt is a guy who has attended and spoken at more Boomer conferences than most other people so I value his views – here is a selection.

Our overall assessment was that the event did not meet expectations. And our expectations came from the outstanding content at the first Focalyst Forum back in 2006.

Many of the presenters simply provided Boomer 101 type content -- J. Walker Smith of Yankelovich gave an overly enthusiastic presentation where he kept telling us (or to be more accurate, yelling at us) that Boomers are important because of "the NUMBERS." Thanks for that tidbit.

Few (speakers), if any, offered practical insights, and more importantly, implications for marketers. In our not-so-humble view the most productive and useful conferences are ones that show the attendees what works and what doesn't, and what they ought to be doing next.

Even the futurist who presented didn't deliver a plan of action for marketers to take advantage of the future he portrayed.

I do recommend you have a read of Matt’s blog.

A good friend, Janet Kiddle, who runs the consultancy Steel Magnolia, also attended the conference and has very kindly let me publish her summary of the event. Reading between the lines I think she agrees with most of Matt’s criticism.

So how was it for you – any other attendees at the event? What where the high and low points of the two days? Dick Stroud

Engaging with the over-50s: It's about lifestyle not age!

If you are up to reading yet more of my writing then this article in mycustomer.com says it all about the dual importance of demographics and lifestyle. Dick Stroud

Podcast and presentation from Dublin

Alex Gibson invited me to Dublin to talk to a meeting of The Pudding Club. Not an offer I could refuse. The idea behind this club is that after a long day in the office marketers can socialise – drink a glass or two of wine – have bite to eat and listen to a speaker talk about a specific area of marketing. No formality, no PowerPoint. Just listen, discuss, socialise, have fun and hopefully learn something new.

On returning to the UK I was suffering from withdrawal symptoms from a day without my beloved PowerPoint and thought I would record and publish the presentation.

After the event Alex interviewed me for one of his regular marketing podcasts. I think I am just about coherent. I did mention about the free flowing wine! My thanks to The Westbury Hotel (undoubtedly the place to stay in Dublin) for hosting the evening.

I had a great time, met some interesting people and had fun. Alex – thanks again. Dick Stroud

A collection of oldies specialists

On Tuesday I took part in the in a panel event titled 'Coming of Age‘. It was an interesting session conducted in a bar in the middle of London’s Piccadilly.Once I heard that how could I not accept the invitation

It provided me with a chance to meet David Noble who runs the social networking site Wanobe, Stephen Morgan, MD of Squiz who worked on the new 50Connect site, my old chum Sarah Robson, Research & Planning Director at Millennium, and Andrew Thatcher who runs mychumsclub.

I have to say they were not the most responsive audience I have ever encountered, maybe it was the lateness of the day, the proximity of the next glass of wine or the subject matter. It couldn’t have been the speakers!

Many thanks for the guys at NMK for putting on a well organized event. In the next couple of days I will be posting my words of wisdom. Dick Stroud

Retaining customers in Quicktime

The Royal Mail asked me to explain (in 300 seconds) how small companies can increase their customer retention. This is the outcome. Dick Stroud

IMMN Webinar

IMMN is a group of consultants and agencies that focus on the 50-plus market.

I was asked to speak at the organisation’s first Webinar together with Todd Harff (US) and Gill Walker (Australia). Despite some technical glitches – like the hotel where I was staying having a broadband blackout and Gill not being able to control her presentation - I think it went pretty well.


A PDF of all of the three presentations can be downloaded and you can watch and listen to my session.

This is the first of a series of Webinars that IMMN will be hosting. The more I use the Webinar format the more I like it. Dick Stroud

Dick Stroud’s Microsoft Webinar

A couple of weeks back I gave a Webinar for Microsoft Office Live about ways to improve online marketing to older consumers.

If you missed the event you can sit back and listen to my dulcet tones and watch the presentation - alternatively you can also download the file as a podcast. Great stuff this technology. Dick Stroud

Learn secrets of Web marketing to older consumers

This is the title of my first Web broadcast for Microsoft that will take place on Wednesday 7th March at 17.00 UK time. You can read all about it on the Microsoft web site.

Why not register and attend. It is FREE! Dick Stroud

The Gay - Grey markets

This week I gave a conference speech with Jo Rigby from OMD. The event was staged by the Ingenious Group, the UK’s leading social marketing company.

Jo and I were on in a slot called ‘Diversity Special’ with Ian Johnson, Managing Director, Out Now Consulting. As the name suggests this company targets the Gay market. Listening to Ian’s excellent presentation I was struck at how many similarities there are between the Gay and Grey markets. Both are treated as slightly ‘odd’, stereotypes abound and they are a mystery and a something of an embarrassment to most marketers. There is also that unspoken (sometimes spoken) assumption that appealing to one of the 'G' markets will alientate the 'normal' market. I think these similiarities are worthy of a bit more some investigation.

My conference presentation is available for downloading. Dick Stroud