Dick Stroud is the founder of 20plus30, a marketing strategy consultancy specialising in the 50 plus market. He is the UK’s leading expert on using interactive channels to communicate with the over-50s market.
Many thanks to Rick for sending me the details of some finance related ads currently running in the US. All of them will be targeting an older audience.
Something weird has happened with the voice sync on this ad – you can see the real thing on the company’s web site
Other versions of the ad are available on the web site. Know anybody like this?
I was unsuccessful in locating the ads from Axa Equitable but you can get a feel for the style by visiting the Web site that is also using the creative (an interesting development that you will see a lot more).
This article is from The Publican. If you go into Manchester, or most other UK towns, on a Saturday night you will encounter the unedifying sight of yoofs of both sexes who are paralytically drunk. Over the weekend, 90% of all admissions to hospitals’ accident and emergency department are inebriated kids. There is an epidemic of liver disease amongst young adults resulting from excessive consumption of alcohol. Things are bad, bad, bad.
The response of the UK Government to this problem is fascinating. Rather than target its marketing efforts to sort out the problem it balances them with an equal amount of attention aimed at the kid’s parents. Because it doesn’t want to be seen to be singling out one group of people for special attention it defuses its message by broadening it to the people at the other end of the age spectrum.
During my recent visit to the US I witnessed a similar response by Barack Obama to the videos of his lunatic pastor. Rather than condemning the guy or maybe sympathizing with him for his mental instability, he defused his condemnation by saying that his white mother had also made racist comments. It is an interesting communications ploy. In my view it is totally ineffective but that is a personal opinion.
Coming back to the drunken older louts. Have a look at this dreadful poster ad that is accompanying the campaign. I don’t blame the advertising agency for relieving the fools at Manchester of their money but surely they could have come up with something a bit better than this. Dick Stroud
Two things caught my eye this morning in the deluge of over-night e-mails.
The value of internet advertising in the UK will overtake that of TV adverts by 2009, says the Internet Advertising Bureau (IAB).
Now this organisation has a vested interest in talking-up the value of Internet advertising but if this is even close to be the truth it is an amazing shift in the way companies are spending their advertising bucks. The BBC is reporting the news item. Even more important that companies understand the way that older people respond to online advertising. Very, very few do.
The other thing is to do with mobile phones.
A company called Clarity (part of Plantronics) is launching a phone aimed at the hard of hearing and gadget-adverse older person. The trouble with these ‘simple’ phones is that they all look so horrible. Surely you can make a simple and attractive phone. Maybe not. Dick Stroud
Many thanks to Matt Thornhill for telling me about the “off the charts ageist ad” from Safestore that shows a guy storing his gran in lockup storage. I have to make a horrible admission: I found rather funny.
It is like the second of the ads from John Smith that is about Peter Kay (a well known UK comedian) telling his mum that he is putting her into an old people’s home. I know that this ad had high levels of appeal across all age groups. The Safestore ad is not in the same league but it I suspect it was reasonably effective.
I am talking with a large group of the 75+ in a couple of weeks and will show them the safestore ad and let you know what they thought. Dick Stroud
I have a great deal of time for John Lewis. It is a company that really gets it about age neutral marketing. The company’s mainstream advertising and that of its subsidiaries Waitrose and Greenbee is well crafted and designed to appeal to a wide range of ages.
What a pity that the ad is so disappointing. Lots of clever stuff that doesn’t amuse intrigue or engage me in the company or its products. Maybe I am being too harsh? Dick Stroud
Last year Cadbury’s Gorilla ad campaign was an instant success both with the advertising industry and far more importantly the public. A hard act to follow and unfortunately the sequel doesn’t work, at least for me.
From the research I conducted the Gorilla ad had was age neutral and appealed to a wide demographic and spectrum of lifestyle groups. I don’t think this one will have the same appeal. Any thoughts? Dick Stroud
I just love these Louis Vuitton ads. I am not sure if they are running internationally but they are getting a lot of exposure in the UK.
Who would have dreamt that Mikhail Gorbachev (The last General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union and the last head of state of the USSR) - aged 77-would be partnering Keith Richards (English guitarist, songwriter, singer, producer and founding member of The Rolling Stones) aged 65.
Next time you hear some pundit/forecaster telling you how the world is going to look in the future consider who would have predicted this strange combination. I wonder what age group these ads are aiming at? I ask the question but I think I know the answer. Dick Stroud
This an excellent blog posting but has nothing directly to do with the 50-plus although many of the things discussed are relevant to the older consumer.
WARC (World Advertising Research Center) is attending The World Effie Festival .What you might say is that? Well it is a: “global celebration of creative effectiveness, where the brightest minds in creative, design and marketing will gather to analyse and inspire the very best in creative and effective communication.”
Don’t be put off by the marketing speak. This posting contains some fascinating stuff. Make your self a coffee, ensure your speakers are working (there is a lot of video) and enjoy. Dick Stroud
Many thanks to Rick Hartley for pointing out this article in the Wall Street Journal (January 4, 2008). Sorry but the WSJ is subscription only. The article provides a lot of quotes from Janice Finkel-Greene, an executive vice president of futures and technology at Initiative (part of Interpublic Group).
This is a quote that I have been waiting to read for the years.
Already, she and her team are beginning to question some long-held notions in the industry. One evolving theory: that advertisers should pay more attention to people's viewing patterns than to their demographics, such as whether they are a twentysomething or a male. Fans of the NBC Universal show "Heroes," for example, whether they are 18-year-old men or 54-year-old women, generally tend to watch the show the same way -- often clicking through ads, she says. The same has been true so far for NBC's "The Biggest Loser." That's a shift from previous years, when TV networks and advertisers were focused on reaching coveted demographics like viewers aged 18 to 34.
My contacts in the media buying industry in the UK suggest that the fascination (I would say obsession) with age is beginning to change. Not a day too soon. Dick Stroud
See what you think. This was one of the most popular ads in the UK during 2007. From anecdotal evidence it seemed to be particulary high on its age-neutrality rating.
The viral effect of the ad was fascinating since it spurned a pile of re-mixes on YouTube. This is my favourite.
Anybody want to give their favourite age-neutral ads of 2007 (hopefully with a link so it can be viewed). Dick Stroud
I know the astronaut ad has been around for some time and it has been on my ‘to do list’ to write about. Well here it is along with Sony’s most recent Bravia ad. I reckon this would make a great exam question: “Compare and contrast Sony’s advertising creative for two consumer technology products”.
Clearly, the astronaut creative has a simple message assumption about age, fitness and technology. I wonder what was in the minds of the Bravia creative team when they thought about the animation ad and how it would play with older people, who must make-up a significant group of their target customers.
From the research I did with OMD I guess that this add would have a positive impact on less than 20% of the 50-plus. Fortunately these are the ones most likely to buy the product. Dick Stroud
The results of the biannual internet advertising spend study from the Internet Advertising Bureau, PricewaterhouseCoopers and the World Advertising Research Centre shows online advertising expenditure reaching a potential new high of £2.75 billion by the end of 2007.
The total UK advertising market grew by 3.1% during the first half of the year to £9.1 billion. Without online’s contribution, UK media expenditure would have fallen by 1.9% (or £147 million).
All forms of online advertising increased. The following shows the type, share of online advertising spend and year-on-year growth rate.
Classified advertising (21%), increased by 72% Internet display advertising (22%) - including banners, skyscrapers and rich media formats – increased by 33%. Paid-for search (44%) increased 44%.
Online spending, by the main industry categories (in priority order) are:
Back in August I commented about the Deloitte & Touche report call “The State of Media Democracy” and how it didn’t seem to say very much of interest. I have just discovered this chart on eMarketer that quotes data from the report about the choices of different age groups for print, online and paying for content or being forced to watch ads.
For most of the questions there doesn’t appear to be any meaningful difference between the generations. The only distinct trend is the preference for paying for news content rather than watching ads. Amazingly it goes in the opposite direction to what I would have guessed. The older you get the more willing you are to put up with ads. I really do find that hard to believe. Dick Stroud
This is an age-neutral blog posting about a couple of bits of research I have just read about the dynamics of Web advertising.
The first research study is from the University of Kentucky's School of Journalism and Telecommunications and claims that just seeing an ad on a Web page can be remembered and doesn't rely on the ad being clicked. The full article is on the Technology Review web site.
It appears that when we view Web ads we store the information in two different types of memory: explicit and implicit. Explicit memory involves facts learned through conscious interaction, while implicit memory involves unconscious retention.
Explicitly remembered information includes ad slogans, product benefits and Web site addresses.
Implicit memory comes into play when external stimuli trigger concepts (i.e. developing an unconscious affinity for a certain brand despite not knowing specific facts about it)
The research showed that people who paid attention to a banner advertisement were more likely than those who didn't to recall whole words and facts from the ad (i.e. those in explicit memory). However, all ads had the same level of impact in the unconscious explicit memory, whether or not they'd been clicked.
Having written these words it sound to me like the research has stated the obvious.
An article that offers some more tangible insights is appears on the WARC Web site. Sorry it subscription only. A survey of 900 people was conducted by Nielsen/NetRatings.
People were asked what action they would take to an online advertisement for holidays or flights. Assuming they did something, would they click on the ad, do a search or go directly to the advertiser's website?
Only 26% of people said they would click on the banner ad.
The most popular response was to do a search, either for the advertiser's name (26%) or for a general term related to the advertisement (31%).
This means that more than twice as many people are potentially being driven to a search engine by banner advertising than are clicking directly on the banner itself. Now that is an interesting result.
It gets even more interesting, since the advertising also prompts a large numbers to go directly to the company’s Web site (29% of people told us they would go straight to an advertiser's website by typing in a URL – they figure rises to 38% for experienced travellers taking three or more major holidays per year).
The explanation for the behaviour seems to be .
Web activity is very much task-driven. When clicking on a banner gets in the way of completing the task the majority of people prefer to make a mental (or physical) note to follow up on the advertising after they have completed their task.
Both of these bits of research must be music to ears of companies selling banner inventory. You can just hear them saying: “forget all this nonsense about click-through rates they don’t matter”. Maybe they are right? Dick Stroud
On my trawl through the SAGAzone I only encountered one banner advertisement that was not from SAGA itself. The second pane of the animated GIF then pointed me to the web site that is going to reveal all about nocturnal peeing. A site called 1in4men.com.
To be honest I assumed this was a microsite that had something to do with prostrate cancer. But no, it is a site created by the pharmaceutical company Boehringer Ingelheim to provide guidance about BPH (benign prostatic hyperplasia).
You must have a look at the site. I can see what idea is but the execution is terrible. Dick Stroud
Not a posting that is specific to the 50-plus. If this vision of the future is correct then it will certainly be relevant to the older age group.
The article in the New York Times starts with the non-contentious statement: “It is only a matter of time until nearly all advertisements around the world are digital”. Well that is what the chairman and chief executive of Digitas thinks. This is the advertising agency that was recently acquired by the Publicis Groupe.
The article claims that Digitas is responsible for the digital advertising strategy for the entire Publicis worldwide conglomerate, which includes agencies like Saatchi & Saatchi, Leo Burnett and the Starcom MediaVest Group.
The plan is to build a global digital ad network that uses offshore labour to create thousands of versions of ads. Then, using data about consumers the network will decide which advertising message to show at which moment to every person who turns on a computer, cellphone or — eventually — a television. Gulp. Can they really do that?
Interestingly, at least for me since I hope to be there in a few weeks time, Publicis recently announced the acquisition of the Communication Central Group, a digital agency in China. This makes sense since the company thinks that the Chinese advertising market is growing at about 20% a year.
It looks as if Publicis also sees countries like China as important sources of low-cost labour. A Digitas subsidiary Prodigious (digital production) already uses workers in Costa Rica and Ukraine. I guess this is the advertising equivalent to sweat shop factory?
This article paints an extreme view of how the advertising industry might develop. Just think that not only will your TV be made in China but also the ads you watch on it. Dick Stroud
The decision of the London borough Hillingdon to assign parking spaces that are nearby to the shops for the elderly has not found universal acceptance.
Just picture the scene in the depths of the Hillingdon council offices. The head honcho responsible for parking is told to implement the plan. I might be doing this person a great disservice but I doubt if marketing is one of their strong points.
There are two important decisions to make. How old is old and how to designate the parking space as being for the oldie?
So what did they decide? Old starts at 50! Since they had a shed load of the signs that are put outside care homes (see above) they would fit the bill nicely.
After the deluge of complaints the council issued a statement saying that they would envisage over 65s using the spaces and only those that are not fit and healthy.
This is a little microcosm of the issues facing the corporate world. Let’s hope they make a better fist of it than the London Borough of Hillingdon who failed miserably to give away these coveted parking spaces. Dick Stroud
I am sorry that YouTube took so long to process the previous blog’s video. That’s what you get from using a free service!
Google themselves were much faster at processing this ad from Muller. The previous ad I posted generated more e-mail than any other. People loved or hated it! I would be interested to know what you think.
One thing is for sure - this is definitely an age neutral ad. Dick Stroud
Volkswagen launches an innovative web-based campaign which continues the theme of the popular ‘midlife crisis’ adverts featuring the Passat model.
Carrying the tagline ‘When all around are losing their heads, keep yours’ the new advert invites recipients to visit the fictitious ‘Midlife Crisis Retreat.’ Here they can learn more about the Passat and, its creators hope, a little more about themselves.
Designed as a tongue-in-cheek exercise the advanced software used in the site’s creation allows it to be tailored specifically to visitors deemed by friends or family to be suffering a midlife crisis. Nominations can be made by filling out a simple online form resulting in a unique message from the fictitious clinic inviting the nominated individual to visit.
When the recipient clicks on the link contained within the email they’re guided to The Midlife Crisis Retreat site and a unique greeting from the pseudo psychiatrist. Here they find the ‘midlife crisis test’ designed to rate their susceptibility and raise a smile as well as introducing fictional characters and scenarios based around the ‘crisis’ theme.
The microsite is damn clever. I have never seen this technique of generating a customised video message used before.
As you would expect the campaign comes with its own YouTube channel and has all of the ingredients to generate a pile of viral activity. But, and there is a big one lurking in the wings, will it sell Passats and enhance the Passat brand?
The punch line of the ad is if you aren’t having a midlife crisis you will appreciate the lures of Passat - if you are having one and get cured you will appreciate the Passat – if you book into the VW midlife crisis you will find it full but (incidentally) VW will have captured your e-mail address.
So my take on the campaign is great use of technology – it has a high ‘smirking’ score – likely to generate buzz and viral traffic. But I am very sceptical about its business effectiveness.
My fear, if I were one of the campaign team, is that all will be remembered is that the VW Passat engenders an emotion of the excruciating male midlife crisis. Not the most positive marketing message. Dick Stroud
Look at the ad. Who is the primary audience? Give you a clue.
If you were around in the mid-60s the TV was full of the Monkees. This ad is a straight copy of a sequence they did on the beach.
In my view this is aimed full square at grandparents. But, like all of the current campaign of M&S ads it a perfectly scripted bit of age-neutral creative. Brilliant. Dick Stroud
To quote New Scientist (the UK’s second rate version of Scientific America): “Losing at the races or bingo may not be such a problem for older people, since those over 65 are less upset by loss than twenty-somethings. But they are just as glad of a win, new brain scans suggest”.
This is an interesting conclusion but why the reference to the races and bingo – a tad ageist methinks.
Anyway, research conducted at Stanford University (US) compared the way the over 65s respond to losing and winning, compared with people aged between 19 and 27.
Participants were shown cues telling them they could either win or lose money. They had to rate their own excitement at the prospects while their brain activity was monitored using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI).
The researchers found in both the self-reported tests and the fMRI scans, that younger adults showed more activity their insula and caudate – areas of the brain involved in processing emotion – when anticipating losses than the elderly. However, when winning money activity in the ‘emotion’ area was the same regardless of age.
This finding has loads of interesting implications, not least when constructing advertising. If you are looking to create age neutral creative then concentrate on winning not losing. Dick Stroud
Muller’s new brand campaign (see above) features 100 members of the public, one of every age from a one-year-old to a 100-year-old. The press release says: “The "lick the lid of life" TV campaign aims to establish the fun and positivity of the Muller brand through the unique personalities of 100 everyday people, known as "lid lickers" because of their love of yoghurt and zest for life”.
I am not sure that it works for me, but then I am not that keen on yogurt. Thanks to Janet Kiddle of Steelmagnolia for telling me about the ad. Dick Stroud
This is a full quote from the company’s press release.
Millennium, the largest agency group in Yorkshire has today announced that it will list on the AIM stock market later this year and has undergone a significant restructure to prepare. Now renamed, Direct Marketing Group Ltd, the company has also revealed that it is on the cusp of appointing a new chairman, a move that will allow founder of Millennium, Martin Smith, to take over as Chief Executive. In addition, the group is preparing to make a number of key acquisitions over the coming months in anticipation of its listing on the stock exchange’s Alternative Investment Market.
Having recently topped the ranks of Yorkshire’s largest agencies, the move towards listing, the appointment of a new chairman and proposed acquisitions are all part of the company’s strategic plan to become the largest independent direct marketing group in the UK.
Martin Smith, Chief Executive, Direct Marketing Group Ltd, said: “Having completed our climb through the agency ranks in Yorkshire, we are now setting our sights on achieving similar success on a nationwide scale.
“We could be listing on the AIM stock market as early as November, capitalising on our position as one of the largest independents in the industry. “We are currently in negotiations with a number of well-known business figures to take on the role of chairman and will be announcing who it is very soon. “What’s more, our planned acquisitions, which we will also be announcing shortly, will see the expanded group become one of the biggest providers of integrated direct marketing services in the UK.
The Direct Marketing Group Ltd currently comprises four key companies, DMS: fundraising marketing specialist, Millennium: mature marketing specialist, PushButton: data management bureau and Coltec Parker: printers and lettershop. Dick Stroud
I received a brochure from The Adventure Company about its “inspirational holidays for the active over 50s”.
This is a classic example of age-silo marketing. You put a gated wall around the age group and say only the oldies can enter.
Is this a good idea? Well as long as this company has a clear understanding that there is a substantial group of potential customers who want an age-segregated holiday experience. Personally I can think of nothing worse but then I may not be (most certainly am not) representative of the over-50s.
I hope the silo approach was done on the back of research rather than a hunch that the over-50s want to be amongst their own age.
The brochure says
Until now, the choice of holidays for the over 50s has primarily been limited to large coach tours and sterile hotel-based packages, where opportunities to interact with local cultures are limited, if not restrained.
A significant proportion, if not the majority, of the people going on adventure holidays are 50-plus (UK). Methinks they have already found a way of ditching the coach tours and sterile hotel based packages Dick Stroud
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
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