Getting grandpa wired

The FT is still a subscription publication so I am not sure how long this article will be accessible.

As the name suggests it is all about technology and the old. Not their use of the Internet but the supportive technologies that enable them to “age in place” (i.e. remain in their own homes).

The above video is from the Center for Ageing Services Technologies. It goes on too long and could be cut in half to still convey the same messages but it does show what is already possible.
As the article says.

The goal is to enable the elderly to live safely and independently at home for longer. For their adult children, the point is peace of mind.

I think the benefits of the technology for the kids are probably more than for the parent. It is all about minimizing the ‘guilt’ of not being able to physically do more to help the aged parent.

From a marketing point of view it is clear to me who the customer is for these technologies. Let me give you a clue – it is not the parent.

A couple of the companies mentioned in the article are Grandcare and AttentiveCare. Worth checking out the products and services they provide. Dick Stroud

Paying back debt into retirement

We all instinctively know that it is daft talking about a ‘generation’, since any large group of people fragments into zillions of sub groups. If we want to justify an argument we can talk abut the 50-plus as a bunch of property rich people set on enjoying their retirement consuming their kid’s inheritance.

You then encounter the figures that were published this week by Scottish Widows in their 2007 UK Pensions Report.

Grandparents in debt to tune of £57 billion
1 in 5 retired homeowners (1.1 million) still have a mortgage
Average outstanding mortgage debt is £38,000
1 in 3 have carried over credit card or personal loan debt for the last 3 months
Average outstanding non mortgage debt is £5,900
1 in 12 retirees have financially dependent children

The study also shows that many of those aged 50 to 59 are a long way from owning their own home. 42% still have a mortgage with an average debt of £54,300.

So there you are. Not a very rosy picture for a large sway of the UK’s 50/60-plus.

So are your customers in the this group of the Charmed Generation, with lots of dosh? I hope you know.

A word about Scottish Widows. How encouraging to encounter a company that ensures it has a press release on its Web site when the news is breaking. This report was featured on the BBC news. Secondly, to encounter a PR department that responds to e-mails within 30 minutes (even at 8.00 in the morning). Well done. Dick Stroud

New Web site to help Baby Boomers with their parents

Thanks to David Weigelt, from immersionactive.com , for telling me about this new magazine and Web site.

ELDR's mission is to: " help baby boomers and their aging parents deal with the challenges (and opportunities) of aging by providing the most useful, thought-provoking and trusted information available anywhere". Well that is what the Web site says. We will have to wait until June 2007 to find out if that is true. Dick Stroud

The 'old and bold' looking for love

This is part of Channel 4’s Bafta award-winning 'Only Human' series and destroys many of the stereotypes of old age. The result is a film which is funny, poignant and surprising. It was broadcast on the 5th March. For those of you who want to watch, it is available via the Channel 4 web site. It will take a while to get the download software loaded but it will then give you access to most of the channel’s broadcasting. You can rent the Silver Surfers programme for $2. Pretty good deal.Dick Stroud

Multigenerational toys for grandparents

The importance of grandparents was evident at this year’s Toy Fair in New York.

Head honcho of marketing at Sababa Toys said: "Marketing to grandparents is huge .. Grandparents are young - they have a lot of money - a lot of time - they are online and want to spoil their grandkids”.

What better way of appealing to this group than re-launching toys that will be familiar and engender sentimental memories with the grandparents and appeal to the nippers.

So you have toys like the

Chatter Telephone: Introduced in 1962, the Chatter Telephone was designed with a rotary dial to teach children how to dial a phone. Today's Chatter Telephone makes children smile just the same with eyes that roll up and down, and a dial that rings. This friendly phone is being re-introduced for a whole new generation of children to enjoy!

For the older grandparent there is

Snoop 'n Sniff that was introduced in 1938 as "Snoopy Sniffer," this charming pull-along pup found a home with over five million families. Now the long black and white hound is being re-introduced for a whole new generation of children to enjoy!

There is Dr. Duck (Introduced in 1931) and Bouncy Bee (Introduced in 1950) and so on and so on.

I suspect that little Jonny and Jill would much prefer to have Samsung’s latest Black Carbon mobile rather than a weird looking phone from pre-history but who can tell? Since the grandparents are buying the thing for themselves, as much for the kid, does it matter? Dick Stroud