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.
The report gives the key findings from the Accenture Broadcast Consumer Survey 2008 and contains lots of nice graphs showing how people of different ages and nationalities respond to the changes taking place in the TV broadcasting (whatever that is).
The above chart gives a hint to the report’s conclusions. This is an extract.
The message is clear: watch the youth — they are the leading indicator, and the wave is coming. Our research reveals many correlations between consumers’ age and their attitudes and behaviour about new viewing options. These findings suggest that changes in behaviour will accelerate as these young consumers gain greater spending- power over time. For instance, compared to older consumers — and especially those over 55 — the under- 25 set is:
• Less likely to say they are satisfied with current television options;
• More likely to watch content on alternative devices;
• More likely to be familiar with on-demand TV, and to prefer watching content on demand; and • More willing to ‘pay’ to download content, whether by paying money or agreeing to watch advertisements.
If you believe the findings of this report then the future looks to be one where the 50-plus are glued to the TV in the corner of the room (maybe with pipe and slippers) whilst their children and grandkids are paying for the latest edition of their favourite programme, viewing it on their mobile phone whilst catching a bus.
The big six TV networks (ABC, CBS, NBC, Fox, The CW and My Network TV) in the US are still bleeding viewers. This might be a result of the writer’s strike or a sign of a more fundamental shift in media habits.
Major network viewership is down as much as 12%.
What is interesting about this article is the way that different age groups are behaving. It is also amusing (and annoying) the way the 50-plus audience is assumed to be the one of least value. Dick Stroud
The AARP is launching AARP TV, a company that will produce news and lifestyle programming for the baby boomer and 50-plus demographics.
The first two shows produced by AARP TV, Inside E Street and My Generation, will debut this month on cable channel Retirement Living TV.
My Generation is a lifestyle magazine that looks at issues about health, money, relationships, entertainment. Inside E Street is a consumer-affairs program that investigates:” important issues before congress and state legislatures and debate hot political topics of the day.”
I have to say this all sound rather “worthy” and not likely to be a laugh-a-minute. Then, AARP is not known for its light heartedness. 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 new Dove film ‘Onslaught’ uses the same music as the Peugeot ad for the 1007. Why is this interesting? Well the 1007 was aimed at the older person (older women to be exact) and the Dove ad is another good example of creative that is at the high end of the age-neutral spectrum.
See if you can spot the clip of the L’Oreal ad, the antithesis of Dove. Isn't it odd that media buyers often position L'Oreal and Dove in the same publication, when clearly they are targetted at very different types of people.
In case you are wondering about the music. It is by Simian – La Breeze. Dick Stroud
Retirement Living TV (RLTV), based in Columbia, is celebrating its first anniversary. The channel claims to be the only cable network aimed at 55-plus viewers.
RLTV is carried in 28 million homes on DirecTV and Comcast and has produced more than 650 hours of original programming, according to company information. Last week, it signed on with AARP to produce programming from the AARP studio in Washington..
Programming includes ‘‘The Voice,” which highlights social issues; ‘‘Healthline,” which promotes the idea that good health goes hand-in-hand with enjoying life; a personal finance show, ‘‘The Prudent Advisor,” and ‘‘The Art of Living,” about ‘‘ordinary people from around the country who are living extraordinary lives doing what they love to do” . Mmmm.
Not everybody is enthusiastic about the network’s chance of success. The resident scholar at the Library of American Broadcasting (University of Maryland) believes: "It is too early, and will work in 10 years, but not now.”
He thinks the problem will be in sustaining programming and finding common interests of baby boomers that advertising will want to reach.
This guy asks a very pertinent question: ‘‘Do they all have enough in common that advertising will want to reach them” – he doesn’t think so. You can read the full story in Gazette.
I don’t know enough about US TV to pass an opinion. Has anybody seen any of the programming? All comments welcome. Dick Stroud
Marks & Spencer, the UK high street retailer, has just launched its latest television advertising campaign promoting its autumn/winter collection. The same models from the previous campaigns travel on the Orient Express.
The company’s advertising campaign, using the multi-generational models, including Twiggy, has been phenomenally successful. It is a sign of a strong campaign when the company issues ‘teaser’ print ads preparing for the TV launch. I will publish a copy of the ad as soon as I can get my hands on one. M&S won the 2006 Stroud Award for age-neutral advertising -let's see if it can do the same in 2007.
The reaction of the advertising pundits is that it is every bit as good as the previous ads. Dick Stroud
I am not made about this ad from Tesco. What I do know is that it illustrates age-neutral advertising with a focus slightly towards the older viewer.
Tesco is building upon the publicity given to Borg and McEnroe during the recent Wimbledon tennis championships when Roger Federer equaled Borg’s five consecutive titles.
The campaign, created by advertising agency the Red Brick Road, aims to promote Tesco's "one in front" policy that sees extra checkouts opened if there is more than one customer in front of another at the till.
As you can see, the 50-second TV commercial follows the two stars racing to stack their trolleys with products and clear check out first. The theme being that the old rivalries still go on. I would love to know how much it cost to get these two guys to appear. Dick Stroud
Chuck Nyren told me about this new ad campaign from Jeep as a good example of age neutral advertising. Absolutely right.
You can read a good analysis of the advertising campaign in Brent Terrazas advertising blog. The supporting Web site has an interesting way of showing the level of interest in supporting media.Dick Stroud
Esure.com is a successful UK insurance company that gets a lot of business from the 50-plus. Unlike RIAS (see previous post) it targets by setting conditions on the insurance cover it will accept that favours older people.
For a long time esure’s ads used a UK ‘personality’ call Michael Winner. He is one of these guys who has made a great living out of being objectionable (he once was a film director).
Esure decided that Michael’s time had come and replaced him with a mouse. The story was that esure was trying to broaden its customer base and wanted to get away from its boring old bugger image that was exemplified by MW. Mouse ads started to appear and then suddenly vanished.
Before long back came MW - see his latest ad.
What did this change of heart mean? I guessed that focus groups showed that Brits dislike mice even more than they do MW. Maybe the campaign had failed and esure was back trying to milk its oldie market.
The answer is nothing as logical as this but is all to do with lawyers. It seems that esure’s mouse was accused of being a close relation to another UK insurance company’s (Direct Line) cartoon telephone. So for the last two years the keenest legal minds in the UK have been deciding if a mouse looks like telephone, during which time the British public has had to endure more of Michael Winner. Crazy. Dick Stroud
Matt Thornhill & John Martin, who run the Boomer Project talk a lot of sense about the 50-plus. They are now publishing a blog that I suggest you add to your RSS feeds.
I hope they don’t mind but I am copying one of their entries.
We got a call from a reporter in Las Vegas doing a piece on marketing "traditional" products for older consumers to Boomers. He was amused by Metamucil's new TV spot that somehow manages not to mention that the primary use is for regularity problems. Instead, the spot is all about "beautifying your insides" and features talent age 35 and under.
The reporter wanted to know if all marketers targeting older Boomers would have to "disguise" their traditional benefit in order to connect with Boomers. Our response in a word: "probably."
About 4 years ago I was a speaker at one of the UK's 50-plus conferences and surprised to meet a marketing guy from Nintendo.
Things have moved on since then and the company appears to be doing very well in creating a new market for its products amongst an older audience.
With the black cloud of dementia lurking over the horizon, a generation of people who spent time and money attempting to keep their bodies in shape are now doing the same with their brains.
Nintendo has chosen Oscar-winning actress Nicole Kidman as the face of its latest advertising campaign. The press release explains all.
The TV ad doesn’t knock me of my feet. It is not one of her best acting performances. But, the message conveyed by Nintendo’s choice of Ms Kidman is that the company is adopting age neutral advertising. She is 40 years old but has an appeal that is 25 years older and younger.
It is interesting to see that the ad was put on YouTube on the 25th June and has already generated nearly half a million views.
The other marketing message that comes from Nintendo’s choice of such an attractive and high profile personality is that the free viral marketing can be significant.
Thanks to Arjan in't Veld for telling me about the ad and well done Nintendo. Dick Stroud
The BBC’s Apprentice TV programme contained a hilarious set of scenes where the budding business geniuses went about selling a product to an older audience – a wheelchair. This short video clip gives an insight into why so many companies screw up big-time when their young marketers try and sell products that are totally alien to them. I think it is amusing (understatement) but there is a serious message. Enjoy. Dick Stroud
If the English have a quintessential aperitif it is Gin. No, that is not really correct. If the upper middle class, 50-plus English have a quintessential aperitif it is Gin.
Following an unfortunate incident in my youth, when visiting a bar in Brussels, I was lead astray and consumed an extraordinary amount of the drink, now the merest whiff makes rush to the nearest toilet. But, the drink clearly works for large swathes of the 50-plus.
I think this latest Gordon’s Gin ad is an excellent example of age neutral advertising. It captures the zing of the bubbles of the G&T in a modern and inclusive way. Dick Stroud.
The New York Times has a long thoughtful article about the vagueries of the advertising industry and its attitude to older people. It is well worth reading.
These are three extracts that particularly caught my eye.
Ultimately, the broadcast and cable networks are merely delivering what advertisers value. ABC’s “Lost” doesn’t attract many more viewers than CBS’s “Criminal Minds” but a 30-second ad on “Lost” fetches $328,000, while a spot on “Criminal Minds” costs $143,000. The difference: “Lost” finishes regularly in the Top 10 among 18-to-49-year-olds. “Criminal Minds” comes nowhere close. That is over a 100% premium for a younger-poorer audience.
Last year, adults age 45 to 64 (the Nielsen category closest to the baby-boom generation) watched 37 hours and 38 minutes of television each week. Adults between 18 and 34 tuned in for barely more than 27 hours. So it’s not hard to attract an older audience: boomers will flock to shows with a younger sensibility. The reverse, however, does not hold. “If you do something a little bit safer, a little more center cut, it’s pretty hard to convince a younger audience to come. These figures for the UK are about the same –BUT- the high spending socio-economic group ABs watch 15 hours less than this figure. The big time TV consumers are the poor DE group.
CBS stumbled upon a new strategy, after the surprise success of “Survivor” and “CSI” programmes. This approach favored multigenerational casting and, in dramas, surrounding a middle-aged authority figure (often grizzled) with a group of young, attractive acolytes. It appealed to younger viewers without driving away older ones. CBS’s prime-time lineup has nine shows built on this boomer-and-the-cool-kids blueprint. CBS now not only wins the network ratings race most weeks in overall numbers; it regularly places shows like “CSI” and “Without a Trace” in the Top 20 among viewers ages 18 to 49. This is called age-neutral programming. It is not rocket science!
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 article provides an interesting take on the changes taking place in advertising. The premise is that “marketing's love affair with the Boomers” – more a sideways glance than an affair – is ending – or is it morphing into being age-neutral.
The writer doesn’t actually you the term “age-neutral” but that is what they mean.
The new M&S ad uses the same format as before, a couple of different models but still a high profile Twiggy. The music used is Itchycoo Park by the Small Faces. If any Londoners are reading this blog, my Mum and Dad always said the park's name was well deserved.
I have my doubts about this ad. I absolutely adored the first couple of the M&S ads, using the multi-generational format with Twiggy, but I think this one looks a bit tired and jaded. I would be interested to know what others think.
Right now pro.age can do no wrong in my eyes. I think this short ad, using the launch ad format and music, is excellent. Any other opinions? Dick Stroud
The Hartford Financial Services Group, a really big US financial services and insurance company is launching a new marketing campaign encouraging Baby Boomers to “Prepare to Live” in retirement.
“Times have changed,” said Ann Glover, chief marketing officer for The Hartford. “Workers know they cannot depend on social security benefits, defined pension programs or retiree health benefits to fund their retirement, and are unsure about their ability to pay for rising health care costs in retirement. Through this campaign, we are encouraging Baby Boomers to understand their personal financial picture and goals and take control of their financial future. By seeking education and facts about their own situation, they can prepare with confidence for what should be one of the most rewarding times in their lives – their retirement.” So now you know.
Same Stag, but now using computer-generated imagery. Does it work for you? Dick Stroud
Apparently the Dove pro.age ads are not being shown in some countries because the sight of naked older ladies is thought to be too much for the fragile viewers.
Dove’s decision to leverage this fact is pretty smart. Dick Stroud
This a grumpy lady. I have to say that I share many of her irritations.
Here is a sample: “I would rather watch cartoons on Nickelodeon than one more television stint of Dennis Hopper’s beach commercial telling us that we are not living our parents’ retirement. Dennis, after all, at age 70, should more properly be selling to our parents anyway”. And so it goes on. Dick Stroud.
Match.com is targeting single boomers the fastest-growing subscriber age group. The company says that since 2000, the number of boomers is up 350% to 1.7 million – that is 11% of its membership.
A current TV ad for Match.com features a widowed New York woman age 71 whose Match.com logon is DanishBeauty22 and who now has her own blog. Dick Stroud
On the 7th Feb I posted a blog item about the new Dove Pro Age product launch with the TV ad.
This ad is running in parallel, promoting Dove’s existing product line.
Both ads, plus all of Dove’s other marketing activities, are focused around its Campaign for Real Beauty. This is working a treat and creating a pile of press coverage to enhance the visibility of the ads. Very, very smart marketing. Dick Stroud
This is my final AARP post of the weekend and features the campaign called “Future Champions”. As AARP says: “children deliver compelling messages about the state of healthcare and financial security. The multigenerational focus in this new campaign reinforces the Association’s Divided We Fail coalition”. As I said about the previous AARP ad – this is ambitious stuff. I hope for AARP’s sake it is not a step too far too quickly. Dick Stroud
Email this post
