A "little something" for when I die

Many of my parent’s generation had insurance policies so that when they died their children wouldn’t have to pay for their funeral. It was just the way it was.

Being concerned about the "final day in the ground" comes way down my list of financial priorities, but as I know so well, you cannot extrapolate the desires of the market from your own opinions.

Clearly, there are a lot of people, like my mum and dad, otherwise LV= (the worst corporate name in history) the finance group wouldn't be launching this TV advertising campaign to promote its '50 Plus plan'.

As I watch the ad I wonder who it is aimed at. Is it the children, to try and get them to encourage their parents to take out a policy or the parents themselves? A bit of both I guess.

The Creative Director of the advertising agency said: "It's a new approach that takes the tried and tested formula we know customers like and uses it in a dynamic and emotive way". A splash of guilt and a dash of the promise of fond memories all packaged in a suitable multi-cultural ad.

Apparently the advertisement was previewed on Facebook and YouTube in December 2009 before being launched on terrestrial, satellite and cable channels in January 2010. Interesting. Dick Stroud

AXA launches motor insurance brand with 'pavement rage' ad

AXA is launching a £10m marketing campaign to support the launch of its new direct motor insurance product targeting older drivers. This is AXA’s first foray into the direct insurance. Previously it had focused on the broker market.

I am quoting from Brand Republic that: “AXA Car Insurance will target older drivers who feel they are not catered for by other brands, by offering them a 90% no claims bonus.”

The TV ad shows pedestrians bashing into one another on a busy city-centre
pavement. A voiceover then states, ‘You wouldn't behave this way on foot, so why would you when you are driving?'

The tagline for the campaign is: ‘AXA drivers get up to 90% discount on their car insurance. Disrespectful drivers don't.'

In parallel TV celebrity Charley Boorman (who you might ask is he) will front a PR push, including a website inviting consumers to air their views on the state of behaviour on the road today. How weird.

As you will see from the ad, the big punch line for Axa is - Redefining Standards. I mean, that is going to really get grampa out of his seat and punching the air.

Some obvious observations. This is a covert campaign that selects the older age group on the basis of their long driving record without a claim. I can see the strength in that argument. So unlike RIAS there is no mention of 50+ or anything to do with age.

But, my hunch is that by making the creative so confrontational – literally – the message about 90% discount is going to get lost. I am still thinking about attractive oriental looking lady, the short guy and the lunatic looking women.

And, one thing that older people (who I wonder do they mean as older) tend not to like is confrontation and aggression (yep, I know a bit generalisation). I think a lot of people will have switched off their engagement with the ad before it gets the thing that really matters – money off their insurance.

I guess the smug looking George Clooney lookalike is the visual anchor to the 'older' person.


Sorry guys. I reckon it’s a lemon. What do you think? Dick Stroud

Don’t let them tell you that TV is going out of fashion

The latest data on multi-country TV viewing figures doesn’t support the view that watching the box is going out of fashion. You can read the long, long , long report from OFCOM “The International Communications Market 2009” if you have a spare week.

I wonder if the rise in viewing is explained by the increasing number of older viewers (i.e. it has nothing to do with the relative preferences for channels but a demographic effect). No idea. All is means is that throughout Europe, zillions of hours of time is spent watching the TV. Dick Stroud

Who reads, listens and watches what?

I started to read the press release from Deloitte’s research “State of the media democracy” and nearly lost the will to live. I went to Deloitte’s web site to look for more details. No luck there.
Fortunately Chuck Nyren persevered and wrote a good blog posting about the research.

The next e-mail I read was from Bain and detailed their research Building Brands Online: An Interactive Advertising Action Plan. If this is your bag then this is an excellent report and well promoted. Deloitte’s you could learn a lot of lessons from Bain. Dick Stroud

Watch out iPhone HTC is about

I like this new advertising campaign promoting yet another smartphone.

HTC (a Taiwanese manufacturer) has ads running across 20 countries as it makes its first foray into advertising with the tagline: "You don’t need to get a phone. You need a phone that gets you.”

From the imagery of the ads they appear to be primarily aimed at the young, however, I reckon they will have a resonance with the tech-savvy and tech-interested parts of the older market.

The ad and a presentation about the phone are shown above. It is also worth reading the take on the campaign in Brand Channel. It hadn’t struck me, but apparently there has been some confusion, in the mind of the consumer, between the word “You” and a similar ad campaign for Yahoo. HTC has begun to replace the “O” in “You” with a smartphone.

The reason I reckon it will ring bells the 50-plus is that the product’s pitch is that it complements consumers “just they way they are” (echoes of Bridget Jones), rather than offer a product that will make them a better person: more responsive, better organized, less cluttered etc etc.

A gutsy campaign. Dick Stroud.

Canadian Club video – if it was good enough for your dad

In the 1960s and '70s, Canadian Club was the No. 1 whisky in America. Not any more. The drink is as untrendy as a brand could be. What greater insult can you give than to say it was something your dad drunk?

To get people to rethink Canadian Club, the brand had to reposition dads as being more than a provider of cash and a source of repeated jokes and anecdotes.

Dads actually had a life at one time and had emotions and drivers that were not a million miles from those of their sons.

This campaign uses vintage photographs and provocative sentiments to reposition Dads.

You can read about the campaign and see the video here. Dick Stroud

The new Post Office TV ad

I week or so ago I wrote about the forthcoming Post Office ad campaign.

Well it is now being shown on the TV. Full marks to the Post Office for having a YouTube channel.

My first reaction was Ahhhhhh. But on a second and third watching I can see what the agency is trying to do and in a funny way I think it works.

I will be fascinated to know how the ad translates through into new business for the Post Office because I think it is aimed at the wrong type of people.

As I said in my previous posting, the target for this ad is ABC1 socio economic groups. They aint going to be the people who want to be queuing in the Post Office, especially in urban areas. Maybe it will work in rural areas, but I doubt it.

What do you think? Dick Stroud

The new Post Office advertising campaign

Post Offices are strange things. They are peppered all over the UK in towns and rural areas.

Long ago they were an integral part of the UK mail service. Now they are places you go to send a parcel, buy a postage stamp and wait in a long queue.

Some older Brits have a strange attachment for them (you might have guessed that I am not one of them). The UK Government has swung from trying to kill them off to now thinking they are a worthwhile thing.

Post Offices are an expensive distribution channel looking to distribute something other than basic postal services. As UK banks try and ditch low value bank accounts, especially those that rely on their branch network, some bright spark has decided to get more people to use the Post Office’s very basic banking services.

Who are the natural targets for this service? Come on who do you think? It is the oldies.

These are the people who don’t use online banking (Mmmm) these are the people who have the spare time to spend it in a long queue waiting to get served. All of this is a well known fact.

To appeal to this group, that the Post Office reckons are ABC1 55+, it is launching its largest ever marketing campaign that will, for the first time use television advertising. The man chosen to front the campaign is Sir Roger Moore who was/is known for his role as James Bond in an era when TV was in black and white (I jest).

The Post Office’s head marketing honcho says: “ the aim of the new campaign is to demonstrate its confidence and stature in the financial services market and boost awareness of its range of savings offers.”

Now the really interesting thing is that the campaign was created by Mother – an ad agency once known for its willingness to push the envelope and do strange and daring stuff. It will be fascinating to see how these young advertising hotshots go about engaging with their grandparent’s generation.

As soon as the campaign material is available I will make it available plus my comments, however, I think they have already made a fundamental mistake in their target customers. I would have said that if there are any customers for these banking services they are C1DE socio economic groups aged 65+. We will see. Dick Stroud

Google and Wharton’s Fast Forward - what a distraction

I am not doing you any favours writing this blog posting.

I have just discovered the Fast Forward venture

Google and The Wharton School have partnered to gather and provide quick perspective on managing the change in the marketing landscape. As we explore what will define success through marketing’s continual evolution, we aim to share ideas and lessons learned to help keep us all better informed and effective as the game - and conversation - rapidly progresses.

I could spend ages on this site. This is a perfect way for marketers to while away the hours when they should be doing something more productive. I think it is great but could seriously affect my productivity. Dick Stroud

Ancestry.co.uk launches TV push aimed at over 45s

Ancestry.co.uk, the website that enables people to discover their ancestors, is to launch its first ever TV campaign next week.

The campaign will feature a 30-second brand ad targeted at the website's core audience of ABC1 adults aged over 45. The creative will also be used online and offline in print campaigns.

The ad is built around a 'then and now' scenario, depicting people in period dress waiting in modern day settings to be found by their living descendants.

The ads will air on a mix of terrestrial and satellite stations and are designed to build awareness of the company’s brand.

According to ancestry.co.uk, it has grown its subscriber base to more than 200,000 members since 2004. Dick Stroud

ING ads – one for each age group

ING was one of the first financial services companies to use Web video. It was a simple application with "talking head" testimonials from each of the company’s target group of customers.

The new TV advertising campaign does very much the same thing. You have the young couple and the older lady.

These are the sort of ads that make you take notice, especially the one with the guy in bed when he learns that it is twins. How effective – who knows? Well hopefully ING knows. Dick Stroud

Rock stars and advertising – good, bad or irrelevant?

In the matter of a couple of months the UK has had three oldie rock starts turning up on TV, advertising Country Life butter (Johnny Rotten), Swiftcover insurance (Iggy Pop) and now Alice Cooper (Sony TVs).

So do the ads work? If so, why? If not, why? How would you rank them? Questions, questions, questions? Dick Stroud

Retirement community ads

I have done a lot of work in the retirement community sector and so it is fascinating to see how other countries approach advertising to this sector. Thanks to the guys at guys at Erickson for sending me these links. Ad 2 – Ad 3.

Are their any ads in your region that I should publish? Dick Stroud

A comprehensive report about the UK communications market

The 2009 Ofcom Communications Market Report is published, all 332 pages of it.

Want to know anything about the TV, Radio and telecommunications markets in the UK then look no further. And it’s is free. Well it is not free, the UK taxpayer pays Ofcom a fortune for producing the thing but it gives the impression of being free.

The report contains lots about how the use of communications services varies by gender, socio-economic group and age. It is a goldmine of factlets, like the one above.

Beware of these stark ‘averages’ since they might lead you to the wrong conclusion. Only 18% of the 75+ have home broadband, but this small number will be the most affluent and Web literate. 83% of the 35-54 year olds have broadband at home but that will include the fall spectrum of consumer wealth.

As much as begrudge the cost of Ofcom I have to say they do product extremely competent reports. Dick Stroud

Grey Power - specialising in the insurance needs of mature Canadians.

I have been travelling in Canada. When overseas it is always fascinating watching TV ads and wandering around shopping malls looking at how other countries tackle 50-plus marketing.

I have seen a lot of ads for Grey Power. This is not from the current ad campaign which I think a lot better. The company has a nice clear web site and a simple and compelling message. Looks good to me. Dick Stroud

Goodbye, 9 to 5 TV Part 2

A few days back I wrote a blog post about the launch of a new 50-plus social networking site and TV channel. You can now have a look at the style of the programming from this clip that is published on YouTube.

Clearly this is a low budget business and it will be incredibly difficult for it to gain visibility amongst the sea of channels available on UK TV. That said I reckon the founders need congratulating on a brave venture. I do wish them success. I guess it is in their business plan but I would ditch the TV Channel and focus on publishing the video programming via the Web. Dick Stroud

A new 50-plus TV channel

Way back in March 2007 I discovered Ning and created a social networking site for the 50-plus, all before breakfast. Well to be honest it was the bare bones of a site but I was fascinated to see how easy it was to use this amazing generic social networking software.

Now somebody has done it properly and created Goodbye 9 to 5. Not only have they produced a web site but have also launched a TV channel.

This is what they say about themselves.

A new TV programme produced by Serious Leisure TV, who already make The Caravan Channel, a specialist programme for caravanners, motorhome owners and tent campers.

Goodbye, 9 to 5! starts broadcasting on Information TV, Sky channel 166/Freesat 402 on Wednesday, 10th June 2009, and the first edition will run for two weeks, showing on Wednesdays, Fridays and Mondays at 6pm. After the initial two weeks, the show will become weekly, with each new edition premiering on Wednesday.

Goodbye, 9 to 5! has a general magazine format, but some segments have a strong bias towards the interests of older people - for instance, the first edition has an item about bus passes, and an editorial special about pensions for military service people who retired before present pension conditions came into force.

Goodbye,9 to 5! won't be a static kind of production - over coming weeks and months, it will evolve into a strong and campaigning programme promoting and defending the rights and liberties of the individual - especially when the individuals in question are over 55!

I will certainly be recording the programme on Wednesday and will post a blog item with my opinions. I wish the guys who started the channel the very best of success. Dick Stroud

New online seminar about 50-plus marketing

My thanks to John Rae (CACI Ltd), Sarah Robson (Millennium), Stephen Croncota (Haggar Clothing), Janet Kiddle (Steel Magnolia), Gill Walker (Evergreen), Chuck Nyren (Consultant) and Arjan in’t Veld (Inthefield) for contributing to Henry Stewart's online seminar about the: “Latest thinking in marketing to the older consumer”.

What seems like a lifetime ago, Henry Stewart asked me to contribute and edit this series. The gestation period may have been long but the result has been worthwhile.

Sorry folks but this is not free content. You can get a feel of what it is all about by looking at the above link. My thanks to everybody who helped with the content and production of the seminar. Dick Stroud

Consumers' use screen media

Matt Thornhill’s excellent newsletter about Boomers referenced the Video Consumer Mapping Study conducted on behalf of the Nielsen-funded Council for Research Excellence (CRE) by Ball State University's Center for Media Design. This is no quick PR generating study but a $3.5 million year research project.

This page has links to the main documents resulting from the study. This is an Adobe copy of the research presentation (it is a BIG document 17 Mb).

It does the research project a disservice to try and distil the findings into a few single sentence headlines. Having said that it is the nature of blogging that you have to just that. I really do recommend that you download the report and study the results. I suspect it will dismiss some of the myths that have grown up about media consumption habits.

The research is US only but I am sure it applies to most of Europe.

• You might think that "free TV" via the Web consumes a substantial part of video watching – not true. It represents an average time of just two minutes a day.
• TV in the home still commands the greatest amount of viewing of the 18-24 age group.
• Even in major metropolitan areas, where commute times can be long and drive-time radio remains popular, computer use has replaced radio as the No. 2 media activity. Radio is now No. 3 and print media fourth.
• On average, TV users were exposed to 72 minutes per day of TV ads and promos dispelling the belief that today's consumers are channel-hopping or otherwise avoiding most of the advertising in the programming they view.

I found the above slide one of the most interesting. It shows the different types of video streams watched by age group and the amount of time spent on each. As the slide states, the 18-24 year group watch 10 different screen sources for longer than 10 mins/day compared with the 65+.

My bet is that these results vary considerably by socio economic class. I would think that your wealthy, better educated 55+, would have a much higher screen use of playback via DVR, mobile talk, mobile text and games console.

This is a really brilliant bit of research. Dick Stroud

A “no frills” TV ad for 50-plus insurance

Castle Cover provides insurance for the over-50s.

The campaign manager at the company said: "We wanted to keep the advert simple and direct, and using the memorable Castle Character helped us to achieve that. The message is clear, concise, and impactful - tying in very well with our brand.” Well I think he is safe in knowing that he has achieved that objective.

The advert will be shown across a number of channels -- including Sky News, ITV2 and ITV3 -- over a period of five weeks.

With the current state of the UK TV advertising industry I bet he got a fantastic deal. Dick Stroud

Age neutral ad from Confused.com

OK, it is a bit basic and employs the obvious approach of featuring the three target age groups but it is one of the first ads in the UK, for an online service, that very clearly targets the older Web user. Well done Confused.com. Dick Stroud

New TV ads from RIAS

RIAS is a smart company. It has kept a focus on the 50-plus market – employed very functional and effective advertising and as a result taken a large chunk of the car insurance market. As testimony to its success a lot of other companies have attempted to follow the same creative approach.

The company has just launched a new ad campaign around the theme: “better with age”.
What a pity the company’s web site doesn’t contain the ad, however, it does anticipate the TV generated traffic and have a dedicated landing page. As soon as I can get a copy of the ad I will post a review. Any RIAS employees reading this and want to send me the ad? Dick Stroud

Boomer-skewing networks

Every time I go to the US I intend to have a look at the programming from Retirement Living TV (RLTV). You can get a feel for it from the web site.

It appears that the company is seeking to expand its viewership (not sure that is the right word) by using taking a presence on C21screenings. RLTV began life as a distributor working with other boomer-skewing networks around the world. "Boomer skewing" - what a great phrase. Indeed there appears to be seven such networks in Europe, one in Korea, one in Japan and one about to launch in New Zealand.

I wonder how well the US originated content travels? Obviously, programmes like Friends and The Sopranos have a universal appeal but what about stuff on health in retirment?

If anybody from RTLV reads the blog can you tell us something about the European channels? Dick Stroud

Accenture Consumer Broadcast Study – make sure you download

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.

Maybe, maybe not. Dick Stroud

Drop in TV viewers

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

AARP launches a TV company

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

Sony’s consumer technology ads

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

What is it about this music?

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 – winner or loser?

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 (M&S) launch new TV ad

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

Tesco uses McEnroe and Borg for its new age-neutral advertising campaign

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

The mystery of e-sure’s mouse

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

You should add the Boomer Project blog to your RSS feeds

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."

Dick Stroud

Nicole Kidman – an interesting and expensive choice by Nintendo

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

Young marketers at play!

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

The sparkling Giraffe

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.

This article in BrandChannel looks at the new Gordon’s Gin Web site and discusses how well the brand has adapted with the times.

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.

TV’s Silver Age

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!

Dick Stroud

Muller goes age-neutral with its 'lick the lid' campaign

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

Advertising cars and clothes to the 50-plus bloke

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.

Well worth a read. Dick Stroud

What does ‘old’ mean in real life?

Bryan Appleyard is a good writer and his article in the Sunday Times is worth reading: “Older women. Naked. It’s an adland revolution”.

Those of you involved in 50-plus marketing willn’t learn anything new but it is a thought provoking article. Dick Stroud

New M&S and Dove pro.age ads

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

Funky Hartford Stag?

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

Too many naked women

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

Enough with baby-boomer predictions

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.

Another ad with a 70-plus

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

Another good ad from Dove

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

Another AARP ad

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