There are currently over 15.6 million people in the UK aged 55 and over, 27% of the population*. Those retiring today could look forward to 30 years of leisure. Many will have high disposable incomes from pensions, investments and inheritances from their own parents, the first major home owning generation. They are more likely to take active and expensive holidays, buy new cars, take up new hobbies and buy second homes abroad. Marketers have been working their way through the colour palette to pigeon- hole this major section of society. 'Grey panthers', 'silver foxes', 'evergreens'. Advertisers and publishers have sought to target them and failed. Why have they got it so wrong?
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Over the hill or under estimated?
Jeremy Bulmore, the 70 something advertising guru, said recently at a seminar on the older market, that he doesn't want to be thought of as 'over 60, over 70, over 80, or over anything'. He'd like to be seen as an 'under' as in 'are you still vital, active and under 80?'. Whatever our age, whatever we look like to the world outside, we still like to see ourselves as young, good looking sexual athletes. The truth is the older market is no more a distinct and homogeneous group than any other sector. So why do we try to corral them into a single identifiable unit? And why is all advertising to this sector so patronising?
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Turn on. Tune in.
The reality is that 20 something brand managers and researchers just don't understand people who are as old as their parents or grand parents. They only see the stereotype. It's hard to imagine that your grandparents still have an active sex life, like to wear sexy underwear, get drunk, have a good laugh and don't want to go old time dancing or to the bingo!
The people approaching retirement now grew up in the 50's and 60's, they smoked pot, dropped acid, invented and wore the mini skirt and indulged in free love. Just because they are getting older they are not going to turn into Thora Hird overnight, or at any time for that matter. Those people who are already into retirement have lived even more radical lives, going through a world war as teenagers or young adults, often watching their friends and family die around them. It's that experience that often creates personalities that believe in 'waste not want not', those that are prepared to 'go without' rather than take out HP or loans and sometimes those that want to 'live life to the full while they can'. Like any other social group, you have to understand them before you can sell to them.
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30 years of fun?
Retirement is also a major life stage, forcing people to reappraise their lives and decide just how they want to live out their remaining years. For some it's a frightening realisation that they won't have enough money to live in the way they would like, prompting them to batten down the hatches and adopt a siege mentality to life. For others it's the start of playtime, the chance to let their hair down again and rediscover the joy of irresponsibility and experimentation they loved so much in their youth. As a retired generation that is healthier and fitter than any before, this generation is travelling the world, taking up new sports, joining gyms and adopting activities and attitudes previously only associated with the young. The next generation will be even more active and outward looking. |
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Watch what they do, not who they are
With life expectancy increasing by 3 months every year, this is a market that is growing increasingly important. But if you want their money, you can't patronise them, you have to understand them as individuals. You can't just segment and market by age and class. Segmenting by attitudes, lifestyle, interests, hobbies and personal circumstances are far more important. Your outwardly affluent 55 year old male for example, could be an empty nester, who has paid off his mortgage and has a good pension and is ready to have fun. He could equally be on to his second marriage with grown up kids, an ex wife, new wife, new young family, school fees and second mortgage. Observing behaviour can be a far more accurate benchmark than research. In groups, for example, older people were very positive about a locking mechanism on their stair lift that prevented grandchildren taking it for a ride. However observation showed that because of the difficulty their rheumatic hands had with the mechanism, it was rarely used. |
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No free rides
The old belief that if a brand hooks someone when they are young, they will stay loyal for life, is no longer always true. Today's older generation has grown up in a consumer society where established brands have failed their loyal customers and where new brands have sprung up and established themselves as reliable quality products. This generation is prepared to abandon brands that don't live up to their promises and to spread the reason amongst their peers. |
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Money in the bank and nobody wants it
In the retail and shopping centre world, it's not uncommon for this group to be left off the media schedule entirely. Yet it's an affluent, profitable niche that's as fashion conscious as any younger group, when it's allowed to be. Why is it that style and fashion vanishes from clothes designed for the over 40's? Why is it that there is no retailer providing fashionable clothes for either men or women over 45? There's a great opportunity out there for some smart retailer. But that's another story.
* Social Trends 2003. Office for National Statistics
© AL Marketing Communications Ltd 2003
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Time to dig up your data