Advertisers' approach to the older market still in its infancy

MEDIA&MARKETING:Advertisers have yet to learn that targeting the 50-65 age group as old is counter-productive, writes SIOBHAN O'CONNELL

ONE CONSUMER demographic that is expanding all the time is older people. In advertising terms, that generally means anyone older than 50, and therein lies the problem. There is a world of difference in the mindset and purchasing habits of a 51-year-old and 71-year-old yet sometimes it seems that advertisers lump them all in together.

Yesterday in Dublin, a conference called “The Business of Ageing” was marketed as an event “to develop and accelerate understanding of the 50+ market”. The conference brochure showed a happy-looking elderly couple, she in her polo neck, he in his peaked cap and grey beard, clearly enjoying their retirement. However, Gary Brown, the 51-year-old chief executive of ad agency BTL DDFHB, contends advertisers don’t have a clue when it comes to targeting people like him.

He says: “The ad industry has it all wrong. The real age at which older people move into the senior citizen demographic is 70. There is a big group of people aged 50 to 65 who are being wrongly treated as old by advertisers. You will never see a 55-year-old in an ad for beer, a mobile phone or a car, even though they drink beer, buy iPhones and like nice cars. Some 99 per cent of the marketing briefs target 22- to 35-year-olds. The industry has it upside down.”

Brown adds: “The younger agency staff think those of us over 50 don’t drink beer, don’t drive, cannot climb stairs, play golf, live in the garden and love our grandchildren and listen to Susan Boyle and Kenny Rogers. In fact 50-somethings are downloading The Killers, Lady GaGa and Coldplay, going out with their mates and buying new technology. The industry needs to reshape its attitudes and employ people who can relate to their peers. Otherwise advertisers run a real risk of alienating customers between 50 and 70.”

According to ad agency McCann Erickson, which recently did a survey of older people's attitudes to advertising, most communication sent to the over-50s about brands and services is deemed by them to be either irrelevant or insulting. The McCann research sample spanned people aged 54 to 73, and it seems that in general this group likes the Credit Union, Sky+, Newstalk, Lidl and TV shows such as X Factorand Dancing On Ice.

Says Doyle: “TV is the best ad medium to reach them. They like offer-led advertising from Aer Lingus and Ryanair and they are also receptive to bill inserts and direct mail promoting special offers. These older people represent an opportunity for advertisers as they are willing to spend their money. They just don’t want to borrow.”

This weekend Failte Ireland is launching a €4 million advertising campaign to promote holidays in Ireland and in May it will follow up with a specific campaign pitching active holiday break ideas to the over-60s. But John Concannon, Fáilte Ireland’s director of market development, says the while “golden oldies” promotions had worked well in the past, they were now “a huge turn-off” to the older holidaymakers.

“The biggest mistake advertisers can make is to call people old and treat them as old. Fifty is the new 40. Just because you are over 50 does not mean you should be treated any differently by advertisers.”

But it’s a message hotels across Ireland have not yet heard, with scores advertising “golden years” breaks for the over-55s.

Still, even if Brown will be rock’n’rolling in four years’ time, the reality is that most people’s habits do change in their 50s. John Galligan, of Galligan Travel, targets the over-55s for off-peak holiday programmes in Spain which are subsidised for that demographic by the Spanish government.

To reach this market, Galligan says tabloid newspapers such as The Irish Daily Starare the most effective medium. "Older people are big newspaper readers and they watch a lot of TV too. So we advertise in the tabloids, run classified ads in the broadsheets and also use teletext. Today's seniors tend to be mobile, healthy and well preserved. They like to use the web but they appreciate clear simple formats with larger font sizes in the advertising."

Niall Lamb, of Future Positive, is under no illusions that the 70-plus cohort is an entirely different market. He sells mobile phones with larger screens and buttons and, as well as advertising in the Irish Farmers' Journal, Lamb also visits senior citizens' day centres to sell directly.

“A lot of elderly people might not have used mobile phones before so a hands-on approach is the best because you can show them how to use the phones.”

Try telling that to Gary Brown.