Over-55s are ‘indifferent’ to advertising, says MediaVest

The over-55s "ignore a huge chunk of advertising" because advertisers are ignoring them, new research by MediaVest Ireland has found. Its Grey Expectations report says today's over-55s don't identify with "traditional concepts of age", and that the advertising industry has failed to catch up with their lifestyles.

The research, which comprised one-to-one interviews with 21 people aged 55-plus and a further survey of 300 people in that age group, disputes the assumption that the demographic is brand-loyal – only 14 per cent of those questioned described
themselves as such.

"You tend to be more receptive to new brands when you are going through changes in life stages," says Andy Pierce, head of planning at
the agency. But because marketers are often "just hoping that the over-55s come along for the ride" when they create and plan campaigns, much advertising is failing to resonate with an "indifferent" older audience, he says.

"The people we spoke to weren't negative about ads, they were just completely ambivalent, and we thought that is just about as bad as it
can get."

Although companies such as O2 and FBD have in recent years created entirely new brands to target younger audiences (the 48 mobile brand and No Nonsense insurance products, respectively), advertisers haven't done the same for older "and more lucrative" age groups.

“We looked at our own agency and thought we don’t have anyone who targets this age group, or at least not actively, which seemed bizarre,” says Pierce.

“I understand the reluctance to target any group, because it alienates the others,” he says. But advertisers and agencies are missing a trick when it comes to courting this “lucrative” segment of the population, he believes.

“We have used the line ‘we’ll reach the older group anyway’ and it doesn’t seem right that we’re doing that.”

Noting that the recent industry census conducted by Institute of Advertising Practitioners in Ireland found that the average age of people working in the sector is 35, MediaVest’s report questions whether this is contributing to “a fundamental ageism” in the business. It is not a conscious process, says Pierce. “We probably have a predisposition towards putting ourselves in the target market of our clients.”