The cartoon (“aging in advertising”) from the great Tom Fishburne at the top of this post captures a key point from this article…
“Investing in longer lives will lift your portfolio”
…in a recent issue of “MoneyWeek” magazine.
The broad themes of the piece are…
(1) Life expectancy in western societies has increased dramatically over the last 50-100 years;
(2) The age profile of societies has changed, with older groups making up a larger percentage of the population than before. For example, 2018 is the first time in history that the global number of adults aged 65 plus will outnumber children under 5; and
(3) How investors can take advantage of these developments.
One important point made in the article is that the old of today are not like the old of the past. People are not just living longer lives but are staying healthy and active for longer. There might even be behavioral change going on. According to some research, the over-50s no longer “act their age”! They are apparently “down-ageing: acting younger and spending more than they ever did before”.
However…many companies and marketers appear to be missing out. From the article…
“Advertisers are fixated on the young. Yet the median pound in the UK is spent by a household headed by a 47-year-old. And globally things looks much the same, says Axa: the 60-plus cohort is “forecast to account for 55% of global consumption growth in North America, Western Europe and north-east Asia from 2015 to 2030”. They are spending on home improvements (so they don’t have to move), on travel, and on beauty (Europeans over 60 spend twice as much on beauty as under-25s). They are also huge participators in the digital economy (transacting almost as often as millennials).
Right now the 50-plus market is a target of only around 10% of the marketing dollars in the US, says Axa, while advertisers spend around five times as much trying to reach (broke) millennials than on all other age groups combined.”
I’ve commented before about the seeming obsession of mainstream marketers with chasing the youth market…
“Is It Even Worth Marketing To Millennials?”
Now, I’ve no doubt that the millennial demographic is well-worth targeting for some businesses.
But for many many businesses, the millennial group simply won’t be an attractive target.
Indeed, as the article mentioned above suggest, a much OLDER demographic is likely to prove far more attractive.
That’s the…
…Leading-Edge Boomers And Seniors group…
…discussed in the Dan Kennedy book “No BS Marketing To Leading Edge Boomers And Seniors”.
Put simply, this group is where the money is. So, if you’re not already marketing to this group…
…with messaging and an offer specifically for them…
…then it’s well worth considering how to do this. After all, you wouldn’t want to miss out on what could be an outstanding opportunity…
…even if it seems that many mainstream marketers are!