Marketing and the older adult
ICAA’s Changing Way the Way We Age Campaign
www.changingthewayweage.com
Today we are going to examine:
•
Why most companies achieve
poor results with the older adult
market.
•
How an organization can turn this
into a tremendous opportunity.
Why do most companies achieve
poor results with the older market?
You can learn from their mistakes!
You have to be in
the game to win it
An example of who is in the game
95% of advertising revenue
goes to the under-35 age
group.
Advertisers are NOT in the
game.
Source: Pickett, J. (2002). Marketing and
Advertising to Older People. London: Help
the Aged
Jane Fonda is back in the game
Example:
In Germany
Only 4.5% of the characters in 656 ads were
60 years or older.
German marketers are not in the game.
Source: J Gerontol B Psychol Sci Soc Sci. 2010 Jan;65B(1):97-106. Epub 2009 Nov
23
Example:
In May 2011, MSNBC reported on a US study showing
the disconnect between fashion magazines and
their aging readers.
“An analysis of editorial and advertising images
reveals that despite proportions of older readers ranging
as high as 23%, fashion magazines portray women
over 40 sparingly, if at all.”
US marketers are not in the game.
Source: Journal of Aging Studies, April 2011
“Even in magazines geared
toward aging Baby Boomers,
images collectively present a
thin, youthful, wrinkle-free
ideal that’s impossible to
maintain later in life.”
Source: Journal of Aging Studies,
April 2011
Summary
Companies fail to achieve results with the older
adult market because they are not in the game.
This is a major reason why older adults don’t buy. They
don’t see older adults in product ads.
And, when they do….
How are older adults portrayed when
they do appear in the media?
Researcher Julia Rozanova found that negative portrayals of older adults in Canada (such
as the one above) and Russia far outweighed positive portrayals.
ICAA learned that a Facebook page, End "geezerade" Campaign Now, was launched in
protest to this ad.
Source: Rozanova, J. (2010). Discourse of successful aging in The Globe & Mail: Insights from critical
gerontology. Journal of Aging Studies, 24, 213–222
Apocalyptic times
News, television, film and
advertising commonly feature
stereotypes that show older adults
through a lens of decline and
diminished value, emphasizing
the “burdens” of growing old.
Source: Dahmen, N, & Cozm, R, International Longevity
Center , Media Takes: On Ageing, 2009
This stereotypic view of aging creates:
Low expectations of aging that extend into
all areas of life, including the workplace and
healthcare
Sources : Langer, E. J. (2009) Counter Clockwise: Mindful health and the power of possibility,
Ballantine Books, New York; Fry, Prem S., Keyes, Corey L.M., (2010) New Frontiers in
Resilient Aging: Life strengths and well-being in late life. Cambridge University Press, UK ;
Lachs, M., MD (2010). Treat Me, Not my Age: A doctor’s guide to getting the best care as you
or a loved one gets older.Viking: Penguin Group, New York, NY; Jonson, H., & Larsson, A.
(2009).The exclusion of older people in disability activism and policies: A case of
inadvertent ageism? Journal of Aging Studies, 23(1), 69–77
;
The impact:
Older people can literally “think” themselves into
the grave 7.6 years early by feeling “bad” about
getting old.
Source: Levy, B., Slade, M., Kunkel, S. & Kasl, S.(2002). Longevity Increased by
Positive Self-Perceptions of Aging. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology,
83(2), 261–270.
Another view of aging:
When aging IS depicted in a manner that appears
positive, the aim is often to push “anti-aging” messages
and frame “defying” aging as the only example of
successful aging.
“Anti”-aging
This view of aging promotes
the idea that age-related
changes in physical appearance
are highly undesirable;
therefore, all means should be
taken to erase them.
Source: Lewis, D. C., Medvedev, K., Seponski, D. M. (2011).
Awakening to the desires of older women: Deconstructing
ageism within fashion magazines. Journal of Aging Studies, 25(2),
April 2011, Pg 101-109
"Despite claims about pills or treatments that
lead to endless youth, no treatments have been
proven to slow or reverse the aging process."
Source: US Department of Health and Human Services, National
Institute on Aging
Graywashing
Companies that produce/sell/market anti-aging
products are graywashing. This term, coined by
ICAA CEO Colin Milner, refers to the act of
misleading consumers regarding any purported
age-associated benefits of a product or service.
Yet another view of aging:
“Super Senior”--This person must
be healthy, wealthy and defying
aging--a distorted reality
Such stereotypes suggest that
“good” old age requires health,
independence, and economic and
social vitality--reflecting the
dominance of independence,
youthfulness, effectiveness and
productivity as values in Western
societies
Source: Rozanova, J. (2010). Discourse of successful
aging in The Globe & Mail: Insights from critical
gerontology. Journal of Aging Studies, 24, 213–222
“Bad” old age, by contrast, is
characterized by illness, decline, and a
strain on social programs and
economies around the world
The truth is, individuals do not
have to:
…look a certain way
…participate in extreme sports
…or be free of functional challenges
to be:
…engaged in life
…resilient
…and capable of setting an example of
well-being.
What you can do:
• Help older adults become more visible in the
mass media
• Avoid ALL stereotypes, such as…
…Being a burden
…Anti-aging
…Super Senior
Instead:
Be real
Present a balanced, realistic view of aging-reflecting the challenges of getting older, while
embracing the opportunities associated with aging.
What does the older consumer think about
how media and marketers portray them?
Older adults notice:
• How infrequently they are portrayed in media and marketing
• How these portrayals, when they happen, miss the mark
The result:
• 75% of adults over 55 feel dissatisfied with marketing
aimed at them
• 71% say that advertising images largely do not reflect their lives.
Sources: Center for Mature Consumer Studies, 2002; Pickett, J. (2002). Marketing and
Advertising to Older People. London: Help the Aged.
In addition, nearly two-thirds of Boomers responding
to a TV Land survey said they are growing
increasingly dissatisfied with media that
ignores them and they are tuning out.
Source: TV Land’s New Generation Gap Study, 2006.
http://www.agewave.com/research/landmark_tvlandGap.php
What’s more:
• 46% often don’t feel that advertising/marketing is
aimed at them at all
• 50% find advertising/marketing that is obviously
targeting older people to be patronizing and
stereotypical
Other research reveals:
 75% of respondents to a survey of people ages 50+
thought that the media ignored the views of their age
group.
Age Friendly survey, ICM Research, March 2009. ICM interviewed a random sample of 1035
people aged 50+ by telephone between 25th March and 3rd April 2009. Surveys were
conducted across the UK and the results were weighted to the profile of all adults 50+. ICM
is a member of the British Polling Council and abides by its rules. Further information at
www.icmresearch.co.uk
The bottom line:
Your potential customers are telling you that marketers, including
your competition, are doing a poor job.
To gain their business, your marketing efforts need to:
• Show how you can meet their needs
• Reflect their lifestyle
• Make them feel you are speaking to them
• Not be stereotypical or patronizing
• Show you have listened to them
• Show you’re actually interested in gaining their business—
and that it is not an afterthought.
If you want an older person’s business, be
aware….
What is getting in the way of marketers’ achieving
success with the older adult?
Ageism!
Dr. Robert Butler first introduced this term to the world in 1968.
Source: Dahmen, N, & Cozm, R, International Longevity Center , Media Takes: On Ageing, 2009
Historically, as the number and percentage of older persons,
especially the frail and demented, increased, the perception
grew that they were burdens to their families and society.
This perception became widespread as societies
shifted from agrarian economies to industrialized
economies.
Source: Anti-Ageism Task Force, International Longevity Center, Ageism in America,
2006
Also contributing to ageism:
“Deeply held human concerns and
fears about the vulnerability
inherent in the later years of life...
can translate into contempt and
neglect.”
Source: Anti-Ageism Task Force, International
Longevity Center, Ageism in America, 2006
The International Longevity Center’s report documents four
types of ageism:
Personal ageism: “Ideas, attitudes, beliefs and practices on the
part of individuals that are biased against persons or groups
based on their age.”
How is this impacting your business?
Institutional ageism: “Missions, rules, and practices
that discriminate against individuals and/or groups
because of their older age.”
How is this impacting your business?
Intentional ageism: “Ideas, attitudes, rules, or practices
that are carried out with the knowledge that they are
biased against persons or groups based on their older age.”
This category includes practices that “take advantage of the
vulnerabilities of older persons.”
How is this impacting your business?
Unintentional (or inadvertent) ageism: “Ideas,
attitudes, rules, or practices that are carried out without
the perpetrator’s awareness that they are biased against
persons or groups based on their older age.”
How is this impacting your business?
All four types of ageism can be found in
the media and marketing today.
What can be done to counter
ageism's impact?
Dove challenged ageism through its award-winning Campaign for
Real Beauty. One advertisement and billboard featured a 95-yearold model and posed the question:
“Withered or Wonderful? Will society ever accept old can be
beautiful?”
This ad proved to be a tremendous success, largely by tapping
into society’s negative expectations of aging and
making people re-think them.
Results:
Dove claimed a 700% rise in product sales in the United
Kingdom and 600% in the United States within the first two
months of the campaign’s launch.
Source: Brodbeck, M., & Evans, E. Campaign for Real Beauty Case Study, (2007, March
21), Public Relations Problems and Cases Blog, Pennsylvania State University,
http://psucomm473.blogspot.com/2007_03_01_archive.html
Counter ageism in your organization and marketing
by doing the following:
• Learn from the past
• Assess the types of ageism in your organization and
within yourself
• Challenge ageist beliefs.
• Become an advocate for the older adult (Think Dove)
• Be open to the opportunities
How can you turn what we have discussed
into a growth opportunity for
your company?
1. Understand the market
Boomers are just as likely as young adults to be open
to buying new products and services (71%/71%) and
to be influenced by effective advertising (55%/55%).
Source: TV Land’s New Generation Gap Study, 2006
2. Create effective advertising. This can be done
after you understand the market.
Dove’s Campaign for Real Beauty confounded
stereotypes of beauty and reaped the rewards.
Similarly, a vast market of potential customers awaits
media, marketers and businesses whose portrayals of
aging resonate with older consumers.
However, currently, marketing messages are
currently both missing and missing the mark.
Missing: effective marketing messages
The cost of ineffective advertising and marketing
messages is immense, from agency fees to creative to
ad placement.
Action:
Get to know your older customers’ capabilities, needs,
dreams and desires, then give them what they want in a
non-stereotypical, non-patronizing way.
3. Be active and in the game.
An example of lost opportunities in the consumer
packaged goods sector alone:
Roughly $230 billion in Boomer sales of consumer
packaged goods, or around 55% of the overall sales in the
United States.
Source: Nielsen and the Hallmark Channel study in December 2008
4. Become an advocate for the 100 million
people who can potentially buy your
products or services.
Nielsen: Boomers "dominate" 1,023 out of 1,083
categories of packaged goods.
And, they have $2.3 trillion dollars to spend.
Sounds like opportunities?
What will you do with them?
www.changingthewayweage.com
Game On
Thank you