Missing the mark

The advertising, marketing and media industries are still often accused of having a ‘youth-centric’ approach, which it is thought may leave older consumers feeling excluded, leading to advertisers missing out on a valuable target audience. Mintel’s latest consumer research reveals that this is indeed the case, with 41% of over-55s agreeing that “most advertising and marketing isn’t relevant to people in my age group”, compared to 30% of the population overall.

Younger adults have generally been hit harder by the recession, with high unemployment and a lack of substantial savings to fall back on reducing their spending power significantly. Many over-55s, however, have come through relatively unscathed. In particular, those who are still working, but whose children have flown the nest, retain high levels of disposable income.

Where can they be reached?

Over-55s show some notable differences in the type of media content they take an interest in. When it comes to newspapers and magazines, they demonstrate above-average levels of interest in news and current affairs, social or human interest stories, business and finance, personal finance, weekend supplements, travel and cookery or gardening features. On the other side of the coin, they are less likely than average to be regular readers of health and fitness, celebrity gossip, fashion and problem pages/advice.

When it comes to TV, the programmes that have the highest proportion of over-55s in their audience are news and current affairs, documentaries, history, daytime TV, travel and home/property. Less appealing are comedy, sport, talk shows and music programmes.

And what’s the message?

The growing use of cultural icons aged 50-65 in advertising shows that more and more brands are beginning to recognise the significance of this age group and tilting the marketing balance away from ‘youth-centricity’. However, when it comes to over-65s, there is still a dearth of positive imagery and, most of the time, a reluctance on the part of advertisers to include older people at all apart from the occasional example of iconic celebrities (such as Louis Vuitton’s use of the likes of Buzz Aldrin, 80, and Sean Connery, 79, in its Core Values campaign).

The use of famous people in advertising can resonate with older consumers, but the weight of survey evidence suggests that over-55s are far more resistant than younger consumers to the cult of celebrity. The use of real-life, ‘ordinary’ people on the other hand can be a very powerful tool for targeting this valuable demographic, provided it is done with directness, relevance and sincerity.

For more information, see Mintel’s Media Consumption Amongst Over-55s - UK - August 2010.