Ageing profits

Evergreen Marketing Comms
Sunday, 06 March, 2005


If food marketers decide to focus exclusively on younger audiences, then they must accept they are targeting a shrinking market. It is estimated that 80% of all advertising expenditure is directly targeted at people under 50. For those marketers interested in sustainable profit growth, I urge them to review the potential of the over-50s audience before their competitors do!

Leading economic forecaster Charlie Nelson from Foreseechange explains that between 2001 and 2011 the Australian population aged between 55 and 64 will grow by 800,000 (44%) and the population aged over 65 will swell in numbers by 640,000 (27%). Most younger age groups will hardly grow at all. During the same period, 64% of growth in discretionary income will occur at ages 55 and over. Older Australian consumers will continue to increase demand for products and services, and many marketers are not prepared for this.

76% of the household spending growth on food in Australia will come from people aged over 45.

Figure 1 is a forecast adapted from the ABS Expenditure Survey and shows the proportion of spending growth on food in Australia by age group. It clearly shows the importance of older Australians and in order to achieve revenue growth one must have a solid share of the over-50s market.

In March 2004, Foreseechange surveyed 400 people and included questions about attitudes to food, in particular 'functional food' (food that is combined with a direct health benefit). Consumers were polarised on the issue, with 52% saying they would consider such foods and 42% saying they would not.

Interestingly older people were in fact less likely to consider functional foods than younger people - despite being more health conscious.

Considerations regarding marketing of food that are important to older audiences include:

  • Offering a wide range of pack sizes, in keeping with the needs of smaller households.
  • Packaging that helps people prepare and eat more food at home.
  • Labelling is more paramount that ever - this audience makes the effort to read the ingredients and latches onto visual iconography (our top 12 tips appear later in this article).
  • In store taste-testing is popular, as it is seen as a way of experimenting without the financial risk. Also, the face-to-face contact with a company representative boosts empathy and confidence.
  • Don't underestimate the power of the 'partner'. As couples share more time together, cooking is a popular hobby with both sexes - keep those recipes coming.
  • Finally, contrary to popular opinion, older consumers do like to try new food ideas as the 'meal experience' is an important ritual in the day. They will trial new brands if encouraged to do so.

Is marketing mythology getting in the way of commonsense?

Knowing that the mature audiences have more spending power, why is it that so many marketers commit advertising genocide? (This practice is also called marketing mythology.)

One such myth is that mature consumers are set in their ways and won't switch brands or try new things. Twenty to thirty years ago, this was true, however as the dominant shopping generation of 'baby boomers' has grown up this is no longer true.

Studies by companies, such as DDB and Foreseechange, demonstrate that today the level of brand loyalty is the same for 20 year olds as for 50 year olds, and over the past 20 years, overall brand loyalty has reduced for all ages.

Do Don't
Design with the eyes in mind - go for high contrast Avoid reversing type out of photos; if you must, use a larger point size
Use larger type (min 12 pt in letters) Avoid reversing out of black wherever possible
Keep it clear, clean and simple Avoid multiple messages
Deeper voices are easier for older viewers/listeners to hear Avoid blue, green and purple colour combinations
On TV, pictures and demonstration are still worth a thousand words In broadcast media avoid MTV-type quick cutting commercials
Remove or minimise risk, with credible guarantees and believable reference to the company's reputation Avoid labels like baby boomers, old or elderly

Fact: A 50 year old today is no more or no less brand loyal that a 20 year old today. When given the right motivation to purchase, the 50 plus year old will be happy to switch and try new brands.

Many other factors have contributed to diminishing brand loyalty over the years:

  • more choices,
  • adverts that don't reach the hearts and minds of the audience,
  • media skewed to the young - why do so many fall off the marketing radar at 50?
  • Customer-distancing.

Take customer-distancing. There are studies that show an increased level of automated telephony or less face-to-face interaction actually increases brand disenchantment.

Think about it. As you wait on the phone for 20 minutes listening to "your call is important to us..." you think to yourself if that is true then why don't you answer it!

UK food retailer Tesco has been praised for its improved attitude to customer service, in a shoppers' survey one respondent said: "I like it when I ask where something is in Tesco and they take me and show me, rather than, 'Oh it's in aisle nine.' It's nice to see them doing that again."

Some marketers fear brand alienation from the youth audience. For some specifically youth-driven brands I agree - go ahead and annoy the mature audience, use irrelevant and confronting images. However, if a good slice of your existing or growing audience is people over 50 then you should be considering inclusive, rather than exclusive, strategies and be creative - be ageless.

As an audience, people over 50 are not an homogenous group and research into their individual generational triggers, lifestyles and attitudes is important. They are often looking for "experiences that their inner self can enjoy and savour" - they are less driven to seek statements of social approval. Over 50s look for quality and will trade up if at all possible - "Let's buy the premium cheese and wine tonight, if we are going off the diet it has to be worth it."

I am not necessarily advocating more advertisements with older faces, moreover highlighting the opportunity to create advertisements aimed at the over-50 age group that are effective and appealing. What I am proposing is more products and services should be advertised to the over-50s audience. As a valuable potential audience, they deserve advertising that stimulates and excites them as part of the campaign.

Here are some tips to make your communications more effective.

By considering the specific needs of the mature mind, your communications will be more effective. With increased advertising effectiveness, your brands will benefit from increased profit.

Gill Walker

In 2003, the author Gill Walker completed a Masters thesis on ageism in Australian advertising after working in senior roles for multinational advertising agency groups WPP and McCann-Erickson. Gill is now the director of Evergreen Marketing Communications, an agency that offers advice to advertisers on how best to communicate with audiences that are on the positive side of forty.
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