I Am Not Dead Yet
If you've seen rthe musical Monty Python's Spamalot you know the song "He Is Not Dead Yet." It first appears early in Act I and it's hard to get out of your head once you hear it.
It's also seems to be my personal theme these days as I sense I'm being increasingly ignored because I'm no longer in the target demographic. Network and cable television don't appear to care that I still watch and want to be entertained. Stores at the mall may want my business but they don't do much to get it. Radio? Let's not even go there.
So...as the fist in a series of posts on this subject...several notes to all CEOs, marketers, movie studios, product developers, investment professionals, etc.
1. Not only am I not yet dead, but I earn and spend more now than I have ever earned and spent before.
2. People in my age bracket have far more disposable income than than the 19-49 year olds most of you seem to covet.
3. I'm in much better physical condition than my parents and am going to live longer more than any previous generation. In other words, I'm not only going to be spending more than your target demographic, but I'm going to be buying products and services from your company for decades. Do the math.
4. I'm not going to retire any time soon not because I need to keep working but because I don't want to.
5. I'm also going to enjoy life longer.
6. I'm going to be an active investor who wants higher returns for years to come. That means I'll be willing to take more risk to get it.
7. I am not as brand loyal as you think I am. Unlike the common marketing wisdom that 19-49 year olds are the earliest of adopters and are the ones most interested in trying new products, my Beautiful and Talented Wife (The BTW) and I are more than willing to try new products and services and switch brands. In the past few months this has included everything from toothpaste to Facebook to computers to workout clothes and equipment.
8. And contrary to what seems to be some common misperception, The BTW and I absolutely are not trapped in the past when it comes to movies and culture. I may have lived through Vietnam, Woodstock, and the 60s, but I don't just want to watch old films and listen to The Doors.
Not Dead ... Yet!
Stan:
I used to sing a Russian version of "Happy Birthday." It was actually the repetition of one phrase, translated as "Many years, many years, many years." Therefore, while I don't know your birth date, that is my wish for you (and because I suspect we are about the same age, it is a selfish hope for me as well).
Yet, speaking of Russian, I am reminded of the contents of Tolstoy's last dictated letter. Here, the prolific author of many, many words wrote, a few days before he died, "On my way to the place where I wished to be alone I was taken ill." That's it: His last written words. Obviously, life, fate, or the muse had different plans.
And, so it might be for the prospects of consumption by all demographic cohorts in the years ahead. I agree with you that our present age/demographic slice may be the dominant holder of wealth -- as seems to have been the case for years. However, even within our age cohort, incomes and assets are widely variant, enabling a few geezers to have buying power that most other age-endowed folks lack. Therefore, while the malls may not market to you, there are various niche publications and media that do.
If we buy the dominant fantasy within the Beltway, all will return to normal and prior spending habits will miraculously re-materialize. Still, I am a bit suspicious that this is a future to which we cannot go back. One question, if you buy this logic is: Will this transition take a long time -- much like a Tolstoy novel -- or, by contrast, mimic an O'Henry short story, which was characterized by a long rising action and a rapid falling action concluding in a denouement unlike the Camelot of consumption in which so many of us were raised.
Hand it over
OK dude, hand over your Medicare and Social Security $$$ to a young person with less disposable income ;)
Demographics & Taking Candy From Babies
Very well-spoken, and I agree in principle with all that you say. I find it surprising that so few organizations go after older demographics, but I suspect there may be some very good reasons for this.
My biggest suspicion is that 18-49 (specifically the younger sets like 18-30) are far easier to bilk money from as a demographic set than 50+. This agrees with the tween-marketing philosophy of using kids to get at their parents' wallets, taking advantage of the inexperience of youth to use the same sales pitches used on that demographic for many years. Marketing to older people is somewhat harder, because real innovation is needed to grab their attention; they've seen the tween-style marketing and it doesn't work on them.
So, why don't they market to older people? I suppose it's probably more difficult to craft a pitch that will work across a large percentage of the demographic, with less guarantee of return on investment due to a general increase in financial sensibilities and spending restraint among their targets.
One very indirect, quasi-statistical way to try and measure this might be to observe a grocery store and who tends to buy things in the checkout aisle. Having worked in these, my experience was that kids ask parents to buy candy and the little knick-knacks they have there, whereas parents and older people *might* pick up a magazine and spend less (in dollars) on impulse than their younger counterparts.
Still, it'd be great if that changed because even though I'm only 27, my tastes tend to run older. I find most television detestable, I have no desire to see 85% of movies produced (goes up to 100% when theater pricing is factored in), and I wish more companies found it sufficiently profitable to make a good product rather than a cheap product.
Great post, cheers!
We are followers, not leaders
Stan, the reason consumer companies don't market to older people (other than ubiquitous pharma commercials) is that we don't resonate with most of the problems they market to (look great! sorry, too late...drive a fast car! sorry, my "girlfriend" doesn't like to ride in fast cars anymore...); we have, despite your claims, MUCH more brand loyalty on average than younger people and are (as said by Bruce) MUCH less influenced to change brands by commercial ads; and, finally, we can see the end of the tunnel in terms of income and the Ant begins to take over from the Grasshopper.
Selling to early adopters requires finding people with a PASSION for something...and, I'm sure you'll admit, passion for possessions clearly declines with age. In fact, we let young people try things out, observe their mistakes, and then jump in when we feel safe. Classic middle to late adopter behavior. Why jump in the water first when there are so many idiots who'll do it for you? Facebook is a prime example...it was only after 3 years of observing our children use it that we realized it might be useful for connecting to old friends and relatives. Kids NEED to connect with friends; old folk just LIKE to. We are a follower niche. You don't market to followers...you market to leaders and let the followers come along later.