Several suggestions on marketing of 50+ age group

Baby boomer generation, the youngest has reached the age of 50 years old. But the latest research suggests that consumers of 50+ age groups feel they are being branded ostracized, and that the message that brand advertising conveys reflects a failure to understand the crowd.

The data from the National Data Agency (STATISTICS) show that Britain now has 22 million people over the age of 50, about one-third of the total population, and how many brands ignore the huge baby boomers?

A survey of HIGH50, a global website set up by 50+ age groups, showed that only 4% of consumers in the age group believed that brand advertising was specifically directed at them. The research, conducted by Research Institute of Marketing, has a total of 1305 consumers involved. The survey also found that only 11% of people think that brands value this group, while one-fifth of consumers think they are completely excluded from the brand.

"This 50+ age group has been neglected by the brand, or is perfunctory, but by 2020, the number of people in the UK will be more than 50%, so now this market phenomenon is very strange and unacceptable." "High50 's Representative and reporter, TV program owner Marilla Frostrap (Mariella Frostrup) said.

Consumer magazine publishing house IPC media--The agency believes it is wrong for marketers to focus only on the 25-35-year-old consumer. By contrast, younger groups are not as affluent as older consumers.

Amanda Wigginton, head of the agency's Insight department, said: "Every brand has to be mindful of the need to talk to older consumers on the clock and Amanda Wickington, so that they can really get to know them, rather than perfunctory them, and not call them" old age groups "in general. Many brands make mistakes at this point, and consumers can see it at a glance. ”

Wickington added: "There are many rumors about this consumer group, such as their life is not satisfactory, they are brand loyal customers." In fact, they can give brands a lot of opportunities because they have plenty of disposable income and, in a way, they are in a very changing age. ”

The change is the driving force behind the growth of the Italian women's clothing brand Sotto Sopra, described by the brand's website, which aims to attract "mature" women whose brand design is based on consumer feedback demand information and consumer insights. The brand has a "luxury basic" series, targeted at women who enter menopause, or women who have other physical problems, because many physical symptoms can affect the normal body temperature, and the "luxurious basic" series of clothing materials and design can play a special role in the protection of the body. This series of clothing materials is tencel, can absorb the body's sweat and out of the body.

Sotto Sopra, head of business development in the UK and Europe, said that not many brands are paying enough attention to and locking up 50+ age groups, and that they are neglected, especially from clothing brand advertising. Even when it comes to clothing ads designed for older people, they often forget who their target audience is in marketing.

Watson said: "Some brands of products specifically targeted at the older people, so carefully selected a luxury designer, but the creation of a number of girls wear products, and those who advertise brand clothing models are more than 20 years old, this practice is clearly contradictory." ”

High50 's research suggests that although the 50+ age group has generally been poorly impressed with brand advertising, they feel good about their age. Among the 50-59-year-olds, 71% said they felt good about their age, and the figure rose to 78% in the 60-64-year-old population.

The survey also showed that nearly half of the consumers surveyed thought they were happy with the present because they had more time to do what they liked, while 44% said they now know what they want.

"This phenomenon shows that there is a big disconnect between brands and consumers, on the one hand, 50+ age groups feel good about their age, they want to enjoy life and have control over family expenses, and advertisers and marketers are not paying attention to this situation, and there is a lack of dialogue and communication with the group." James Berus James Burrows, chief executive of High50.

"This group is the most financially capable," he added. Therefore, it is time to abandon the old idea, do not think that 50+ age groups are suffering from some kind of crisis, to realize that for many people, entering the age of 50 means the beginning of a better life. ”

Age spokesperson

Making yourself a spokesperson for an age group is risky for brands. But research institute Now's survey shows how 50+ age groups look at their age, and how they feel about the age of spokesmen in brand advertising.

According to 1200 participants, 59% of respondents felt they were younger than their real age, and 23% felt they were 5 years younger than their actual age, and 27% felt they were 10 years younger than their actual age, while 9% felt they were 20 years younger than their actual age. Research shows that 67% of respondents who are older than 65 agree that the older they are, the younger they feel.

However, this view of the elderly is not well interpreted in the brand advertising, 17% of respondents think that the brand for more than 50 age groups of the ads, 13% of the people think the ads look very old-fashioned, 11% people think that the content of the ads is wrong. One-fourth of respondents felt that the 50-70-Year-old brand advertising content is inappropriate, only one-fifth of people think it is OK.

Frostrap said: "As the population of this age group grows, the market potential is enormous." But enterprises should realize that this is a proactive generation, but also a consumer active generation. So companies must look at their advertising and media strategy for the group and find out where the problem lies. ”

Casual shoe retailer Hotter, targeted at the 50+ age group, has had a huge shift in advertising for that age. Peter Taylor, the brand's chief executive, said: "Especially for certain industries and brands, companies will be aware of the importance of this group." Taylor ”

"Advertising must also change," he added. In advertising for this group, you will see some 50-70-year-old models. This is a shift in mindset, with traditional notions that older groups cannot dress up in fashion, and that new advertising will change that perception. ”

Technology and social media

This year coincided with the 25 anniversary of the creation of the World Wide Web, 50+ age group witnessed the development of the Internet. High50 's research shows that most people in this age group are very familiar with the Internet. Only 2% of 50+ age groups dislike Internet technology, while 78% are active users of the Internet. However, the research also shows that companies are misunderstanding that older consumers do not know how to enjoy Internet technology.

Frostrap said: "Now enterprises to this group generally have a perfunctory attitude, especially in the field of technology enterprises." People will sigh to the elder: ' Ah, you can use a smartphone to tweet? ' To talk about this age group like aliens completely ignores the many important technologies that are created by 50+ age groups, such as the World Wide Web inventor Berners (Tim Berners), Bill Gates of Microsoft. ”

Study now studies show that 45% of 50+ age groups are discovering new products through media channels, and 28% of people through their peers or peers. And for brands, the dissemination of marketing information through technology is still a very effective approach.

As far as social media is concerned, although there are reports that the younger generation is pulling out of Facebook, Facebook is the preferred social networking site for age groups over 50 years of age. Another study, conducted by Iprospect, a professional digital effects marketing agency, found that more than half of the people aged 70 and over in the UK had their own Facebook pages, with 62% in the 60-69-year-old population, and 68% in the 50-59-year-old population.

The survey showed that for 50+ age groups, the use of Twitter was as low as 10%. Friends Reunited, a social networking site, showed that the figure had increased in 50+ age groups, with one-fifth of people using Twitter, compared with 13% per cent for the 30-39-year-old population.

Multiple channels

The Stives group's retail advisory body, pragma, studied the age group's shopping in depth, and the findings suggest that older consumers tend to shop more, changing perceptions of the group. Of the 1308 respondents, 76% of respondents went shopping on the street, while 73% per cent said online shopping and only 12% were shopping online via tablets or mobile phones.

"On ebay, 50+ age groups show their strong economic ability, so advertisers should give priority to this age group." "Phuong Nguyen, head of the ebay UK regional advertising department, said," Nanfang advertising on the online channel, advertisers can not adopt a one-size-fits-all solution, which may alienate the brand and some customers distance-to the different customer groups to disseminate differentiated information, and make their content clear. "For example, from January to mid-May last year, the 50-59-year-old group searched for ski gear more than 140% times in the 18-29 age group," the UK's ebay site said.

Nanfang said: "Many brands do not realize how they should cast a net to catch the crowd, but this is also the charm of digital marketing, it can make the brand based on the user's point of interest to lock consumers, not necessarily according to age, so that the brand can ensure that they do not miss important customers. ”

Pragma's survey also shows what information and commitments the brand should deliver to consumers in the physical stores and online channels. For the shop experience, 60% of the respondents said they wanted more cashiers, while 37% wanted more hospitality in the shopping environment, and 26% wanted special discounts or promotions at the store.

As for online shopping, Iprospect's research shows that internet shoppers have no age limit. The survey found that more than 30-year-old consumers and more than 70-year-old consumers do not have a significant difference in shopping.

Three-fourths of respondents thought online shopping was more convenient, and about two-thirds of respondents were familiar with the data security of online stores. Similarly, in all ages, about 60% of consumers regularly shop online.

An age-related trend is a "reverse display" (Reverse showrooing), in which people go online to survey goods and services before going offline. This phenomenon is very common among the 50-59-year-old population.

"You can't force your clients to use a particular channel of purchase, and consumers will make decisions based on their circumstances," Taylor said. Brand to do is to improve the various channels of the shopping experience, seamless convergence of them. ”

Brand Hero

There are also some well-known brands, more effectively locked 50+ age groups, and their marketing methods have been proved to be practical. Web research agency YouGov's brand Word-of-mouth index (Brand Buzz index) shows that some brands are effective in marketing for the segment. For example, the list of leading department store brands Martha (Marks&spencer) and Lewis (John Lewis). YouTube, by contrast, is not doing so well. Research has shown that some brands have failed to interact well with the crowd, such as Amazon, vacuum cleaner brand Dyson (Dyson), Volkswagen and Apple.

According to Pragma's analysis, Lewis's marketing performance was particularly good for the group. The retailer has specific strategies for this group, including clear brand value, typical staff and services, seamless cross channel experience, loyalty programs, coffee services, a simple shopping experience, and the ability to balance consistency and innovation. Lewis is a good example for brands who don't know how to interact with the group.

"For the brands that want to approach this group, my advice is to establish a dialogue with them and spend more time with them," says Wickington of IPC. Brands must recognize the underlying information behind data and insights. The facts will prove that the market forces of this group cannot be neglected. ”

50+ Age Group Subdivision

Iprospect's research shows that the 50 + age group can be divided into 3 categories according to the shopping behavior and technology usage, namely, adventurous customers, self-confident customers and comfortable customers.

The psychology of adventurous customers: Find me through a smartphone and send me messages via email. I like streaming media services. I often surf the internet and buy things in the online store.

The crowd includes 50-59-year-old consumers. Research shows that the crowd is keen on online video subscription services. At the same time, they have a great stickiness to smartphones. But once they are looking for some promotional information, they will not go through the phone, preferring to use the mail. The group showed a "reverse display" (reverse-showrooming) tendency to buy in-store after an online survey.

The psychology of confident customers: Keen on YouTube, like podcast service. I'm going to browse the Internet to buy goods. You can find me in many ways--except for smartphones.

The 60-69-Year-old age group is active in many channels, except for smartphones. Their salient feature is the high demand for video consumption, which is the most active user of YouTube and the BBC Podcast Service (BBC IPlayer). Compared to the other two groups, they showed a willingness and potential to look for and buy online. A consumer survey of age groups over 30 years old suggests that people of that age are most willing to surf the Internet and buy goods.

The psychology of a comfortable customer: You can find me through a tablet computer and a smart TV set. I'm using a pre-installed application in the device. I don't have a laptop;

This group includes consumers aged 70 and over 70 and is the highest consumer of video on tablets and smart TVs. They are less likely to have laptops, typically surfing the web with tablets and e-readers. The crowd will watch the video online, but tend to use well-known video providers, most of which use pre-packaged applications in their devices. As far as the shopping experience is concerned, the group prefers to see the real-life of the goods in the physical stores.