Generational Marketing - Over 50's

Old people... This... Or this...?

Nicknames for the over 50's have changed so much over the past few years. From senior citizens to wrinklies and the grey market. Todays market calls them Third Agers. This market is possibly one of the most attractive to marketers, but it has also got the potential for disaster.

The population for the over 50's has grown so much in the UK since the turn of the decade. In 1956 the over 50's represented 36% of the population, in 1991 this increased to over 40% and by now, this has grown even further and looks set to continue. An estimated 50% of the population will be over 50 in the year 2030. People also believe that 80% of the country's wealth is hidden in this age group too.

Not only has the amount of people in the age bracket changed, lifestyle has too. Third Agers used to be thought of as fragile, not in touch with the modern things. This has changed so much though. For many reasons, over 50's have become more computer literate, style concious, know all about music, and are probably more cool then their counterparts 10 or 20 years ago. Over 50's seem to be like their 50 going on 35. More and more celebrities are over 50, Madonna, Paul McCartney and George Clooney just to name a few. Of course though, there are a few oldies who age before their time. This makes it harder to marketers to aim for this group.

A recent TGI survey shows that the Third Agers can be split into 5 groups.

'Thrifty Traditionals' These are 17% of the group, they aren't well off and budget for every penny they have.

'Outgoing Fun Lovers' 20% of the people are in this group. Magazines, travelling, eating out and entertaining are all things the people in this group enjoy.

'Astute Cosmopolitans' These are the ones who have the most money and read the broadsheets. They don't watch much tv and go on foreign holidays the most. 18% fall into this group.

'Apathetic Spenders' These are the ones who are most likely to fall into debt with credit cards as they like to buy things they cannot afford. 22% make up this group.

'Tenperate Xenophobes' This is the final group. They don't like foreign food or travelling abroad either, they are very much heavy tv users.

Some companies have been fully invested in this market for ages. Saga, travel and magazine company, has in recent years lowered their age minimum from 60 to 50 to encorporate the changes in trends of people retiring early. However, most companies either ignore this age range or advertise to it really badly. Managing director Rob Starkey of W1 Agency says that 'most briefs stop at 45 and then totally ignore the people after this'. People don't want to do something where they meet people just like them, they know what they're meant to do, they don't need to be shown.

These sorts of adverts are the sorts of adverts which show the Third Agers what they're meant to be doing. The adverts like the ones below, who have no obvious specific target market are the ones which the over 50's like for them.