marketing to the elderly group

Today, the first baby boomers will turn 65 years old. These elderly represent a very large part of the market. The most advertising campaigns targeted younger people because the elderly were stereotyped as “individuals who depend on their children’s income.” But several surveys have revealed that these senior citizens have higher education, an independent income, and that they also have access to the internet. Therefore, it is important to take into account these seniors when a company sets his target market. There are a couple of insights which can be used in communicating to the senior citizen market. First of all, elderly don’t like to be called old. For example, there was a Heinz publicity campaign about baby food for older people having chewing problems. As a result the product failed because the product symbolized the weakness and the helplessness of the elderly. Therefore, it is more appealing to focus on the social activities of older people instead of focussing on their problems. Finally, there is no reason to think that elderly are set in their ways; they still can be motivated to buy new products. To conclude, the elderly market is very wide, and can be used for a lot of advertising purposes.  theentrepreneurpage

Anthony Pieters