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

Shrek Invites Kids to Explore the Outdoors

Mostly the articles we found about targeting kids have a lot of critique on that topic.  But not all ads for kids have to be negative. I found an example of an ad which motivates kids to play outside.

On the commercial you can see 2 kids discovering the forest when suddenly Shrek shows up. At the end there is some advertising for www.discovertheforest.org ,a site which motivates children to go play outside, offers games about the forest, information and shows the forests nearby your house.

This commercial is part of the Reconnecting Kids With Nature Campaign. DreamWorks Animation says they are proud to support the campaign and Shrek is the ideal character to promote playing outside because he loves living outside.

I thought this is little strange, an animated film maker who promotes playing outside. Maybe this is just to promote the Shrek character and is this ad not that innocent as we think it is. (adage)

Sharon Persyn

Mc Donald’s launches TV ad campaign targeting gay men

McDonald’s is launching its first television advertising campaign targeting gay men and there is already a lot of commotion about it.

The new McDonald’s ad campaign is aired on television in France. It shows a teenager sitting in a McDonald’s restaurant looking at a class photo. Meanwhile he is  phoning his gay lover and saying that he misses him. His dad arrives and they start talking about the class photo. The father is interested in the girlfriends of his son and is convinced that his son must be very popular with girls. Then you see the boy smiling secretly.

The campaign is shown to promote McDo’s new slogan ‘Come as you are’ but it is only shown in France because there would be a lot of comment on the campaign in other countries.

(dailymail)

Sharon Persyn

Apple: It's all about the brand

“People talk about technology, but Apple was a marketing company.” These are the words of John Sculley, the former marketing executive from Pepsi. In the late 1980s, Sculley turned Apple into the biggest single computer company in the world, with $11 billion in annual sales.  He decided that a marketing budget of $15 million wasn’t high enough, and he lifted it up to $100 million. In 2001 Apple was the brand of the year. But it was not roses all the way. In the mid-1990s apple was in danger of going out of business due to bad branding and boring products. But with the return of Steve Jobs everything changed. He rebranded Apple. At the moment, Apple is one of the most successful brands in the world. Nevertheless, it is not the best product in the world. But why is it so popular? Because it’s not just intimate with its customers; it’s loved. This is where Apple distinguishes itself from other brands.  wired.com

Anthony Pieters

Advertisers 'increasingly target children'

More and more advertisers choose children as their target audience. Why are these children such a good target group? First of all, they are very accessible. Not only through TV or radio, but even in the school canteen, where their little friends are telling them the greatest stories about all their new toys. Second, every parent wants their child to be happy and have friends. So, when their child is begging them for one of those new toys he absolutely wants to have so he can play with his friends, parents will easily buy those things just to make sure their kid isn’t a misfit. A recent study shows us that parents think their authority is undermined by those advertising campaigns. Lately, more and more arguments are coming up to regulate this child targeting, in order to protect these little kids, who aren’t able yet to see through these advertising campaigns.(telegraph)

Ann-Sophie Parmentier

How to target tourists in New York ?

First of all, luring tourists to New York isn’t difficult at all, but luring them to your own shop in NYC , also known as the biggest American shopping area , would be a challenge.

Retailer American Eagle Outfitters, Inc  - with a little help from social network sites - found a new way of targeting advertising . Costumers , mostly tourists,   get photographed in a mini studio after their purchase . Minutes later, their photo (now about 4500 square meters)  is shown at the billboards of Times Square . The shopper get alarmed of his appearance at TS by Facebook, so all his friends also know the news – the 15 seconds of fame at one of the most famous and visited places in the world. This once-in-a-lifetime experience for tourists is an excellent strategy to get sold your products in NYC. “We will reach a lot of new people," says Steve Kubinski, senior director of marketing for the AE brand.

Julie Scheipers

(note: This inventing way of billboard advertising  is partly due to the Belgian high-resolution LED and display company Barco )

http://www.businessweek.com/innovate/next/archives/2009/11/american_eagle.html

Kids do realise they're advertised

David Buckingham (professor Media Education at London University and head of the Centre for The Study of Children, Youth and Media), speaking at Eos Magazine: “Primary school kids aren't slaves of our marketing society, they can make the difference between commercials and information at the television. Tracing hidden ads rest difficult, but it is even hard for adults to see through cookies and data mining. This is not the fault of commercial makers, they’re just more creative and inventing. Even are children, they’re smart enough to get round censure . Kids reached in advertisements get younger, and the younger, the more influenced they are. The way advertisers are treating kids, is getting more personal and more participated. The government has to impose laws avoiding abuse.” Buckingham doesn’t make sense of this new way of advertising, he just want to invite children to discuss about the do’s and don’ts about media, social network sites and commercials (targeting advertising).

 www.eosmagazine.eu/boeken.aspx

Julie Scheipers