Marketing for grown-ups

rhc Advantage is a UK-based independent marketing agency which specialises in marketing communications for adult, mature and older audiences. We call this 'Marketing for grown-ups'.

We are an experienced team with the expertise, maturity and insight to help our clients understand, plan and communicate more effectively with adult, mature and older consumers.


Our mission is to offer a grown-up alternative to your usual agency – one which can help your business take advantage of demographic change, rather than ignore it. We believe that by paying more attention to the ageing population, marketing can drive business growth. 

Our services include advertising, brand and communications planning, design and copy-writing, direct marketing, PR and promotional marketing. We also offer an insight presentation and workshop, for conferences, training and planning. 

The UK's population is ageing: there are now more adults and people aged over 50 than ever before. The fastest-growing group of all is people aged over 65. This group of people is too large to ignore, too diverse to stereotype and too complex to second-guess. We have an insight report - The Mature Marketing Report - to help our clients get to grips with this important long-term trend.

 For a grown-up conversation about your business, please contact us today. For more information, visit  www.rhcadvantage.co.uk                  

Cosmetics, Radio, Television, Headphones and the House of Lords

This blog has been falling behind and would like to apologise to its small but loyal band of readers. All blog posts are posted on our main blog site:  www.rhcadvantage.co.uk/news

Here are recent posts that you may have missed:

• Cosmetics: the Marketing Challenges of an Ageing Population. Join the discussion here (14.02.13)
• Radio for Grown-Ups: advertising, promotional and sponsorship opportunities with The Wireless (06.03.13)
• Do you turn up the Television a little more than you used to? Television headphones for the over-50s from our client, Sennheiser (13.03.13)
• House of Lords publishes report on the Ageing Population today. But what is your business doing? (14.03.13)
• Cosmetics and Mature Consumers:  our presentation at the in-cosmetics conference in Paris, April 2013 (20.03.13)

All the above can be viewed in their full glory at www.rhcadvantage.co.uk/news

Where are we now? David Bowie and mature audiences...

If you want to know about the beauty industry, there is no finer place to go than Imogen Matthews Associates - www.imogenmatthews.co.uk 

 

Imogen Matthews is a respected consultant, journalist and researcher with unique insight into the Beauty Industry. For the past 20 years, she has provided marketers, retailers and consultants with expert commentary and analysis.

 

IMA's recent report, Older Women: the Forgotten Demographic, highlights an unexploited opportunity for an ageing population that wants to stay younger for longer and is prepared to spend money on beauty treatments and solutions, especially at the premium end. But, Imogen asked, is the beauty industry really doing enough to maximise this growth demographic?

 

I was asked to write an article for the IMA blog, reproduced below. I set myself the task of linking David Bowie and marketing to mature audiences. Here's my article - I think I got away with it....

 

10 Golden Rules for Marketing to the UK’s Most Affluent Demographic

 

David Bowie has been in the news lately, after an absence of 11 years. His new single –‘Where are we now? – was released on his 66^th birthday. This has astonished the world of media, which seems surprised that the “poor old chap” is still alive, let alone able to croak out a few words of song,

According to Robert McCrum, writing in the Guardian: ‘At 66, Bowie also defies gravity’, going on to assert that ‘most poets and songwriters do their best work before the age of 40’, citing Byon, Keats, Shakespeare and Shelley.

This sort of casual ageism continues to underpin the attitudes of many of us working in marketing. In fact, Byron, Keats and Shelly never even made the age of 40 – this was not unusual in the 19^th century. However, life expectancy has moved on significantly since then. Most of us can expect to live well into our 80s and if you’re born this year, you have a one-in-three chance of living to 100 and beyond.

Already, more than 50% of adults in the UK are aged over 40. So what are we to make of the ageing population that comes with increased life expectancy? As David Bowie’s single enters the top ten, here are my top ten soundbites for marketing to more mature consumers.

1. Think of individuals, not groups. Do not categorise older people as a single, homogenous segment. There are too many of us for that and we are not all the same!
2. Do not overtly target ‘older people’. We know how old we are, you don’t need to remind us. If you are more subtle and convince us that you meet our needs, we might be interested.
3. Think differently. Traditional stereotypes of age and ageing no longer apply. In popular music, artists older than Bowie continue to survive and prosper – Leonard Cohen, Bob Dylan, Paul McCartney and the Rolling Stones, for example.
4. Following the money? The over-50s account for 80% of the UK’s wealth and disproportionately high levels of expenditure. However, this is not evenly distributed and will not be replicated to the same extent by younger age cohorts.
5. Let’s get physical. Physical and cognitive decline are part of the normal ageing process. Make sure you have an inclusive approach to all aspects of the marketing mix, not just marketing communications.
6. Age is relative. Our own age dictates our perceptions of old age and the attributes associated with old age. Make sure that your marketing is consumer-driven and not at the mercy of well-meaning younger marketers or agency staff.
7. Don’t target by generation. In the UK, terms such as ‘Baby boomer’ and ‘Generation X’ provide little consumer insight. Members of such groups share little other than the period in which they were born.
8. Think across age groups. Few products and services are consumed and purchased only by older people. There will often be more than one generation involved. Also, the audience for many brands is likely to span different generations, as consumer needs and interests are seldom shaped by age alone.
9. Walk the talk. If you care about older people so much, why not employ some? Few people over 50 work in marketing. This no longer makes sense, if indeed it ever did.
10. There are no ‘golden bullets’. This is a large, diverse and complex group of people – not a small niche group. Please do not expect ‘off-the-shelf’ guidelines – despite this article!
To conclude as we started – with David Bowie, who wrote back in 1971 in the song Changes: ‘Pretty soon you’re gonna get a little older.’ The biggest danger of marketing for older people, I think, is the tendency to think of older people as ‘them’. In fact, it’s not them, it’s us: if not now, then later. If we’re lucky.

These ten soundbites were distilled from rhc advantage’s 180 page research report which is available via its website, www.rhcadvantage.co.uk

To find out about 'Older Women: the Forgotten Demographic' or Imogen's other work on the Premium Beauty Market, visit www.imogenmatthews.co.uk

 

Good news and bad news for older people online (aka 'Silver Surfers' )

Much as I dislike the term ‘Silver Surfer’,   it is one that is still in common use and is used to signify ‘older people who are online’. Today, it has been used by both the Express and Telegraph:

-          The Telegraph has announced the closure of Saga Zone

-          The Express covered a new business for ‘silver surfers, and has a used a few quotes from an expert source aka me!

This co-incides with the imminent launch of our online consumer discussion forum (info@agepanel.co.uk)

1.      Saga Zone to close

Saga Zone – the online social networking forum for people over 50 run by Saga – has been closed.  An announcement on the website states that it will close on February 26^th. The reason given is the amount of ‘controversial and offensive’ content posted on the site by members, which is seen as a threat to the Saga brand.

In the Telegraph today, more specific reasons are given and a spokesperson for Saga is quoted as referring to ‘racist, homophobic and anti-semitic or anti-arab’ comments. http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/finance/ianmcowie/100022685/racist-jibes-prompt-saga-to-scrap-its-social-network-facebook-for-the-over-50s/

Seen by some as a rival to FaceBook, but for older people, Saga Zone is claimed to have had ‘many thousands’ of registered viewers but only ‘low hundreds’ of regular contributors. This ‘conversion ratio’ is what one might expect – but given the massive popularity of FaceBook the absolute number of users seems surprisingly low.

Data released by FaceBook last month claimed 27 million users in the UK,  30% of whom are over aged over 50. So why such low numbers for Saga Zone? One of the reasons for this could be that most people prefer to do their social networking on an ‘age neutral’ basis. ‘I think I’ll talk to someone my own age’ is rarely high on our agendas, while ‘I’d like to talk with someone with similar interests’ probably is.

As to whether or not older people are any more or less less politically correct than any other age group - let's leave that subject for another day!

2.      ‘Striking gold with Britain’s silver surfers’

In the Daily Express today, Maisha Frost looks at a new IT business servicing ‘older’ IT users, putting this in the context of  a ‘mature market’ which is large, growing and under-served.

http://www.express.co.uk/posts/view/375809/Striking-gold-with-Britain-s-silver-surfers

She includes wise remarks and comments from a ‘specialist in marketing to mature customers’ – someone called Mark Beasley, of marketing agency rhc advantage.
 

3.       New marketing research online community for older people about to launch

rhc advantage is about to launch Age Panel, an online community for ‘expert’ consumers aged 45 and upwards. This is intended to provide a forum for experienced consumers to share their opinions with each other and with sponsoring brands and businesses. Please contact info@agepanel.co.uk for more information.

For more information on marketing and mature audiences, please contact Mark Beasley – mark@rhcadvantage.co.uk or visit www.rhcadvantage.co.uk

‘Marketing to the Ageing Consumer’ - a Book Review

Mark Beasley, of rhc advantage, the mature marketing agency, reviews ‘Marketing to the Ageing Consumer - the Secrets to Building an Age Friendly Business’ by Dick Stroud and Kim Walker (Palgrave & MacMillan).

1. Introducing the book: the first to cover an important subject

To get straight to the point: the ‘secrets to building an age friendly business’ revealed in this book depend upon understanding how the ageing of consumers’ minds, bodies and senses determine the products they purchase. This book is important because, claim the publishers, this subject has not previously been examined in any detail. In fact, it is stated that it is the ‘first and most comprehensive’ account of this subject – but let me stop right there. Because if it is the first, then by definition it will surely also be the most comprehensive! Unfortunately, clumsy stylistic errors of this sort throughout the book tend to get in the way of what is otherwise an authoritative text.

That said, it is almost impossible to review this book in anything other than positive terms. The broad subject area – that of marketing and the ageing population – is an important one, to which my business (rhcadvantage.co.uk) has a shared interest and commitment. We are therefore pre-disposed towards supporting anything which promotes it. What’s more, this book breaks new ground by focusing on the need for businesses to focus on the unique physical needs of older people. The subject of marketing communications for ‘older people’ has received some attention over the years, but as Stroud and Walker point out, there are many more important factors to be considered first.

The reviewers task is also hampered by the long list of the Great and Good (featured in the first two pages of the book), all of whom endorse the book. What’s more, the authors themselves are experienced and highly-respected authorities on this subject. ‘Critic beware’ is the message!

So, all of this makes it almost impossible to review this book in anything other than positive terms.

Despite that, I concluded that inside this 240 page book, a concise and much better-written article is waiting to get out. Either that, or the breadth and depth of the subject matter (and the obvious research and knowledge of the authors) deserve a much longer and more substantial book. In other words, the main limitation of the book is the format: perhaps the market or the publishers dictate the length.

To support my case, I would argue that the context which gives the subject matter of the book such significance – ageing populations and the failure of business to address the challenges and opportunities that they present – is given insufficient weight. Perhaps the authors feel that everyone already knows this: an assumption with which I disagree. By contrast, too much attention is given to unnecessary ‘scientific’ detail. It is important to know about the physiological aspects of ageing and what the business implications are, but do we really need to know quite so much of the medical background ? The authors state that they have aimed to focus ‘on the business rather than the science of ageing’ but I believe they might want to address this balance.

2. Aims and key concepts

So what exactly is the book setting out to do? This is best explained by the sub-title shown above (‘the secrets to building an age-friendly business’). The best statement of the authors’ intentions that I can otherwise find is the less than inspiring statement that they aim to provide ‘knowledge and techniques to help marketers benefit from a new dimension of change that will progressively affect all areas of their work’. In other words, their aim is to help marketers address, and benefit from, continued population ageing. This is certainly a laudable objective. However, should the audience be confined to marketers, who seldom control or even influence all aspects of a business?

In doing this, the book depends upon three important concepts. The first is that population ageing is of crucial significance to business. In fact, the authors claim that “this is a phenomenon which will soon equal sustainability as a global trend that the corporate world must understand and devise policies to embrace”. I do not think that this important concept is sufficiently developed or substantiated – yet the significance of everything that follows depends upon it.

Second, it is assumed that it is possible and indeed desirable to attain a position of what the authors call ‘age friendliness’, a concept which is defined as ‘an environment in which the unique physical needs of older people are satisfied in a way that is natural and beneficial for all ages.’ If you’re looking for specific definition and measurement of this rather nebulous concept, you’re in the right place. Fortuitously, the authors’ consulting business (which this book is presumably intended to promote) does just this, some of which is explained in the book.

The final concept is that the key to age friendliness is greater understanding of physical (or physiological – both terms are used) ageing and how this affects all customer touchpoints. This subject has been neglected, claim the authors, and is the key to reaching the nirvana of age friendliness.

3. Structure and content

Part one: the discipline of marketing to older people
The book can be divided into four parts, although this is not made as clear as it might be. The first part gives a very brief overview of the history and scope of the ‘discipline’ of marketing to older people, although how, where and to what extent this ‘discipline’ is codified or indeed practised is not explained. The authors, understandably, are keen to get to the point of the book, but the result of this brevity is that some important subject matter is compressed a little too much. Most people in business do not know this stuff, I would suggest, but the significance of the rest of the book depends upon it.

This brevity also means that some fundamental points are reduced to un-substantiated assertions. To take one example, it is stated that the starting point is ‘to address the paradox of why a large group of wealthy people attracts so little attention from the marketing community’ – a significant point, which to some extent underpins the very existence of this book. However, no evidence is given to support it (possibly because there isn’t any: much as we might like there to be).

Part two: physiological ageing
The second section of the book examines the intricacies of physiological ageing and the business opportunities they present. This section accounts for 50% (120 pages) of the book and it is no small achievement to bring all of this information together. Looking at mind, body and senses, one is reminded of just how much there is to go wrong!

A lot of secondary research was clearly carried out by the authors and it is well-structured and explained. However, the book does provide rather too much detailed scientific data for this reader. In fact, it often seems more like a biology textbook than a marketing text, with diagrams of skeletons, tables of medical data and impenetrable sentences such as: ‘the somasensory systems affect all of those touchpoints that are reliant, for their successful operation, on the body’s sensitivity to threshold levels of vibration, pressure or temperature.’ The point is made: the authors have done their homework – but do we need to have our noses rubbed in it quite so often?

This ‘science bit’ seems to be at the expense of examining attitudes and behaviour regarding physiological ageing. These do matter, I would suggest: I like to turn up the TV; you have the TV on too loud; he has hearing impairment. Despite this niggle, this section of the book is full of information and insights unlikely to be found in any other marketing text and the underlying point is well made.

Part three: age-friendliness - what it is and how to get some
The third section of the book explains the concept of age-friendliness and how it is measured. This provides some interesting topics – for example, the surprising age-friendliness of Apple, which suggests that the default setting for good business and good product design is age neutral. A process for developing an age-friendly strategy is considered and the reasons why this has not yet been embraced by many companies are given. While these all ring true, this perhaps has as much to do with the well-documented problems associated with planning and executing any sort of long-term strategic change.

This section of the book goes on to introduce a methodology for strategy development – the authors’ own AF (Age-Friendly) Audit toolset. This is claimed to be a thorough evaluation based upon an age-friendly model of 24 physiological effects of ageing across over 200 customer touchpoints. I do not propose to attempt a critique of this – in fact, I would love to know more. However, I am aware that such approaches work in other areas and respect the capabilities and experience of the authors.

Part four: implementing an age-friendly strategy
The final – and quite short – part of the book examines why companies should adopt an age-friendly strategy and what the broader business and societal implications are. Chapter 10 (creating an age-friendly strategy) is particularly well-written and well-argued and stands in its own right as being worthy of wider dissemination at board-level. If you read one chapter, read this one. Finally, the last chapter stresses that the ageing population is a ‘mega-trend’ that must be addressed, and examines the future of age-friendliness. This part of the book would form the basis of an excellent article for the Harvard Business Review.

4. To what extent does the book achieve its aims?

As stated earlier, we support any book which raises the important issues that this book does. The book represents a new direction in the (limited) literature on this subject and – like any book - has strengths and weaknesses. I would like to have seen more of the high level argument in the closing chapters and a lot less of the ‘A level biology text book’ detail. However, the main weakness is the format: I am guessing that this book had to be of a certain size dictated by the publishers. This means, as I have said, that it is too long to be a hard-hitting polemic (as suggested by the final chapters), yet also too short to set out the full business case for considering this subject in the first place. Imperfect perhaps, but it introduces new subject matter and makes some important points.

Mark Beasley
31st January 2013

rhc advantage is a marketing agency which specialises in the mature (50+) market. We help our clients to gain better insights, plan more effective strategies and create more engaging brand communications

http://www.rhcadvantage.co.uk

Spread the Warmth this Christmas, with rhc advantage and Age UK

It’s Christmas, as Noddy Holder has been shouting so memorably for the past 39 years.

That means it’s time for us to extend our warmest wishes to all our associates, clients, colleagues and friends.

Merry Christmas, everybody.

This year, we’re celebrating our second full year as the UK’s only mature (50+) marketing agency.

It’s been hard work, but we remain committed to the belief that older people deserve a better deal from business and marketers.

Above all, we’ve really enjoyed working with our clients, meeting new clients and producing work we’re all proud of. Thank you for sharing our vision.

But not everyone is so lucky. Many older people will spend Christmas cold, hungry and alone.

That’s why we’re supporting Age UK’s ‘Spread the Warmth’ campaign, which is helping many thousands of older people to celebrate Christmas the way it should be celebrated. Amongst friends, in the warmth, with a hot meal.

We would like to send you our warmest wishes for Christmas and the New Year. We hope that your yuletide is merry and your celebrations are everything you hope for.

For more information about how you could help spread the warmth to others, please read on.

What is Spread the Warmth?

Here is what Age UK has to say.
 
Spread the Warmth is an Age UK campaign to stop older people suffering and dying needlessly in winter. Every year, more than 26,000 people die needlessly during winter because of the cold weather.Older people are more vulnerable to effects of cold weather - out of the 26,000 winter deaths every year, 9 in 10 are older people. Over a third of people in the UK aged 65+ say they are dreading the cold weather in winter.

As we get older, our bodies respond differently to the cold – increasing the likelihood of a heart attack, stroke, or pneumonia. Cold weather also makes it more difficult for people to get around – which can lead to depression, loneliness, and isolation. Over 500,000 older people spend Christmas Day alone. Cold weather also adds to the financial worries of older people - 36% of people aged 60 or over in Great Britain stay or live in just one heated room of their home to save money. 30% say they avoid heating rooms like the bedroom, bathroom or living room because they are worried about the cost.

During Spread the Warmth, Age UK and the majority of our network of local partners will:

• Distribute essential items like clothes, heaters and electric blankets – to keep people warm
• Provide benefit checks to ease financial worries
• Offer snow clearance services, shopping support and befriending visits – so those with mobility issues can get what they need
• Run Christmas parties, theatre trips, and Christmas shopping trips - to help fight isolation
• Distribute information guides, including tips on how to stay warm in your home
• Distribute thermometers – so older people know when to turn on their heating
• Put pressure on MPs and local councils to make cold-related winter deaths a public health priority

Your donations are a crucial part of this support – it is through your generosity that Age UKs and local partners are able to provide these services. Thousands of older people die every year, because of the cold. Just £5 can make a difference and help to save a life today. To donate, click here.
To find out more about rhc advantage, visit www.rhcadvantage.co.uk

50% discount on ‘Mature (50+) Market’ Research Report

50% discount now available on new edition of ‘Mature Market’ Research Report

Last month, specialist 50+ marketing agency, rhc advantage, released a substantially updated and revised edition of its research report, ‘Marketing for Mature Audiences’.  This is now available at a 50% discount until November 16th.

The report provides a comprehensive overview of the subject of marketing and older people in the UK, drawing upon more than 250 data and research sources. It provides a wealth of information, insight and interpretation to marketers and anyone else interested in building relationships with this important group.

Said rhc advantage director, Mark Beasley: “The report has been extensively revised and updated and now has 20% more content and two entirely new sections. As far as we know, there is nothing else available with the breadth and depth offered by this report.”

The report, which is 180 A4 pages in length, was produced with the input of two University Professors. It covers the following subjects: demographic trends; economic, social, political and legal trends and issues; the income, wealth and expenditure of older people; the attitudes of older people to life, business and marketing; segmentation and generational marketing; a review of marketing practice and marketing communications, including guidelines; digital and the internet; and a European overview.

The report is now available from rhc advantage in hard copy format. The cover price of the report - reduced with this offer from £995 to £497 - also includes a personal presentation of the main findings and, as a final statement of confidence, there is a money-back guarantee. For more information and a free executive summary, please contact Mark Beasley at mark@rhcadvantage.co.uk or 020 7193 2361, or visit www.rhcadvantage.co.uk

Notes

rhc advantage limited is a marketing agency which specialises in the 50+ market. We help our clients to gain deeper insight, plan more effective strategies and create more engaging brand communications for this important audience. The directors are Mark Beasley (marketing), Richard Collyer (creative) and Tom Wright CBE (non-executive). www.rhcadvantage.co.uk