Launch of rhc advantage. Press Release

rhc advantage, the new UK marketing communications agency for older audiences, is launching this month. A free research report is being offered to coincide with the launch.

Mark Beasley, client partner said: “For the first time ever, there are more adults aged over 45 than there are under 45. As the population continues to age, marketing must adapt with it. rhc advantage is an evolved agency that specialises in dealing with older audiences. This sector is highly sophisticated in marketing terms - they have grown up alongside marketing and advertising – and therefore requires the highest standards of creativity. That’s why we have created rhc advantage - to combine market insight, best practice planning and creative excellence. To demonstrate our credentials, we are providing a comprehensive review of the market through a free research report.”

The detailed report, entitled ‘Marketing and Older People’, is being offered via the website www.rhcadvantage.co.uk, at no charge (in digital format). The report aims to provide a comprehensive introduction to a diverse and complex subject, drawing upon an extensive and diverse range of data and research sources – from Government reports to academic research. The agency is also available to present the main findings of the report to interested groups, businesses and organisations.

The agency has been formed by Beasley – a former WPP agency director with 30 years marketing experience – with Richard Collyer, creative partner, and Melanie Haslam, planning partner. Together, the three partners have more than 75 years successful agency experience, which they believe will enable their clients to communicate with older audiences more efficiently, more creatively and above all, more effectively.

Mark Beasley said: “Older people are no longer a niche, but are at the heart of the mainstream. The size, growth, wealth and expenditure of older people are facts that are known to most organisations. However, while many organisations are keen to improve their alignment with this important group, they may not have been able to find the appropriate agency partner. We hope to provide a new alternative for such organisations, through a combination of our experience, expertise and insight. ”

This new creative marketing agency, which aims to help businesses improve their communications with older people, launches this month.

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Note to editors
1. For further information, please visit www.rhcadvantage.co.uk or contact Mark Beasley on 01256 704070, 0771 2137603 or via mark@rhcadvantage.co.uk
2. rhc advantage is part of the rhc group, a long-established independent creative hotshop based in an attractive converted coaching inn in Odiham, Hampshire, with a London office in Chelsea Harbour.
3. rhc advantage claims to be the only major UK agency or consultancy offering integrated marketing communications solutions for older audiences. The few major players in this space have their roots in consultancy, research or advertising.
4. The rhc advantage team is significantly older than the usual agency team. According to the IPA (Institute of Practitioners in Advertising) 2008 Agency Census (published 22nd January 2009), the average age of employees in member agencies is 33.3 years: almost 50% are under 30 and just 5% aged over 50.
5. ‘Marketing and Older Audiences’ is a comprehensive review of relevant data and research, which draws upon over 70 sources. It is intended as a single-source introduction to the subject of older audiences and marketing in the UK - something which does not otherwise exist. It was produced by rhc advantage with direction from Professor David Gilbert, Professor of Marketing at the University of Surrey. The report is available as a word document or pdf file, and can be presented by rhc advantage with a supporting PowerPoint presentation to any interested audience.

For media information, contact Stephen/Deveta at srf on 01256 701010 or email Deveta@communicationmatters.co.uk.

rhc advantage becomes engaged to Age Concern and Help the Aged

rhc advantage, the creative marketing agency for older audiences, has been accepted as a Partner and Member of ‘engage’, the business network formed and managed by Age Concern and Help the Aged.

engage aims to bring companies together to share expertise in meeting the needs and requirements of older consumers, to promote best practice, and to advise on adapting business models and products for an ageing society. The engage network already has over 50 members, representing multiple consumer-facing business sectors across the UK and the world. These include Barclays, British Gas, BT, Currys, HSBC, Marks & Spencer, McDonalds, Microsoft and Sky.

engage also manages the ‘Age OK’ accreditation mark, which will be awarded to products and services judged to be sufficiently ‘age-friendly’. Next year, it is planned to extend the accreditation process to take into account the overall customer experience for older people. This is something that we see as particularly important. Being ‘age friendly’ must surely mean much more than an empty promise made in advertising and marketing communications. It is a belief that must extend across all aspects of the customer experience if it is to be credible.

For example, it is easy to believe that B&Q is age-friendly, given the consistency of its approach across employment, advertising and product. However, one can only assume that certain other retailers (sports retailers, say) are keen to deter anyone aged over 21, to the point of being age unfriendly, given their muzac and staffing policies. This despite some evidence that people over 21 - and indeed, over 51 - do buy sports clothing and equipment. New Balance, for example, is a well-known case history in this industry showing the successful growth of the brand once it stopped chasing youth and became more 'ageless'.

To take it a stage further, perhaps 'age friendly' and 'Age OK' are concepts that should be extended across other aspects of an organisation, such as employment practices. Thinking of our own industry, nearly 50% of staff employed by IPA (Institute of Practitioners in Advertising) members are aged under 30, while just 5% are aged over 50. This is in stark contrast to the distribution of people in the total working population. In this context, rhc advantage is very much the B&Q of the creative industry!

For more information - www.engagenetwork.co.uk www.rhcadvantage.co.uk

Ageism in the news. Again!

Ageism continues to be a newsworthy subject. Here are a few recent examples:

- The 'sacking' of Arlene Phillips (66) from 'Strictly Come Dancing', to be replaced by a much younger but less knowledgeable singer
- The ongoing involuntary 'retirement' of female presenters aged over 50, including Selina Scott, Moira Stuart and Anna Ford
- The mature student aged 64, who (according to the Daily Mail of 16.11.09) has applied for 650 jobs but received only one reply
- The boss of a retirement home management company is forced to issue a 'grovelling apology' (according to the Daily Telegraph, 20.11.09) after using the phrase 'dribbling geriatrics'

The Equalities Office referred earlier this year to 'the ageist culture which has prevailed in our society for too long'. As it points out, not only does ageism infringe human rights, but society needs the active involvement of older people.

Given the size, growth and economic power of older people, there are huge rewards for businesses which are able to adopt an age-friendly position (but without falling into the many bear traps that this can involve). Which is where we come in...

Coca-Cola to target older audiences

Coca-Cola is to target older consumers as part of a bid to double its revenue by 2020, according to a report in Marketing Week today.

Coca-Cola chairman and chief executive, Muhtar Kent, is reported as saying that the company was “laser-focused” on targeting the right consumers with fully integrated global marketing campaigns that work on many levels.

By 2020, the company says that the world will look very different, so targeting the “right consumers” will include a renewed focus on older, wealthier consumers.

As our own report on Marketing and Older Audiences (available upon request) found, the marketing planning processes of most companies do not take the long-term, gradual nature of population change into account. Only the most marketing-led businesses, such as Procter & Gamble and Unilever, have done this – leading to successful global brands like Olay and Dove.

We will watch this space with interest….

Ageism and Marketing

At rhc advantage, one of our aims is improve relationships between older people and business. This is of course fundamental to all of the work we do and central to what marketing is all about.

It’s also why we actively support AGE UK (the new name for Age Concern and Help the Aged) and its aim of improving the lives of older people. We do this through our membership and role as business partners of their Engage Business Network and a commitment to contribute a percentage of our fee income to the charity.

We have also decided to take a stand against ageism wherever we encounter it in the business and marketing worlds. Ageism in the UK is a cultural given – for a number of reasons, age and ageing are seen as unattractive and undesirable. For this reason, images of age and ageing tend to be avoided – employment practices in marketing and advertising favour younger people, as do the images used in advertising and marketing communications. Both facts are well documented – but that’s for another day. However, let’s be clear that they represent the most glaring examples of ageism in marketing.

It's not much, but our starting point is to write ’angry of Tunbridge Wells’ type letters to the media. Here’s an example, from February this year. This concerns ‘The Marketer’, the official magazine of the Chartered Institute of Marketing. This is an organisation which styles itself as ‘the leading international professional marketing body’, so how it deals with these issues is significant.

The article in question took a fairly routine story about cognitive testing amongst the over-50s by an insurance company. It then proceeded to give it the full tabloid treatment. Here’s what they published:

Geriatric gaming
Gaming grandparents could cut back on car insurance thanks to a scheme from Allstate insurance. More than 100,000 Pennsylvania pensioners are using brain-building video games to test the effects of cognitive training on driving safety. The games use InSight video software from Posit Science designed to reverse dodderiness and improve the visual skills needed for safe driving. Positive results will mean discounts from Allstate for older drivers who game to stay sharp.

It is worth noting that the source for this piece (www.springwise.com) did not use the derogatory terms and stereotypes applied by ‘The Marketer’, such as ‘geriatric’, ‘dodderiness’, ‘grandparents’ and ‘pensioners’. It is reasonable to assume, therefore, that it was the editorial judgement of ‘The Marketer’ to reduce the piece to a sniggering, puerile laugh at the expense of people aged over 50. Just another piece of casual ageism.

I contacted the Editor, who did not see my point at all. It was just a piece of fun. The fact that some people aged over 50 are doddery, pensioners and grandparents justified the piece, in her view. However, Ray Jones, the highly-regarded Head of Communications for the CIM, immediately 'got it' and made space for me to make my point in the next edition, which went to press that evening. I won't reproduce it here, as you can probably guess the points I made.

We will continue to be vigilant. Watch this space!

Marketing to the Over-50s. Why we don't!

The following article was written by Melanie Haslam, planning partner of rhc advantage. It first appeared in Admap magazine in October 2002. However, as the points it makes are still valid, it seems like a good way to start this blog. More, more topical, news and views will follow.

Marketing to the Over-50s. Why we don't!

Despite the fact that the over 50s hold 80% of the nation’s wealth, have a higher disposable income than the under 50s, and comprise nearly 40% of adults aged over 15 (and rising), the marketing and advertising community is transfixed by the under 50s. 90% of marketing spend goes there. This spend is fighting for a highly competitive and thus expensive share of an increasingly less important market, leaving the other largely uncontested.

So why do we ignore the over 50s market?
It is a fundamental paradox in our society that despite growing numbers of older people and with increased life expectancy, the value placed on old age has actually diminished. The reasons are various and raise a number of fundamental issues about the way we regard ageing and being old. There is the social context to consider; the cultural, financial and political perspective. But also the personal context - that is to understand our own feelings about becoming and being old. They both colour our judgement. We highlight some of these….

The historical and social context
Mass old age is actually a new phenomenon. At the beginning of this century most of us would have been dead or worn out by the time we got to 40 or 50. Most of us would have died of disease or accident, not ‘natural causes’. There used to be a status in reaching a ripe old age, of having "defied the odds". However now the queen’s 100 year anniversary telegram no longer makes the news; instead the numbers of older people, now so much more visible, are regarded as an economic burden to society, and potentially a (guilty) personal burden to individuals.

The loss of this ‘scarcity value’ in part explains why older people have also lost their natural roles as leaders and teachers in society. In more traditional societies, especially those still based on an oral tradition, older people carry the history, knowledge and wisdom of their tribe, and are therefore the natural leaders and teachers. This is also a critical role they play within the extended family, caring for and guiding the grandchildren. Experience and knowledge were a basis of respect handed down through the generations.

In more religious societies, such as in the East, age is associated not only with secular but also with spiritual wisdom, of somehow being closer to God. Being older is seen as part of the rite of passage to the next stage of what will hopefully be a better life. The rise of secularism, our loss of belief in an after life, has radically impacted on our attitudes towards this life. Significantly, rather than being an integral part of life, part of a new beginning even, old age and death are now seen an end. In part out of our own fear, in part out of distaste, we therefore prefer to disassociate ourselves from both, to hide them away.

Whilst we find it difficult to admit, our avoidance of the over 50’s is also a reflection of our own ambivalence towards, and indeed fears about, our own ageing process. We unconsciously associate old age with decay. We fear the possible lack of control and the loss of independence. We fear too the idea of being ill, alone, of being poor. Ultimately we avoid accepting the reality of our old age.

The dominance of youth culture
Part of the response to these trends is to live in a society increasingly dominated by a focus on external appearance, and the mores and values of youth. The pressure to remain looking and feeling young is huge – hence the explosion of interest in Viagra and cosmetic surgery. We might hold Cher and Joan Collins up as icons of older people, but we essentially define their success in terms of how young they look. Those other older people we do admire, whether politicians, marketing moguls or pop stars, are generally taken as exceptions rather than the rule. We do not translate their example and success into a broader context.

Instead we have developed stereotypes of older people as being conservative, stuck in rut, traditional. Indeed so much so we see the attributes of style, discernment and fashion almost as the rights of youth alone, as almost distasteful in the older generation ("mutton dressed as lamb"?). Indeed not only do we chose to ignore older people but negative stereotyping is actually getting worse. It has been written into the language; "dirty old" and "boring old". It has also found physical form and reinforcement in the drama and entertainment we watch, from Alf Garnett through to Victor Meldrew.

A new perspective
At the macro level these trends are reflected by the failure of successive governments to get to grips with fundamental financial and social issues over pensions, health and long term care. While at a corporate and business level it reflects a strategic failure to plan ahead and reconsider the allocation of resources, and compounds the misplaced belief that all progress and innovation should be driven by the young.

So it is hardly surprising that our older members in society feel misunderstood, under-valued, ignored, misrepresented, stereotyped. The over 50’s live longer than ever, live more active lives than ever before, and are in fact mentally and physically 10 years ‘younger’ than they were 10 years ago. They have money to spend, more time to use, and needs as ‘single’ people without children again. They are undergoing fundamental change in terms of lifestage and lifestyle, in terms of inevitable physical, mental and emotional change, which provide opportunities for new products and services.

More importantly they are people, who are on line, who start new businesses, who buy new cars, who spend money on luxury personal products, on toiletries and cosmetics, who participate in sport regularly, who travel, and begin to learn new things. It is inevitable they will become more demanding and develop a stronger voice. The surprise is that it has been so long in coming.

However getting to grips with defining and marketing to the over 50’s is actually more complex than to their younger counterparts. The over 50’s are an economically diverse group with unequal disposable income. They are more individualistic, and less ‘tribally’ driven than younger consumers. Their innate disposition and attitude towards life becomes magnified as they get older. And most importantly, age per se is not defining. Rather it is the attitudes and feelings towards ageing - the actual process of ageing itself and people’s coping strategies – which varies and provides a means of differentiating between individuals.

Longer term the way forward is to ignore the calendar and consider chronological age as increasingly less important. It is also to question the notion of ageing; in society, within our corporate culture, and to question and confront our own personal feelings about the ageing process and what it might mean to us as individuals.

Finally, we should all take the over 50's market more seriously for no other reason than the simple fact that it makes commercial and political common sense. After all, who wants to be the brand manager who has to explain to the chairman why they are ignoring the most lucrative market in the UK, especially when the chances are he or she is one of them.

Melanie Haslam is Planning Partner of rhc advantage, the creative agency for older audiences (www.rhcadvantage.co.uk).

This article first appeared in Admap 432, October 2002.