"Serve my interests, not your lazy profiles" - The potential of "THE elderly" for the economy

"Serve my interests, not your lazy profiles" is the title of an article in "Campaign", the advertising industry trade journal. It was written in 2019 by Vicki Maguire, then Creative Director at Grey in London, one of the top advertising agencies in the world.

What had happened?

Vicki, then in her early 50s, was upset about the advertising industry in this article because she was offered hearing aids and cushioned insoles for sale via social media.

You guessed it: the online advertising algorithm had put her in the 50-plus group and "played out" the appropriate ads.

That upsets me too! Does that upset you too? Do you simply see people of a certain age as a homogeneous group?

Whether 50plus, 60plus or 65plus, an arbitrary age limit aggregates supposedly homogeneous groups and thus categorizes people. Everyone in such a group, whether male or female, whether 51 or 83 years old, is the same and has identical needs. That is simply, simply stupid, if not discriminatory.

50plus. Sixty years without an update

Let's take a look at how the 50plus target group came about.

In Germany, 50plus became established in the course of the privatization of television. Around 1984, the then managing director of RTL, Helmut Thoma, defined the "relevant advertising group 18-49". People over 50 were "the rest of the shooting party" and not the focus of the TV stations' marketing. In an interview with Manager Magazin in 2020, Thoma admitted that the development and description of the relevant advertising group was purely arbitrary.

A definition that was created almost 40 years ago is still used in marketing today. Such long half-lives are rare in the fast-moving world of advertising.

In fact, 50plus has been around for much longer.

This target group description has its origins in the USA. As early as 1957, Leonard Goldenson, the founder of the TV station "ABC Network", described the 50-plus target group as irrelevant.

What is the alternative?

What can companies do to develop and market suitable solutions for our ageing society?

First of all, they need to recognize that years of life alone say nothing about a person. Other factors are needed to define a relevant target group, whereby age can be an auxiliary variable.

Instead of categorizing people into age groups, it is important to recognize roles and life phases in which needs change.

One example, and currently my favorite topic, is retirement.

The transition into retirement is one of the "critical life events", at least according to the Federal Center for Health Education (BZgA).

The reason: almost everything in life changes from one day to the next.

These massive changes can be overwhelming and subsequently affect (mental) health.

In addition, we enter retirement without any experience. We only experience the transition into retirement and the associated changes once in a lifetime. This is in contrast to a change of residence, job or changes in a relationship, where our experiences last a lifetime.

No money, no gain, but money alone does not make you happy.

Most people think of retirement in terms of a change in income rather than the loss of role, purpose and job.

German soccer legend Lothar Matth?us sums it up in a Spiegel interview when asked about retirement: "Do you think you'll still feel good after three months' vacation? Whether you have the opportunity or not, waking up in the morning and knowing that you have nothing to do is not satisfying."

Companies can, or rather should, use these changes brought about by the new role of "retiree" as an opportunity to develop appropriate offers. We are talking here about financial services, mobility offers, the big issue of housing, but also about voluntary work or gainful employment after retirement. These are all areas in which companies can make offers, regardless of whether people retire at 63 or 73.

The role of the family carer also changes many things in life, for which solutions are then sought - often at short notice.

Addressing people, for example as caregivers or as retirees, meets people in phases of life that are accompanied by lasting changes and in which they are open to offers. What many of these "roles" entail is that people become beginners or newcomers to a topic. When we do something for the first time, we look for know-how and the necessary "tools" to fill the new role.

Thinking along is not enough!

When companies talk to me about the "topic of age", I always hear the statement "We think along with them" ....

So who are "THEY" and what is being considered? I always like to ask my conversation partners why age is only included and not "the elderly" are invited to join in. And then there is a moment of silence: hello age discrimination.

At this point, a brief digression on the subject of age image and age discrimination.

At what age do you think you are considered "old" in Germany?

At the age of 61... yes, that's bitter and very early by European standards.

What's more: In the study "Images of age and age discrimination", 53% of respondents rejected the statement "Old people make a decisive contribution to the progress of our society". Older people, people over 61, are perceived as blockers.

I can highly recommend the study. Just read it here. (https://www.antidiskriminierungsstelle.de/SharedDocs/forschungsprojekte/DE/Studie_Ageismus_Altersdiskr_Dtl.html)

It is therefore not surprising that older people are hardly used in two areas of innovation and product development: In the innovation process as employees and as an external resource, as everyday experts for innovations.

What companies can do in concrete terms

Diverse age teams make sense, especially in marketing and product development. A mix of life phases and roles brings together the different knowledge and experience backgrounds of employees and thus promotes the mutual exchange of knowledge. These advantages have been scientifically proven for around 15 years, but implementation still seems to take some time. One reason for this is certainly the outdated views of age, see above.

The same applies to co-creation and user innovation. Both are established methods in which (potential) customers are actively involved right from the start of the innovation process. Their experiences of the challenges and solutions are used to develop relevant products and services. Unfortunately, the experiential knowledge of people in advanced stages of life is rarely taken into account. But this is precisely where it makes sense. To put it somewhat casually: entrepreneurs need to talk to and not about "grandma".

From 2010 to 2012, I worked on a research project that investigated whether and how older people can be involved in such innovation processes. In a nutshell: yes, you can and the results are very good. However, the processes need to be adapted in terms of approach and design. Above all, however, the image of age in the company must be questioned. Want an example?

Slow Runners

When I'm asked which company makes a good "senior product", I always say: Nike! Yes, the sports brand. Why? Because they approach the topic intelligently. They don't look at age, but at people's behavior.

Many running enthusiasts want to pursue their hobby for as long as possible, or rather run after it ;). They do this slowly, sometimes very slowly. Over the years they become "slow runners", they cruise more than they run.

This change in behavior was the inspiration for the Nike CruzrOne. It came onto the market in 2019, the same year that Vicki Maguire vented her anger and wrote "Serve my interests, not your lazy profiles". Coincidences do happen.

The CruzrOne looks like a traditional Nike running shoe, but with more comfort and a midsole that offers both excellent cushioning and high energy return.

Customer is KINGmaker

In 2018, I launched the SENovation Award for start-ups.

It pursues two goals:

1. to sensitize the young start-up scene in the DACH region to the aging of society and thus also of its potential customers.

2. to recognize founders who take an innovative approach to this challenge with their business model.

To date, over 400 teams from Germany, Austria and Switzerland have applied. The special thing about this award is the selection process.

I initiated the semi-final as "The Senior Citizens' Cave". Before teams pitch in front of the expert jury in the final, they present in front of a mixed group of older people. They evaluate the business models from the user's perspective or as relatives of a user.

The great thing about this is that we have a win-win-win situation:

1. the jury knows that the finalists have passed the practical test.

2. the teams have successfully presented themselves and their business idea (in some cases for the first time) and received valuable feedback.

3. the judges from the semi-final feel that they have been asked and seen. In addition, they not only have a seat at the table, they also have a direct influence on the outcome of the competition with their vote - participation in the best sense of the word.

That's not cool

Society is ageing and so is pop culture and celebrities.

Many of them are publicly challenging established and outdated images of age, such as Heidi Klum. In the US television show "Making the Cut", in which designers present their fashion, one participant describes her target group as "women between 24 and 42".

What did Heidi Klum say about this age segmentation? "THAT IS NOT COOL" and continued "That means I can't buy this piece anymore? ... They shouldn't put a time limit on anything, and I think we should be able to wear anything at any age."

Let's all be a bit like Heidi and speak up!