Mark Beasley, as Chairman of the Mature Marketing Association, was invited to speak at the House of Lords on March 20th at a symposium on business and older consumers.  Hosted by Lord Filkin, the event was organised by the South East England Forum on Ageing.  A transcript of Mark's speech is below.

My Lords, Ladies and Gentlemen)

The specific question I have been asked to address today is this: why does business neglect the older consumer?  

I am happy to tackle this issue, as there is strong research evidence to suggest that this is likely to be the case in many – but not all – businesses.   

This very question was asked by the marketing director of the insurance company Sun Life a week or so ago, when he launched their new £24 million ’50-plus’ advertising campaign.

He was quoted as saying: “Why do we discriminate against a group we all fervently hope we’ll join.”

By saying this, he inadvertently revealed the first of my four hypotheses as to why business is neglecting the needs of older consumers - an ‘Us and Them’ culture. It goes something like this.

We – the youthful movers and shakers of the business world – make the decisions for them - that large, amorphous, group of older consumers over there.  And never the twain shall meet!

The culture underpinning this is rooted in the belief that creativity, energy, and innovation are youthful attributes. And that these things decline with age, to the extent that business decisions affecting older people must necessarily be made by the young.

As a result of this somewhat divisive culture, older people are seen as largely irrelevant to today’s technology-led, fast-moving, cool-grooving business world.

The culture of business generally – and marketing in particular - is predominantly one of coolness and youth. 

The dress codes, language and office environments of any of the global corporations who dominate our economy – and those who service them - are designed to appeal to younger people.  In the business world, age just isn’t sexy.

This leads to my second hypothesis,  which is that employment practices in business lead to ageist business practices.   

Most people working in marketing are aged under 50 and – as research demonstrates  - are pre-disposed to see ‘age’ through a negative filter -  if they see it all.  

Apathy, disinterest, a lack of empathy and misperceptions about older people are almost inevitable.

In fact, the IPA (Institute of Practitioners in Advertising) Agency Census tells us that in the UK, 50% of staff in advertising, media and marketing communications agencies are aged below 30.  

Just 5% are aged above 50.

Compare this to the real world, where 32% of the UK workforce  is aged over 50.  These sort of employment practices just don’t make much sense in  a society with an ageing workforce.

My third hypothesis is that the failure of marketing as it is practiced in many businesses has led to the failure of business to address our ageing population as effectively as it might.

For various reasons, marketing has lost its seat at the top table of business. Arguably, it has failed to demonstrate its value and in many businesses is now little more than a business support function, managing advertising and promotion, instead of directing long-term business strategy, as it should. 

Marketing people are central to the change that is required and it is the aim of the Mature Marketing Association and my own consultancy to influence them accordingly. As you can imagine, it’s an uphill struggle.  It is perhaps telling that there are few marketing people here today.

All this has meant that long-term marketing planning – which would involve identifying and responding to demographic change – is not always practiced, except in most global marketing-driven corporations .

When viewed year on year, demographic change is insignificant. Hence, short-term marketing planning will never identify it as a strategic priority -  nor address it.

Only long-term strategic planning can do that and in the absence of that, there are perhaps other more compelling calls for investment – which leads me to my fourth hypothesis.  
 
For business to change its culture, its planning processes and its employment practices require leadership from senior management. Without this, nothing much will change.
It is significant that few senior business leaders are here today - they must be part of the debate if there is to be any chance of significant change.

Because in the absence of a very strong business case to invest in marketing to older consumers, businesses are investing elsewhere, where they believe they can find a better return on investment.

In fact, the number one investment priority for CEOs, according to Accenture, is technology.  

Developing markets – the BRIC countries and elsewhere – are also areas where corporates have been investing heavily, in the expectation of good returns in the relatively short-term.  And of course, these are markets which do not have ageing populations.

A strong business case for a greater focus on older consumers is required -  – and communicated to senior business leaders – if there is to be change.

So, to summarise.  I have outlined four hypotheses as to why business neglects the older consumer. These are:

1. An ‘us and them’, youth-oriented, business culture
2. Ageist employment practices
3. The failure of marketing and the weakness of marketing planning
4. A strong business case is not being made to senior business leaders, meaning that resources are directed elsewhere

Thank you.            
/endsm

Our wealthy ageing population is using social media more than ever before. If your brand doesn’t have a social content strategy for the over-50s, it’s time to re-think, says Mark Beasley, a marketing consultant who specialises in adults and older consumers.

Social media has a real problem with older people. Like a surly teenager, it doesn’t want to be seen with them, even though they pay most of the bills.  Just when life couldn’t get any groovier, along come older people in their unfashionable leisure clothing, gate-crashing your party, talking to your friends and trying to dance to your music.  What’s more, they’re not going anywhere soon, so social media is going to have to start talking to them, in a way that they understand, about things they’re interested in.

Older people are now more active on social media than ever before.  All the growth in social media is driven by older people, while numbers remain static amongst younger people, some of whom are even undergoing ‘digital detoxes’. According to Ofcom, 64% of all adults aged 45-54 and 51% aged 55-64 now use social media. This compares with 64% of all adults and 99% of 16-24 year olds.  The biggest change can be seen in people aged 65-plus, where usage has increased to 35%, from just 2% in 2010, according to PEW.  However, we have found that social content seems to either ignore or patronise this increasingly important group.

A large, growing and wealthy group
Older people may be late arrivals at the social media party, but they’re here to stay. What’s more, the size of this audience will continue to increase exponentially. Not only will social media use continue to increase amongst older people, as the more digitally savvy get older, but there will also be more older people. People aged over 50 already account for 35% of the total population and 45% of the adult population. And over the next 20 years, the number of people over 65 will increase by 50%. Social media is fast becoming mainstream and it’s time for social content to reflect that.

The icing on the cake is that older consumers have most of the wealth – more than 70%, according to the ONS – and account for more than 40% of consumer expenditure. In fact, adults aged 55-64 outspend the average consumer in most mainstream product categories. More older people, using social media more, with money to spend - it just keeps getting better.

Social content has societal benefits
Best of all, it turns out that what’s good for social marketers is also good for the consumer. Social media is proven to have real benefits for older people, especially those aged over 65, by increasing social participation and addressing issues of loneliness and isolation. Studies have found that the use of social media improves cognitive capacity, increases feelings of self-competence and has a beneficial effect upon mental health and physical well-being. As Professor Thomas Morton, of Exeter University, who led the large-scale European ‘Ages 2.0’ project, said: “Human beings are social animals, and it’s no surprise that we tend to do better when we have the capacity to connect with others. But what can be surprising is just how important social connections are to cognitive and physical health.”

Challenges faced by social marketers
No-one said it was going to be easy. One of the biggest challenges faced by social marketers is the age gap between those who produce social content and those older people who consume it. On the one hand, people in their 20s and 30s – the age of most people working in social media - are likely to hold incorrect assumptions about older people, often involving negative perceptions, caricatures and stereotypes. They may well live in a world where the young and the cool predominate. On the other hand, what it means to be old is changing fast, as we live longer and continue to be active consumers into our 80s and beyond.

It is also important to understand how older people consume social content.  Social media just isn’t as important to older people, who use it less often than younger people and for very specific purposes, especially social contact with family and friends and pursuing interests and hobbies.  Compared with younger people, social media is less likely to be seen as a place to just hang out, to ‘curate’ an idealised version of oneself, or to enjoy video and music clips. Instead, it is seen as a practical resource, a means to an end. This suggests that for older people, social content needs to be relevant, not just an amusing way of passing time.  Generally, the over 50s are fairly conservative and tend to stick to what they know, which for more than 90% means using only Facebook. This means that static content is more likely to be viewed, while links to other websites will be avoided.

And finally, and frustratingly, all older people are not the same. In fact, we get more diverse as we age. So, the convenience of being able to use jovial, active, healthy and wealthy silver- haired grandparents as a cipher for all older people is not matched by the more complex reality.  Never has the need to know your audience been more important. For example, many wealthier ‘baby boomers’ in their 50s and 60s are extremely savvy – about technology and the world generally. This group is unlikely to be receptive to any content that patronises them or suggests that they are in any way ‘old’ or out of touch. On the other hand, many older consumers – especially those over 65 – are likely to be relatively new to computers, the internet and social media. Such ‘narrow’ users, as Ofcom terms them, lack confidence and knowledge and need to be addressed with care, to avoid misleading or confusing them.

Five ways to improve social content for the over 50s
While there is no substitute for a strategy, here are five ways to improve social content for older people.

1.  Be more inclusive.  For many mainstream brands, older people are part of a larger audience, yet often feel excluded. For example, why use age-specific images of people implying that only the young and glamorous need apply?  Instead, create content which is more inclusive and less age-focused (whether old or young). The problems faced by consumers and the benefits promised by brands are usually the same, irrespective of age.  

2.  Tell a good story and tell it well. Older people have high standards and an intense dislike of bad communication. They want facts, information and logic and they expect well-written and well-structured English. Above all, they want to make up their own minds, based on the evidence.  

3.  Appeal to the right sort of emotion. Research by Dr Karen Nelson-Field4 has shown that videos featured on social media are much more likely to be shared if they draw a ‘high arousal, positive reaction’. For older people, emotions are most likely to be aroused through reference to universal values, not sensationalism or ‘clickbait’. The most popular types of Facebook post for the over 50s, according to over-50s specialist, Silversurfers, are nostalgia, human interest and humour.

4.  Speak their language, not yours. Avoid techy speak – no-one over the age of 12 is likely to care if it is World Emoji Day, as one over-50s brand recently told us. Focus on the message, not the medium, avoiding slang and jargon.  And please, avoid speaking as though shouting out to a bar full of 20-somethings, when your brand and therefore your social content is (or should be) focused on 60-somethings. Here’s how not to do it, as demonstrated by recent social media utterances from a well-known stairlift brand:
- ‘Check out our latest ad! What do you guys think of it?’
- ‘Who’s ready for the weekend? Kick back and relax – or put your party shoes on’
To add insult to injury, the latter irrelevance is accompanied by a photograph of a confused looking old man failing to operate a set of DJ decks. Haven’t these people heard of Tony Blackburn or Bob Harris?

5.  And above all, don’t patronise your audience. Older people are likely to be experienced and discerning consumers, who have been there, done that and may well still be wearing the Tshirt. Avoid stating the obvious, as these recent social media utterances from over-50’s ‘specialists’ have done:

- ‘Rome has so many attractions and sights that it would take a full guidebook to cover them all.’
- ‘Who has a family trip planned this summer? It’s the perfect opportunity to catch up with loved ones.’
-  'Now that it’s summer, why not treat yourself to a walk in the sun.’

So that’s the over-50s for you. A large and diverse group,  many of whom have heard of Rome, are aware of the purpose of family trips, and need no prompting to go for a walk. Too important to most mainstream brands to ignore,  increasingly heavy consumers of social content and way too savvy to patronise.  If your brand doesn’t have a social content strategy for the over-50s, isn’t it time you did?
 
Four social content solutions for the Over-50s
Contact me now to learn more  about  these effective and proven social solutions for brand growth – specially purposed for Over-50 audiences:
National Social Sampling Panels
Seed and amplify new product trial experiences amongst influential users in partnership with major Over-50 brand communities such as Women’s Institute and Silversurfers.com.
Managed Influencer Network
Content partnerships with the most popular and followed Over-50 bloggers and vloggers.
Over-50 Social Listening
Insights and benchmarking into Over-50 only online conversations filtered by category, brand and product. 
Content, Community and Channel
End-to-end solutions for Over-50 social engagement from planning, creation and management to moderation and adverse event response.

Last week, I was asked to take part in a discussion on ‘You and Yours’ – the excellent BBC Radio Four consumer programme. The subject, raised by a listener, was this: do retailers ignore older consumers? In this article, I explore some of the issues around this subject.
 
The listener – Sue Flint – felt that as a 63 year old woman, she was ignored by sales staff in the cosmetics departments of Debenhams and other stores. She felt invisible, she said, and believed that sales staff believed that their products and brands were only for younger women.
 
Certainly, Sue’s experience is shared by many others. For example, the Older Women in Beauty 2015 Report, produced by IM Associates, found that a third of respondents aged 45+ agree that young sales assistants don’t understand their needs and a third believe there aren’t enough sales assistants their age. In fact, fewer than half of women over 45 say they enjoy going to the shops to buy beauty products, and when they do, they prefer to browse on their own {64%} rather than interact with a sales assistant {30%}, says the report.  There is more research that tells us much the same thing.
 
Why this obsession with youth?
 
The response from Debenhams to the BBC was that they probably needed to look at their staff training. After all, women over 50 account for around 50% of cosmetics sales and many cosmetic products are formulated and produced with their needs in mind. So why ignore them?
 
However, while it is easy to blame frontline sales staff, the problem may run deeper. For example, the Chairman of Debenhams was recently quoted (22nd June, The Motley Fool) as saying that they would now be targeting customers ‘much younger than the Marks & Spencer customer). This suggests that strategy from the top downwards is to focus on the young: after all, they spend money and are the future, right?
 
Right? Well, only up to a point. Population ageing means that the older part of the population will continue to grow. The over-50s already account for 35% of the population, more than 40% of consumer expenditure and 75% of the wealth. And over the next 20 years, the number of people aged over 65 will almost double – to become 30% of the total. So the future is more older people,  many of whom are active and experienced consumers. It is they who will drive growth in Europe, according to a recent McKinsey report – not the over-hyped millennial generation.
 
So there seems to be a strategy failure, from the top down – either the strategy is incorrect or execution is poor. The demise of BHS over the past few years was blamed in part on the retailer’s failure to address the needs of the increasingly fashionable older consumer.  Much more pleasant to hang out with supermodels.
 
What does this mean for older consumers?
 
There are two main implications of this strategy failure. First, the psychological reaction of the ‘younger old’ (say, aged 50-74) who feel that marketing just doesn’t understand them. Being over 50 now is not a big deal, yet marketing continues to exclude this group, with incorrect assumptions and stereotypes, or an excessive focus on youth with its concomitant exclusion strategies. You know you’re not wanted when a retailer has an in-house radio station playing non-stop low quality pop music (the sort that less intelligent teenagers, or Simon Cowell, might listen to) at high volume, for example.  Like Debenhams, say.
 
The second implication is the inevitability of physical ageing for the ‘older old’. Age is culturally unattractive in the UK and most older people know this – why would a brand or young salesperson want to be associated with us? More importantly perhaps, the whole shopping experience is more difficult – access and stairs, loud music (see above), lack of seating and toilets. Research tells us that there is much more that retailers could do to improve the experience for the ‘older old’.
 
50% of my advertising to the over-50s is wasted. Possibly
 
Let’s remind ourselves that this piece started with the cosmetics and beauty market – an industry notoriously obsessed with youth and beauty as being synonymous. But even this industry has been making efforts of late, albeit rather obvious ones using glamorous celebrities in their advertising. ‘Washed out? Sometimes. Washed-up? Never’ says Helen Mirren in recent L’Oreal commercials.
 
Perhaps if a more structured approach to this issue were to be taken, beyond the broad brush demographic of ‘all women aged over 50’ and looking at different markets, the findings might be more helpful. Respondents to Age UK research have typically found that the majority of older consumers feel that businesses have little interest in them. However, our own research amongst wealthy 50-64 year olds found that just 20% felt that business did not understand them, while 66% believed that business treated them as they wished to be treated. Attitudes towards business, and indeed attitudes and behaviour of business, are as likely to be influenced by social class,  wealth and other factors, as by age. And of course, none of this data means much unless it is compared with consumers of all ages.
 
Certainly, it seems as though without greater insight, advertising and marketing spend will continue to be wasted.  To mangle an old saying, perhaps it is the case that ‘50% of my advertising to the over-50s is wasted. The trouble is, I don’t know which half.’
 
Mark Beasley
mark@beasley-marketing.com
 

I heard today that Arthur Westall, who was a teacher at my grammar school, had passed away recently, aged 92. 

'Olly' Westall, as he was known, taught English and Religious Knowledge, but never to me. In fact, I never really knew him at all, other than through the following incident.

Aged 15,  I bought a motorbike from him for £1.  I can't remember the exact circumstances, or why I was the first person to hear about this, but the bike worked and must have been worth more than £1. 

I think that this shows a kind, generous and slightly eccentric side to a man who came across as, well, slightly eccentric.

That's me in the photograph, with the bike, in 1969.   

It was a 1953 Francis Barnett, with a 197cc Villiers engine and a triangular horsehair saddle. It smelt great. And I was that rare thing - a 15 year old with a motorbike,

This made me very popular indeed, as I was the only boy in our year at school to own a motorbike. All my many new friends and I would ride it around my parents back garden and a local quarry.

Then,  the engine seized up  and I returned to obscurity.   I sold it to the window cleaner for £2, the start of a great business career.

We also learned from the registration documents that his full name was Arthur George Huxford Westall. They don't name like that any more. Thank you, Sir

I am involved in the following new service offering. Don't worry, I can still write for people aged under 50 as well. Any adult, in fact. But if you want someone who's down with the kids,  I'd look elsewhere.

The press release reads as follows:

 A new copywriting service for businesses targeting older consumers has been announced by rhc advantage, the specialist mature (50+) marketing agency.

‘When it comes to older people, copy is definitely king.  This new service will enable businesses, marketers and agencies to benefit from more empathetic and effective copywriting, produced by experts in this important audience”, said Mark Beasley of rhc advantage.

The UK population continues to age. In fact, there are now more than 23 million people aged over 50 in the UK. The number of people over 65 will double in the next 20 years. 

“This group of consumers is too large and economically powerful to be ignored, too complex to be stereotyped and too diverse to be second-guessed. Yet that's exactly what many businesses do. That’s why we’re here” added Beasley.

An audience which values the craft of copywriting
As people get older, they prefer the written word to the imagery and emotion that appeal to younger people. Unfortunately, most advertising and marketing communications are created by younger people, with the young in mind.

“Older people are experienced and sophisticated consumers, who have been exposed to many marketing messages. They have high standards, a low boredom threshold and an intense dislike of bad advertising and communications. They want facts and information, logic and structure, and a high standard of English. They want to make up their own minds, based on the evidence”, said Beasley.

How we can help you benefit
When you work with rhc advantage, you benefit from our expertise in marketing to mature (older) consumers. Our insight and knowledge of this complex group have helped many businesses and brands, large and small.  Our Mature Market Report is the definitive guide on the important subject of marketing and older consumers. Mark Beasley is Chairman of the Mature Marketing Association and a regular conference speaker.

There are three ways we can work with you:

1. We can help you define a creative strategy, if you do not have one. Good copywriting – and indeed, all marketing communications - depends on this!

2.  We can write copy from a detailed brief (we can supply a briefing form if required). We can also research any additional content, data or information that may be required.

3.  We can review and revise your existing copy.  You know what you want to say, but suspect that you could be saying it a little better!

Good copywriting can build a relationship with your customers, strengthen your brand image and stimulate action.  Whether it’s advertising, brochures, direct marketing or a website, we can probably help.  You'll find  more information here.  If you’d like to discuss a project, please contact us to arrange a phone call or meeting.

Tricky things, these blogs. Once you've started them, there's a kind of implied commitment to continue, even though you have no idea who is reading or if anyone cares, even though some of the pieces have thousands of  page views. And this isn't the only one I'm responsible for - there are three others.

So in an attempt to get current, here's a late announcement.  Today, I presented on the subject of marketing for older people, at an event called Food Matters at Excel, London. Here's more info. It went well and I managed to weave in quite a few jokes, which is always gratifying. And made some contacts for future speaking engagements.  My 'speaking'  experience can be read here if you have the need to inform and entertain an audience. 

In the meantime,  you can see me play guitar with Route 66 on Friday 27th November at the King William IV, West Horsley (near Guildford) and play bass with The Racket at Horsley Sports Club. Friday 4th December. 

For as long as I can remember, those who are naturally quiet, serious or sensitive have been overlooked. The loudest have taken over – even if they have nothing to say.

In business, a positive, extrovert persona has long been encouraged. You have to be a team player, enjoy working in open-plan offices and believe that all the best ideas are generated by groups. Calling your colleagues ‘guys’ a lot and enthusing about their every utterance in ecstatic tones is all part of this.

This goes right back to the early days of self-improvement – for example, how to win friends and influence people – and continues today with the Tony Robbins school of whooping and superficial personality traits. Come on down, sucker. In fact, those of us who are naturally withdrawn have had to re-invent ourselves, without even questioning it. 

However, without the quiet and cerebral, little of value would ever have been created. Great art, science and technology were created by introverts. Business needs introverts.

This idea was first brought home to me back in 2001 by Jim Collins, in his book*  ‘Good to Great’. Collins and his team conducted a rigorous five-year analysis of more than 1,000 businesses, to find out which factors led to exceptional performance. One of the findings debunked the myth of the charismatic business leader. Exceptional businesses were more likely to be run by low-key individuals, leading the steady development and execution of long-term strategy and fostering the right organisational culture.

Yet the stereotype of the dynamic maverick, the business leader as God, persists. We all are expected to read their books and to regard them as role models.

More recently, I have just re-read the excellent ‘Quiet’ by Susan Cain*. Or to give it its full title, ‘Quiet. The power of introverts in a world that can’t stop talking.’ I can’t praise this book highly enough and encourage you to read it.

Cain argues that the introvert/extrovert divide is the most fundamental dimension of personality. At least a third of us are on the introverted side and some of the world's most talented people, in art, business, science and technology  are introverts. Despite this,  extroverts have taken over. Shyness, sensitivity and seriousness are often seen as being negative, she claims, and introverts feel reproached for being the way they are.

Of course, this all makes sense to us introverts. They say that to be an expert in something, you have to have devoted at least 10,000 hours to mastering your subject. For computer nerds, that means locking yourself away in a garage for years. For musicians, it means endless repetitive practice. In other words, you don’t become an expert or a creator by hanging around in back-slapping, self-congratulatory, groups of extroverts for too long.  

Cain debunks many of the myths about business behaviour that we have been encouraged to embrace. For example, groups are rarely the best way to solve problems or generate ideas: these are best done by individuals working alone – as most artists and writers know.  Brainstorms, and the plethora of happy-clappy workshop and other sessions that they have spawned, may be fun, but they are not productive. In the same way, it has been found that introverts work better when left alone, in their own space, rather than in open-plan offices.

If , like me, you relish the affirmation of your own reclusive, book-reading, back-bedroom self, then you will enjoy this book. And the more so when you realise that all this dates back to Eastern philosophy. Cain quotes 'The Way of Lao Zi':

‘Those who know do not speak. Those who speak do not know’.

This could easily have been written with many overtly extrovert business people and their glib clichés and utterances in mind. Not to mention their use of social media…

Mark Beasley is a marketing consultant and copywriter. www.beasley-marketing.com

‘Quiet’ by Susan Cain is on Amazon
‘Good to Great’ by Jim Collins is also on Amazon -

Mark Beasley will be chairing the 2015 Mature Marketing Summit, now established as the UK's leading mature (50+) marketing conference.
The summit will be held in Central London on October 5th. There's a great line-up of speakers - and some low earlybird rates if you book before the end of June.
For more information, click here.