Golden opportunities: How big life transitions present great marketing prospects

Marketing opportunities may appear to differ between generations but as Rance Crain, president of Crain Communications and editor-in-chief of Advertising Age, reports big life changes lead to big buying changes...

One of the many myths embraced and cherished by marketers over the years is the one contending that older people aren't worth advertising to (except for prescription drugs on the evening news) because their buying habits are too entrenched to change.But in reality, seniors are actively looking for new experiences at a time when they have more disposable income to pursue new hobbies and interests.As Bloomberg Business reported: "In marketing-speak, they're winnable!" Bloomberg quotes Alison Sander, who runs the Boston Consulting Group's Center for Sensing and Mining the Future, saying that only about 5% of her corporate clients really understand the "nuances" of the senior market."That helps explain why only about 15% of ad dollars are spent on this demographic, despite accounting for almost half of consumer packaged-goods sales, according to Nielsen data."Wouldn't you think it would be obvious that anytime a big demographic group changes the basic pattern of their lives, their buying habits will change too?"Tim Love, who made his living and reputation on the international ad scene, has taken his knowledge of worldwide demographic trends to a firm called BoomAgers. His thesis is that old people represent an emerging market—not a stagnant one."For more , click here to read the rest of the article from Advertising Age. 

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