Showing posts with label UK Government. Show all posts
Showing posts with label UK Government. Show all posts

Thursday 3 April 2014

Old is Sexy


Old is sexy. OMG, where is this going?...I hear you!

Here I am months away from 50 and I don't feel exactly past it, not even approaching it. But when my daughters give me looks of withering embarrassment ..."Dad, you're nearly 50..." or humorously hand me brochures for Saga holidays and sheltered housing, I hear myself protesting, Larry David-like  "I am only 7 in dog years!"

They have a point. Thinking about being 50 when you are 20 isn't sexy- it is thirty years away: there is so much ground to be covered and life to be lived. My next 30 years offers two ultimate prospects: 80 or death. Not so much me covering ground as ground covering me.

But having a point and being right are not the same . They miss the big picture, everyone is getting older. According to the UK Government 2012
"10 million people in the UK are over 65 years old.  The latest projections are for 5½ million more elderly people in 20 years time and the number will have nearly doubled to around 19 million by 2050...Within this...the number of very old people grows even faster.  There are currently three million people aged more than 80 years and this is projected to almost double by 2030 and reach eight million by 2050"
8 million octogenarians by 2050: Old is the critical demographic for everything, and it is so under-served.

Think about it. We have baby foods, baby toiletries etc. There are special foods for pets at different lifestages because their nutritional needs change. And older people? As our perceptions of ageing shift and our understanding of nutritional requirements, eating and living capabilities evolve, there is a world of opportunity for sensitive, relevant innovation.

The problem is my kids. Not personally, generationally. Look at the folk in your average marketing department  - they are in their 20s and 30s. They are young, shiny. They are interested in having children and keeping pets. They don't want to think about being 80: it's just not sexy.


The answer I think is refreshing. Companies need to be creating senior marketing teams. Instead of retiring people they should be re-hiring older marketers who can see the next 20 -30 years and anticipate it's reality and the opportunities inside. They should look at everything with older, cataract-ridden  eyes...Should foods be as crunchy? How easy to open is your packaging for a 75 year old? What is the right nutritional construction of a ready meal when you are 80? etc

As a soon to be new member of the 50+ demographic let me declare "There is still a fair bit of life in this old dog yet, (I am only 7 after all), and a little bit of cash too. And I want to live the next thirty years as positively and self-reliantly for as long as possible". The companies - manufacturers and retailers - who get this and engage will win.

See, I told you: Old is Sexy.