It’s been another great year for our work at the Silver Marketing Association. Highlights of 2025 include:
January
Our member PensionBee provides a masterclass in advertising to the silver market by featuring active older women and their own customers engaged in exercise in their latest campaign. Authenticity sells.
Demonstrating that age is just a number, Michael Clinton, founder and CEO of our International member ROAR Forward, is once again joining his travel group of 50-75 year olds on a challenging adventure. This time they’re trekking to the South face of Aconcagua in Argentina. Go Michael!
February
Our first workshop of the year on how to connect more effectively with the silver market, led by George Lee, was a resounding success.
Our live webinar on “How to market yourself” receives excellent feedback “One of the best webinars I have attended in a long time. The energy was amazing!”
Our patron Anthea Turner is featured in CrunchyTales Midlife Magazine.
We call out Bluesky for using a patronising image of an older woman to celebrate its first year.
March
Our MD Debbie Marshall is included in the Leading Women to Watch list 2025.
April
We release our latest webinar “Changing the Narrative for Marketing Later Life Homes” in which our expert panel delve deep into the business of later life homes and how to market them. How can people be encouraged to downsize into smaller homes or to choose Integrated Retirement Communities (IRCs) for their later life.
May
Our wonderful patron Anthea Turner partners with Sandals on a PR trip to St Lucia to share her experiences with her Instagram followers and in magazine interviews.
June
Debbie Marshall shares her expertise in marketing to the older generation to a captivated audience at an ABTA training day.
Our patron Anthea Turner features on the cover of Platinum Magazine as she celebrates her 65th birthday.
Our member Jo Rzymowska is awarded an MBE in the King’s Birthday Honours list.
Our Policy & Public Affairs Director, Steve Huxham. represents us at a key discussion in the House of Lords on Addressing the Ageing Workforce.
July
Our fourth Silver Marketing Summit 2025 is a resounding success.
- Keynote speaker Carl Honoré introduces our new White Paper “Silver Marketing Around the World” in partnership with Accord.
- Our ‘Dragons Den” session is won by startup trundl – the walking app.
Our third Silver Marketing Awards, hosted by Aled Jones and sponsored by Global, is an enjoyable and successful evening. Awards include our inaugural Exceptional Achievement Award, won by the amazing Jacynth Bassett.
August
SMA members enjoy an incredible day of bowls and networking with Bowls England at the AVIVA National Bowls Finals.
Silver Trail Blazer Jacynth Bassett celebrates 9 years of Ageism is Never in Style
Our member Boom Radio celebrates record audiences showing it truly understands the silver market and their musical preferences.
September
Networking Drinks event for members at the Historic Union Jack Club in London. Members enjoyed presentations from Tom Oldershaw at Eight Group and Mark Davies from Whistl Doordrop Media. Reinforces the power of face-to-face networking in a digital world.
SMA Member The Specialist Works become B Corp certified.
October
We celebrate a year of TV presenter and media personality Anthea Turner as our patron
Our member Good life Sorted launches their latest TV campaign – an example of good practice in clear and authentic messaging.
Debbie Marshall attends the Silver Eco Festival in Cannes as part of the International Jury.
We celebrate the positive use of AI in later living communities with Vicky Carne’s Peggy – a voice-enabled AI concierge.
We commend the use of genuine customers and staff aged 50+ throughout HF Holidays’ 2026 Holiday Brochure. Authenticity is key to representing and appealing to the older consumer.
Members of our team and our patron Anthea Turner attend The Cruise Trade News Summit in London. SMA curate a panel “Decoding the hesitant traveller” and Anthea joins a fireside chat with Lee Hayhurst from Real Response Media on the subject of the evolving world of cruising and how she uses Instagram to speak to like-minded potential cruisers.
November
Crazy Auntie Ann wins the Ageing Differently Influencer award at the Advantages of Age Awards sponsored by Silver Marketing Association.
Our member Silver Travel Advisor holds the Silver Travel Show in Sheffield, hot on the heels of opening their first High Street store. Highlighting the importance of face-to-face marketing.
Our second Silver Marketing Workshop led by George Lee is sell-out success. “Breaking Free from Age-Based Stereotypes to Connect Through Values.” One attendee said: “The mix of practical tasks, group discussion and strategic debate made the day fly by, and I left with pages of notes, actionable ideas and a renewed clarity on how to create value-led campaigns that genuinely connect.”
Silver Marketing Association Webinar “Understanding The Older Traveller – Research & Insights from Industry Experts,” dives deep into three ground-breaking pieces of original research: Jasman Ahmad from Accord Marketing “Don’t call me Old!”
Carolyn Ray CEO at JourneyWoman “Invisible No More: The Ageless Traveller”
Melissa Gong Mitchell, Executive Director, Global Coalition on Ageing “Leveraging Travel as a Catalyst for Healthy Longevity”
Debbie and Steve attend the Silver Economy Forum in Manchester “Reimagining Life, Work & Community”
Humbug releases latest blog The Cresta Run on the dangers of lumping together all 60+ in one box.
Debbie features in an article in 55/Redefined outlining her remarkable career and how it led to her co-founding and leading the Silver Marketing Association.
December
Our Carole walks her 2,000th km in a year with the trundl app, raising money for charity along the way.
Debbie is highly commended in the TravYule Inclusivity Angel Award for her work with the silver market
Our member Tony Watts analyses the top 10 festive ads of 2025 and finds some of them sadly lacking in representation of the silver generation.
We still have much work to do as we move into 2026 wishing all our members & followers a happy & healthy New Year.
