Adults over 80 are rarely treated as a distinct market, yet they increasingly shape demand across households and categories. Over 14 million Americans now fall into this group yet and brands continue to underplan for them as if they were peripheral to growth rather than central to it. This is a market inefficiency, writes Ray Lansigan in Forbes Magazine. Much marketing in the US still assumes that opportunity to attract older consumers “peaks at 50-plus”, says the executive vice president for strategy and transformation at Publicis Groupe, Digital Experience. That may be convenient shorthand but it no longer reflects where economic authority actually sits. “In an aging economy, the more important question is not whether older consumers matter, but whether brands understand which older consumers hold the most influence and how that influence is expressed.” A significant slice of spending by over 80s is on purchase decisions made originally by someone else, for example, such as a grown up son or daughter, or other family member. They are rarely reflected with nuance in advertising – and when they are they are often reduced to clichés of retirement, decline or comic irrelevance. That treatment is not just lazy; it’s expensive.”, he argues. “Brands that fail to engage this audience also lose access to the family networks, care relationships and downstream purchase decisions that this group influences every day.” he argues. Mr Lansian promises further articles on this subject. Could be worth keeping an eye on.
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