Rik Moore is Head of Insight, Strategy & Planning at The Kite Factory. Prior to this, he was joint Head of Strategy at Havas Media, and Head of Channel Strategy at WCRS/Engine.
A key lesson a CSO I used to work with (Mark Sinnock at Havas) taught me earlier in my career – “if you want to make someone feel young, play them the record that was number one when they were 16”. That always stuck with me, as it gives a fascinating angle into how you think about people. We talk about Baby Boomers now, but their formative pop culture experience takes in everything from the Beatles and the Birth of Bond, through to the Stones, Hendrix, Bowie, Abba, Disco and punk.
Yet we can often be guilty of treating them the same as we did their grandparents’ generation – all flat caps, dentures and bus passes. Grouped together in data as “65+”, a homogenous mass of afterthought. An audience to be overlooked.
2023 will destroy that perspective, accelerating the need for us to think bold and old.
The older generation will provide ever-more fascinating opportunities for marketers, fuelled by the k-shaped economy we saw coming out of the coronavirus pandemic plunged headlong onto the cost-of living-crisis. Whilst everyone will feel the pinch to varying degrees, we face the basic story of the haves and the have nots.
The ‘haves’, those able to make good savings during the lockdown and without an inflation-busted mortgage to worry about, will want to make up for lost time, indulging passions and interests denied them by COVID. If your brand can connect with individuals who fall into this category, and be relevant in their lives, you can unlock new opportunities. Already, we are seeing bold and interesting work in this space, like BHF and Saatchi & Saatchi’s ‘The Noisy Generation’.
The ‘have nots’ by contrast will have it desperately tough. Where relevant, we must ask how our brands can turn up to help ease the situation people find themselves in. Asda’s £1 café meal deals for the over 60s show what can be done in this space, making a tangible difference, and showcasing values that can be appreciated by any generation.
As people find themselves having to “unretire” and go back to work to help make ends meet, new opportunities will open up – positives out of the negatives. In our comm sit means new audience segments with new needs. For our industry, it means the potential to tap into hitherto lost talent, who can re-enter ad land and bring new perspectives and thinking.
2023 is the age.
Read the full article in Campaign https://www.campaignlive.co.uk/article/i-guess-its-time-importance-age-2023/1807014
