Yes…older people enjoy humor as much as any other age group. However, Wolfe and Snyder in their book, Ageless Marketing, point out that older consumers don’t always like the same humor that their children and grandchildren might like.

• Young people favor humor based on nonsense, bodily functions, and aggressions. Middle-age folks prefer political, sexual, family, and aggressive humor. Older people like humor that is based on family or politics. They appreciate sexual humor too but it should be subtle and ironic rather than raw and direct.

• Older people prefer kinder and more gentle humor where no one is made fun of, put down, or ridiculed. They also prefer their humor to be related in stories.

So, be careful with humor…make sure it is age appropriate or it may well repel your mature audience rather than attract them.

I was inspired by a great little article in AdAge recently that used the iPhone as a way to tell the auto industry how to recover itself and produce consumer icons again. Here is my take on the lessons the iPhone can teach marketers in the mature consumer space.

1. The iPhone is a breakthrough product, not just another version of other mobile phones. It is revolutionary in design, features and function.

How often do we create breakout products that will blow our mature consumer away? Or do we just take our usual product and try advertising it a bit differently and hope that boomers or seniors will buy in? The Jitterbug, in its own way, is a breakthrough product in the same space as the iPhone. ReServe is a breakthrough nonprofit service that puts a new spin on employment and public service for older workers. “Green Houses” will revolutionize nursing home care.

2. The iPhone looks like no other mobile phone. It shatters the design model for a mobile phone and recreates it. It is fun, practical and beautiful.

Sellers to the mature market often overlook the need to make products that not only are functional for older people but that also provide a new and pleasing design model. Gold Violin is a retailer that searches constantly for beautiful as well as functional products for the older market. Not only are the products pleasing to use and look at, but the company’s website presentation is attractive and at the forward edge of design while maintaining an easy-to-use functionality. The Audeo hearing aid is on the cutting edge of hearing technology but also breaks new ground in design with its sleek, stylish and discreet design.

3. Regardless of the service problems the new version of the iPhone has experienced recently during its roll out, most customers seem to really enjoy the wonderful Apple stores where customers enjoy the attention of superbly trained sales associates that are ambassadors for the brand.

In a world of bad service, older consumers are likely to run, walk, and crawl to any company that provides a great customer experience.

That is what you get when you walk into a Chico’s women’s clothing store. The sales associates are more than helpful. They take you in hand and help you understand the super simple sizing of 1, 2, 3; put outfits together; and then accessorize them. Dazzled from fitting into a size 2 or 3, the middle-aged or older shopper easily moves along a welcoming and well lubricated track from new customer to “member” customer, and from no clothes to a total ensemble, fitting the store’s mantra, the “Chico look.” And all at a reasonable cost.

Are you offering breakthrough products and services to your older customers? Design that is both life enhancing and functional? A world-class customer experience? If not, study your iPhone and start thinking outside the paradigms of your industry.

Photo of iPhone by William Hook

Researchers found that some two-thirds of consumers between the ages of 50 and 60 had researched their online purchases at stores. More than half of consumers ages 70 and over had done that.

Why? Earlier research by the same organization had shown that older consumers are less enamored with buying products online than younger users. In that study 82% of people 65+ said they don’t like giving their credit card number or personal information online; and 84% said they prefer to see the things they buy before buying them.

Perhaps, older consumers check out the item in the store, think about it, and then order online rather than return to the store.

In any case, e-tailers can hardly ignore the older consumer, and even bricks and mortar retailers must offer multi-channel options for consumers. eMarketer estimates that the percentage of Internet users ages 62 and older will increase at a rate more than twice that of the entire US Internet population between 2006 and 2011 (7.6% growth vs 3.1% growth).

Jeffrey Grau, senior analyst at eMarketer, said, “Online seniors are a lucrative consumer segment that Web retailers cannot afford to ignore….They have higher incomes and are more likely to be employed than seniors overall.”

Have you started seeing more laughlines in models’ faces in your women’s catalogs? You are not delusional. The demand for older models is booming, according to an article in the Los Angeles Times recently.

The trend is due to baby boomers wanting to see themselves reflected in the ads that market to them and the boomers’ awesome buying power. Boomers make up 26% of the population and, reputedly, have $2-trillion in spending power.

This accounts for the second life of actresses from Diane Keaton to Sally Field, but modeling agencies are also finding that demand for “classic” or “sophisticated” (read older) models is their fastest growing segment. J.Crew and Rolex are sporting older models in their ads, and there is a TV reality show, called “She’s Got the Look,” that is searching for the next supermodel over the age of 35.

If you still need to be persuaded to use older models in your advertising to older women, look no further than this study, done in 2006.

A researcher at Kansas State University showed two sets of photos of models wearing the same clothes to a group of women age 60-80. One set of photos was of middle-aged and older models, and the other set was of the same models, but computer enhanced to look younger.

The researcher found that “perceived similarity to the model” influenced the respondents’ reactions toward the models. In fact, the more similar the participants felt toward the model, the more likely they were to rate her as appealing and attractive and the model’s clothing as being fashionable and up-to-date. The study participants also said that the older models had more of an influence on their purchase intentions.

Your business may not need an older “supermodel,” but showing images of people close to the age of your customers and clients is becoming a winning formula.

Three-quarters of those surveyed believe they are doing their part to help the environment. But while some frankly didn’t know what to do, of the “matures” (age 63 and up), only 19% fell into this category.

However, the matures were the least familiar with the term, “environmental sustainability,” with only three in 10 having heard it used before. Furthermore, of those matures who said they aren’t making lifestyles changes, 49% said that they did not believe those changes would make any difference. This number compared with 29% of the “refrainers” in all the other age groups. So while, older adults “know” what to do, and most do it, the ones who don’t seem to be more jaded than their younger counterparts.

Take aways: Watch your language when talking about environmental issues with older adults. Be sure to use terms they will be familiar with. Also, spending money to convert the most balky of these consumers is probably a waste. They don’t believe that lifestyle changes will make any difference anyway.

Source: BrandWeek.com