Second50Years Marketing Blog

By Joanne Fritz, Ph.D.

After the age of 40, most people pause and start to reevaluate their values and their lives; come to grips with their own mortality; reassess the congruence between their dreams and their reality; and start to look for something beyond mere acquistion of material things and beyond career success.

The mature consumer is after much more than just a product and will use different values to determine its worth. To a great extent, older people open their hearts in a way that they did not do at earlier ages.

Because of the developmental changes during the middle years and beyond, marketers face the challenge of reaching their customers’ souls as well as their pocketbooks.

Here are some suggestions about how to do this:

1. Use images that appeal to the heart rather than the head. Although older consumers want the “facts” and will research products before purchasing, their actual buy might turn on the vision they associate with your product or business. For instance, children and animals soften the hearts of most people whatever their age. Think of Michelin Tires and their ads featuring children who are safer because of the tires. That ad is powerful for both younger and older audiences.Symbols of security such as the “good hands of Allstate” and the “Rock” of Prudential, are reassuring. Picturing intergenerational stories such as grandparents and their grandchildren sharing an activity appeal to an older consumer’s concern about the younger generation and about their own legacy. Images of giving back or contributing to society appeal to the altruism that people develop after a certain age.
2. Use stories to relate the benefits of your product or service. There is evidence that most people remember narratives better than expository messages and this is particularly true for older consumers. A current advertising campaign by Fidelity for their new retirement planning service shows a Baby Boomer going through various “stages” of her life and ending with a well deserved but creative retirement. That “narrative” also taps into the need for life review that most older people experience .
3. Emphasize the “experience” your product or service provides rather than just its physical features. As people age, they look for satisfying experiences and “peak” experiences rather than material possessions. This is why educational experiences and travel have such appeal to people in the second half of their lives. Thank about what experiences your product or service might make possible.
4.  Sex is generally associated with a younger audience where advertisers try to sell everything from cars to toothpaste through sex appeal. But, older consumers are far from sex-less and crave intimacy as much as anyone. If you haven’t seen “The Notebook,” a movie about love and old age, you really should. It is a reminder that your older customers have had a rich past sexual life and that love continues to bloom whatever a person’s age. Don’t shy away from images that tap into both the sexual memories and the present experience of older people.
5. Show positive images of aging. People who age successfully are generally optimistic and confident that they will be able to handle whatever challenges life brings.Portray aging as progress rather than decline…progress toward satisfaction, wisdom, freedom, and independence. Statistics about how many people will need long term care during their lifetimes may be less effective in selling LTC insurance policies than portraying the insurance as contributing to a continuing ability to take care of oneself and be in control of one’s destiny.

The mature consumer is in the throes of what psychologists call “self-actualization.” Far from making them more selfish, however, such inner work brings out the best in people. Make sure that your product or service helps your older customers with their task of becoming all they can be. And then advertise and promote it with “heart” as well as with intelligence.

For more information on these concepts we recommend the following:

Ageless Marketing : Strategies for Reaching the Hearts and Minds of the New Customer Majority