We had a great time at Voxburner last week listening to some amazing talks about attracting the 16-24 year old audience. It’s no wonder so many marketers are invested in the Milennial audience when the likes of Sophie Radcliffe @challengesophie represent them so delightfully.
HOWEVER, while that audience is hugely appealing and embodies all that’s new and fresh in the world of media and marketing, relatively speaking, it doesn’t actually have a whole lot of disposable income.
In sheer numbers, the older market is growing while the 16-24 years are shrinking. The older market will grow by 81% to 2030 (PFRC for ILC-UK). The over 50s spent some £320bn in 2015. That represented 47% of the total family spending in the UK (Centre for Economic and Business Research). If women continue to make 83% of household purchase decisions, then it seems wise to focus attentions of the marketing department on meeting their needs.
The wealth sweetspot is the 55- 64 years old market.
This is the age cohort we had identified in our qualitative research as most enthusiastic to be included in the marketing they see around them but most likely to feel excluded.
In 2016 The Economist ran an article about targeting this audience, highlighting the inherent dangers in positioning brands and products as designed for the older consumer. Our belief is that these ‘case histories’ do nothing more than highlight the need for a better model.
We will be spending our time developing that new model or indeed models of marketing. Keep checking in to hear progress...
