Life Expectancy is Still 50 Years According to Madison Avenue

Reader Chuck Nyren was  inspired by my post "One Reader's Reasoning Why Older Markets Are Still Being Ignored” to send us the URL to a poignant and gently humorous plaint of a 62-year-old about being worse than ignored by marketers: he feels rejected.

Or reflect on the fact that while the 50-plus group makes up 39% of the U.S. adult Population, it accounts for half of auto sales. that share is projected to increase to 53% by 2010.

Everybody looks at the youth market, but it's 50-plus that's going to drive the auto industry and incremental sales" for the next 10 to 15 years. 

CNW Marketing Research projects that the share of cars bought by 70-plus drivers will jump from 5.7% in 2000 to 8.6% in 2010. The market for 20-somethings will go in reverse, from 8.1% to 6.2%.

CNW says that the aging of the car market will accelerate as more boomers pass the 50 mark.From 2005 to 2010, says CNW, the share for every 10-year age group below 50 will fall -- and the share for people in their 50s, 60s and 70s will grow.

So, if you were in the car biz, where would you put most of your marketing dollars?

Or in almost any other business with customers in every decenial age group?

 

Comments

[Chuck Nyren]

David:

I had a piece about my book in a local paper, written by a regular columnist who covers local happenings. Below is a 'letter to the editor' about the column.

This person (like the gentleman in San Diego) isn't a marketing/advertising person - so their reponses and opinions in many ways carry more weight than the clarion calls of all us pundits...
---

Regarding Julie Muhlstein's Friday column ("Ads today often skip over baby boomers"), I couldn't agree more. Advertisers and manufacturers seem to be blind to seniors as well as baby boomers - regardless of the data showing lots of money and purchasing power in both baby boomer and senior groups.

I get furious at the "black-on-black" fad today, which I cannot see. All my clothes come from catalogs. I will be so happy when the idolization of youth passes, as it must, like any fad. I will be ecstatic when advertisers and manufacturers both come to their senses, and tailor their outputs to older people as well as young people. It makes no sense to me to target one age group and ignore all the rest.

Eventually the bottom line will catch up with them and they will change. Why not now, before it's too late for me?

Alisan Kacoroski

Granite Falls (Washington)

[Atare Agbamu]

David --

Thank you very much for the links to Adrian Savage and Michael Grant. I came of age in Nigeria where a healthy regard for age and elders was bred into my African psyche. One of the early lessons drummed into my head as a child is "when we honor our elders, we honor ourselves." This little African adage should be taught to the folks on Madison Avenue. We can create a marketing culture where youth is idolized and age and aging are honored and desired. It doesn't have to be one at the expense of the other. Today's youth is tomorrow's elder. The joke is really on Madison Avenue. You don't have to be a rocket scientist to know that Ageless marketers will have the last laugh and eat their lunch. Keep up the ageless marketing crusade you are leading. Generations yet unborn will be grateful for your work.

Atare Agbamu
P.S.: AARP should be making sure that advertisers who denigrate age and aging(and media which carry those thoughtless marketing messages)pay a hefty price.