Stop treating “older” as a personality

For too long, products and marketing aimed at older people have been heavily focused on functionality, presented more as medical devices than lifestyle enhancers.

 

The global Silver Economy, covering the likes of mobility aids, preventive healthcare, and age-friendly financial products, is already worth US$4.5 trillion and is expanding at some 6.7% annually. By 2050, one in six people in the world will be over age 65, up from one in 11 in 2019.

 

Yet too many companies are failing to fully harness the market potential by relying on bland advertising, dowdy designs and patronising or ill-conceived messaging. Any company trying to reach the 65-plus generation should think carefully about how they avoid making inappropriate assumptions about their desired audience.

 

 

Respect older people’s marketing experience

They have been buying products and services for half a century or more. They’ve sat through dozens of sales pitches, fallen for the odd gimmick and learnt from it. They’ve met “limited time offers”, upsells, and overly ambitious product claims many times before.

 

Use meaningful phrases in your marketing copy to them, not waffle. Set out the benefits of your service or product persuasively, but without unlikely promises. Don’t try to hold their hand or be patronising or simplistic. Spelling things out too much is a quick way to annoy and lose them.

 

Don’t forget the older generations are experienced, well-rounded people who’ve witnessed and absorbed huge changes in marketing, from 1960s white-goods adverts aimed only at women, to “futuristic tech” Eighties ads, cinematic Guinness surfers, faster-growing diversity, social media marketing and now AI. They have seen it all.

 

 

Bin the beige

Companies have a mistaken habit of reaching for soft, safe and muted branding in products for over-65s.

 

But these people were the flower power, glam rock and punk generations. They helped invent vibrancy in mainstream media, dragging it out of the drab post-war era. For them, personality lands better than caution. Colour is better than magnolia.

 

 

Strip out the language of disability and need 

People want good-looking, well-designed products they’ll be happy to be seen using, not something that looks like it should be powered by steam.

 

Take Apple’s hearing aid feature, which is available with AirPods Pro 2 and 3, products worn by millions of younger people that carry social cachet, not stigma.

 

Tommy Hilfiger’s adaptive clothing range has features including magnetic closures replacing fiddly buttons, one-handed zips, and leg openings for prosthetics. But they are every bit as stylish as Hilfiger’s other garments.

 

One 2023 survey of over-70s found that 72% feel years younger than their actual age – and as much as 20 years in 14% of those polled. They don’t consider themselves old until 78, and they don’t want products which overtly make them look or feel this way.

 

That is why new generation products such as homelifts make sure they are desirable rather than pseudo-medical devices or exclusively for those who are frail.

 

 

Value their time

Retired consumers may have more downtime than most people, but they are extremely keen not to waste it.

 

Don’t mess them around when presenting or selling to them in their homes or on the phone, talking at them for ages in the hope you’ll wear them down. They have better things to do than listen to a salesperson. It’s disrespectful to make it look like you think they don’t.

 

Customer service or maintenance teams shouldn’t keep them on hold for ages, pass them between departments or give vague, long time slots for appointments.

 

Over-65s reward honest, efficient service with genuine loyalty, something it’s much harder to earn from younger customers. If you test their patience, however, they’ll quietly take their business elsewhere and might even end up posting about their experience on sites such as Trustpilot.

 

 

Don’t underestimate the tech-savvy

The stereotype that older people and technology don’t mix is nonsense. Many people aged over 70 were working with computers eight hours a day in the 1990s. Lots of sixty-somethings had home computers as teenagers in the 1980s, and the Internet has been part of their daily life for thirty-plus years.

 

EVs, video doorbells, Alexa, and smartphones are not mysterious new tech which they leave to youngsters. They are domestic staples across generations.

 

Whether you are producing riser recliners or blood-pressure monitors, design for capability, not confusion.

 

 

Aim for ageing in place

More than 40% of people think their home is crucial to their mental health. They don’t want to move to later-living accommodation. Home and product designs which help people live independently, but also look good and work well for younger markets, are a growing but under-served market.

 

This can include low-level kitchen cupboards, downstairs bathrooms which can be converted into wet rooms, and homelifts. They will be increasingly vital as the population ages, but there is no reason why they can’t be visually appealing, useful and provide future proofing for thirty- and forty-something homeowners, now.

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Mike Lord is Chairman and CEO of Stiltz, the UK’s leading homelift provider

 

Main image courtesy of iStockPhoto.com and gilaxia