A fellow New Millennium Tales Pilgrim is now penning for the online magazine high50 via Campaign. (And he’s done and does plenty of other things.)
Advertising: scoring a half century
As John Tylee writes in Campaign this week, there are more '50-just' consumers than ever, but most ad people are too young to understand them…
… While the average age of the UK population is rising, the reverse is true of the marketing communications business. Forty-five per cent of agency staff are under 30, while fewer than six per cent are over 50. It’s a similar depressing picture among advertisers. An estimated four out of ten marketing directors are under 35 and only one in ten is over 50.
Yet the fact is, marketing communications need more wise old heads than ever before.
Sounds about right to me. On this side of the pond I’ve been screaming about it all since 2003:
HR/Brain Roll
Truth is, you can analyze marketing fodder all day and night, read countless books about marketing to Baby Boomers, attend advertising and marketing conventions around the world, and soak up everything all the experts have to say. Much of what is out there is valuable and useful, some practically required reading, others instructive and illuminating. But if you plan on implementing a creative strategy, and turn it over to a different generation of advertising professionals—you'll forfeit the natural sensibilities required to generate vital campaigns.
Collected posts on the subject:
The Human Resources/Brain Power Posts
Articles by John Tylee:
John Tylee in Campaign
