Global Diversity

I received an email the other day – actually a group email from a marketing company in another part of the world:

Hi…

We have recently refreshed our website and loaded some detailed analytics reporting, especially around our downloads and referral sources.

We have added links to your sites as part of our ‘global family’. I would be grateful if you could do the same on your website.

I also refreshed my website recently and forgot to include links to global alliances. That was fixed fast. Glad someone reminded me.

Our alliances are loose, unofficial – but we all share common goals.  If you’re involved in advertising and marketing to baby boomers and older, check out the links below.  It’s fascinating to find out what professionals around the world are up to:

Evergreen Advertising
A communications agency specialising in advertising and marketing to Seniors and Boomers. (Australia)

Silver Group
Our purpose is to help business and government benefit from the unprecedented global growth of the 50+ population. (Asia)

20plus30
20plus30 is a consultancy that advises companies about all aspects of marketing to the 50-plus. (UK)

Owl Marketing
We offer experience and enthusiasm. Collectively, we have the wisdom of many years in the corporate and agency world. (UK)

Bureauvijftig
Fifty Agency knows the language of 50+. We know the media behavior of 50+. Both online and offline. (The Netherlands)

A Nod To The Netherlands

A few months ago I changed planes at Schiphol. Tramping around the terminals made me giddy. I wanted to stay. That’s because the last time I was there yours truly and a bunch of us had one of the times of our lives:

World’s Largest Event For Active ‘50 plussers’
… And with only an hour and a half to goof off we only saw about one-quarter of the exhibits, maybe.  The four of us were racing around.  That’s how big it was. Nobody could see it all in one day.

The event keeps getting bigger and bigger.  A report from 50 Plus Beurs 2008: 

Last week I visited the 50 plus fair in Utrecht (The Netherlands) to have a look at the world biggest event aimed directly at 50-plus consumers. My first emotion was again astonishment over the numbers of the exhibits and people present.

What this event really is: Hundreds of mini-trade shows open to the public. When I was there about twenty bicycle manufactures had large booths and floor space. Ditto for cars, RVs, motorcycles, cosmetics, clothes, sporting equipment, vacation spots, gardening, cooking, housewares, houses – the list goes on and on.

The information sheet for 50 Plus Beurs 2010 (PDF)

There’s still time to reserve exhibit space or make plans to attend.

Back From Istanbul: Part Three

A few of the European ads and graphics used in the presentation:

United Kingdom 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

France

 

 

Germany

 

Belgium 

Click graphic:

The Netherlands

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Spain

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Norway

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Back From Istanbul: Part One

Back From Istanbul: Part Two

Back From Istanbul: Part Four

Back From Istanbul: Part Two

I took the attendees on a wild ride around the globe, stopping in the U.K., France, Belgium, Germany, The Netherlands, Norway, Spain, Canada, The U.S., Australia, and Japan. We critiqued all sorts of TV spots, web sites, and print ads.

Then we settled in Turkey.

Most attendees were from the country’s thriving, boisterous financial sector. A major concern: Baby Boomers and older in Turkey have not warmed up to online banking and financial services. They make an attempt - but soon become frustrated, returning to their old ways (needless trips to the bank, using mostly checkbooks and snail mail, etc.). They are simply not online.

I couldn’t dig too deeply into hierarchy and usability issues – although I did talk (almost endlessly) about graphic design and how important it is for older eyes. Instead, I offered a bit of motivational marketing.

In the early 1980s, Turkey’s government loosened its (almost total) grip on the economy and freed up manufacturing and banking resources. The economy slowly gained momentum. Today Turkey is an international economic powerhouse.

A gentleman brought up all this during a break. I knew about it, but thought it might be too hot a political potato and decided beforehand not to talk about it. He convinced me to toss it around the room.

My idea: Folks now in their fifties, sixties, and early seventies were the thought-leaders and workers who accomplished this unprecedented economic growth. It’s something they are and should be proud of.

In your advertising/marketing campaigns, make the connection between these economic achievements and the recent growth of the internet. They will feel as if they are not only a part of the technological revolution, but helped make it happen. Their accomplishments are the reasons Turkey is a major player on the world stage.

Of course, you wouldn’t simply say all this. Marketing and advertising creatives would come up with vivid scenarios to tell the story.

Back From Istanbul: Part One

Back From Istanbul: Part Three

Back From Istanbul: Part Four

Off to Istanbul …

For this:

International Advertising/Marketing Techniques Targeting Baby Boomers

 

Special Thanks to Gill Walker of Evergreen Marketing for emailing me great stuff from Australia, Dr. Florian Kohlbacher for sharing a yet-to-be-released white paper on advertising in Japan, and Maxime de Jenlis of Bayard Presse for shipping copies of Notre Temps and PLUS Magazines from France, The Netherlands, Germany, Belgium, and Spain so I could scan ads from all over Europe.

If you can’t make it to Istanbul, you’d better be here instead:

What’s Next? Boomers Business Summit

Plenty of blogging when I return.

agency fifty/bureauvijftig

Dear Chuck,

As promised an email about our new agency ‘bureauvijftig’ (literally translated agency fifty, we glued the words together). Our new website (which still needs some images) is www.bureauvijftig.nl.

bureauvijftig is a creation of Arjan in’t Veld (25), Dick Vos (66), and me, Martijn de Haas (37).

 
Dick is the ex-owner of a large and successful advertising agency in the Netherlands.

Arjan is director and a target group specialist from his former company Inthefield.

I am the marketing strategy and target group specialist from Active Development.

We have several people connected to the agency including art directors, copy writers, online specialists, ages 20 to 66. Some are direct colleagues and some are ambassadors doing freelance jobs. We stress the importance of this broad range of ages as we completely agree with your philosophy on communication for age groups is best made by people belonging to these age groups.*  Combine this with sharing insights and experience in a broad range of marketing, communication and advertising aspects and you will be able to connect effectively to a specified audience.

Our main goal is making connections and combining the best of 2 worlds:

• the young and the so called mature consumers
• young and old specialists
• the online and offline worlds
• research & creation
• science & marketing

We have managed to hook up with the leading university professors in the field of researching the aging population in the Netherlands and worldwide. 

Our products are:

• a huge research database; all the target group research that we have acquired over the years and are still acquiring
• a consumer panel; at least 1700 older consumers and a population of 95,000 older consumers from which we can recruit more respondents for qualitative or quantitative research.
• a thermometer test; a tool of testing a campaign or assumption in a population. This test can be followed online by the clients.
• a 2-second test; people decide within 2 seconds if they like your communication. With this test we can see the effectiveness of the first impression. This can also be followed online.

In general we are continuing our old ways but bigger and better with a healthy mix of ages. We already attracted our first big client and we feel that this economic spell will force companies to look at the mature market.  Our pay-off is result driven communication in which we promise results and even take 20% of the client’s risk.

As you had already discovered, we have changed Arjan’s Mokkamarketing.nl to www.target50.nl. It is an inspirational blog like yours where all our co-workers and ambassadors can report and give opinions on articles and videos about the mature market and the aging population.

We are aiming at becoming a strong player in the traditional industry by bringing new ways. We hope to fly you in some day to give one of your presentations that inspires them all.

Last week we also met George P. Moschis who is an interesting researcher and professor you probably know.

I hope this explanation is clear and am looking forward to you and your comments and questions.

Kind Regards (also from Arjan),

Martijn
_______________________

George Moschis and I are with the same house, Paramount Market Publishing:

Baby Boomers and Their Parents
Surprising Findings About Their Lifestyles, Mindsets, and Well-Being
by George P. Moschis, PhD and Anil Mathur, PhD

My Book: Advertising To Baby Boomers

*An excerpt from Advertising to Baby Boomers:

More about diversity in the advertising industry:

Old Masters and Young Geniuses

What Kind of Genius Are You?

Baby boomers are smarter than you think

Trust Your Gut

Irony

People generally get better.

Calcified Advertising Agencies

Rance Crain Makes Perfect Sense Yet Again

Diversity = Productivity

Managing Age Diversity in the Advertising Industry

My best wishes for success to you, Dick, and Arjan!

New Blogs, Businesses, Resources

50+ marketing is exploding worldwide.

That’s a cliché-ridden statement I’ve been wanting to use for years.  Finally I can. 

Kim Walker of Silver Group Asia is blogging:

Observations, insights and innovations that connect with the 50+ market.
We INFORM with unique research, data and insights … We ADVISE on strategy and increase understanding through training and speeches …We help CONNECT to the market through relevant and targeted programs and media

Read an interview with Kim Walker on Brent Green’s blog – then download Kim’s keynote "The Rise of the Silver Surfers" presented to the iMedia Brand Summit in Kota Kinabalu, E Malaysia.

Ad Nauseam’s Christopher Simpson (Canada) takes a professorial slant with his new blog.  That’s because he is a professor.  And a seasoned all around creative:

On Editing and Writing
Dedicated to clarity, one sentence at a time
Perhaps it’s irrational, but I am tired of people telling me to attain a state of consciousness the means to which only they can provide.

(Great resource, Kit – and that appraisal  is coming from a Bloviating Pleonast.)

Martin Diano of The Baby Boomer [Knowledge Center] is collecting experts for his Boomer Authority project:

Boomer Authority
A Question and Answer Resource for the Baby Boomer Generation - Gain access to a community of professionals and organizations for free timely advice!

My friends in The Netherlands, Martijn de Haas and Arjan in't Veld, are involved in a new agency – and a new web site/blog.  Martijn told me that there might be English language versions soon. Until then, enjoy the pictures.

And Vince Vassolo, gerontologist/ad man and self-proclaimed Head Boomer, is blogging:

Baby Boomer Marketing Blog
Boomers are bright, opinionated and socially connected, so they’ll decide what your brand means rather than having you or some trendsetter define it for them.

Henry Stewart Talks: Latest Thinking in Marketing to the Older Consumer

A few months ago Dick Stroud asked me to fashion a PowerPoint w/ narration for a Henry Stewart Talks offering:

Henry Stewart Talks publishes animated audio visual presentations by world leading experts - advanced content in a user friendly format. We cover biomedicine, life sciences, advertising, management, marketing, finance and transnational crime.

It’s now available:

Latest Thinking in Marketing to the Older Consumer
For all those wishing to gain an understanding of the 50-plus market and to engage with this large and diverse group as consumers, including brand owners, marketers and brand managers, media planners and buyers, advertising agencies, media companies and academics and students of marketing.

My presentation is part of this section:

How the older market is evolving internationally
TOPICS COVERED
The status of UK 50 plus marketing |
The Australian perspective | Advertising and marketing to baby boomers in the USA |
Marketing and advertising to the older consumer in the Netherlands

Watch the first 6 minutes of Dick Stroud’s presentation. 

After zipping through the extract you can apply for a free trial – but I’m not sure how that works.  Give it a try.

Further in, Gill Walker features some terrific examples of 50+ advertising and marketing in Australia – and Arjan in’t Veld is fascinating as he unravels what’s happening in The Netherlands.

What extraordinary virtual company I keep.

50 Plus Beurs 2008 Utrecht

My friend Martijn de Haas of the marketing firm Active Development attended this year’s 50 Plus Beurs. He’s been anointed Guest Blogger Extraordinaire:

Last week I visited the 50 plus fair in Utrecht (The Netherlands) to have a look at the world biggest event aimed directly at 50-plus consumers. My first emotion was again astonishment over the numbers of the exhibits and people present. As Chuck mentioned in a previous post there were about 600 companies present. We are still waiting for a press release on the number of visitors.

I had a chance to attend twice this year, and noticed that the average age seemed to have dropped a little. We definitely spotted more Baby Boomers and we think it’s because they used alternative media targeting a somewhat different audience.

Followers of Chuck’s blog know that when you add a 50+ label to a service or product, you will attract an average crowd that is at least 10-15 years older. Especially Dutch women in their fifties don’t want to be confronted with age like that. Still, with the turnout it’s a great market to tap into. This sometimes creates a problem in our industry as companies that want to approach 50 plussers take part in this fair and their young marketers end up seeing their misconceptions about the 50-plus confirmed.

Most of the companies do really well and one can imagine the sales that will occur in follow-up sales. As many gave out freebies or let visitors take part in competitions, people went home with bags full of goodies and the hope of winning prizes later on.
In return they gave the companies their addresses.

A partial list of industries represented:

Housing
Whirlpools
Many, Many Travel Agencies
Cars
Furniture
Food Supplements
Wellness
Charities
Political Parties
Care Products
Publishers
Newspapers
Stamps
Bikes
Kitchen Equipment
Nordic Walking
Golf
Nintendo Wii
Staying Fit
Fashion Shows
Music
Entertainment

There were not as many financial and insurance companies present compared to recent years. We don’t know if it had to do with the current crisis or with the fact that exhibiting in the past didn’t bring them enough business. From our consulting activities we know for a fact that insurance companies are actively developing products and services for older consumers.

All in all we think they didn’t break the 100,000 visitors this year and it could be a consequence of the shift in advertising. The average age of the consumer seems to have dropped a little which may indicate that the event is evolving into an event targeted at Baby Boomers. Enough reasons for anybody in the business to visit it again next year!

Martijn de Haas

Added 10/09/08: More Pictures

 

 

 

 

 

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