Age Concern is creating a new membership based venture, backed by a £12 million launch budget, according to an article in Marketing Week (13 Nov). The new organisation will be based on the AARP template and will extend AG’s coverage to include the 50s as well as the 60+. Wow!
I am afraid that I cannot give you a link to the article since it is a subscription only service.
This quote from Neil Churchill, AG’s Marketing Director, caught my eye. He says ‘...the project will be defined by its charitable values offering products to the over-50s where there is a market failure, for instance home insurance products that recognise the financial status and particular needs of the 50-plus age group…’. The article was supplemented by lots of comments from luminaries of the marketing profession about the needs wants and motivations of the 50+.
This letter is the result of reading the article. I think it says it all…………
I wish Age Concern luck with its new venture to target the over 50s with a new commercial and campaigning organisation similar to the US’s highly successful AARP. Having read John Stone’s article I think they are going need all the luck they can muster if the enterprise is to succeed.
AARP does have a role as a national and local advocate for the over 50s but mention of this is absent in its sales pitch for new members. This is all about discounted products, special offers for car rentals and cruises, access to information and free magazines. Good, old-fashioned, hard commercial benefits. Age Concern talks about the venture being defined by its ‘charitable status’ and offering products to the over 50s where there has been a ‘market failure’. These are admiral sentiments but they will erect significant constraints in the sourcing and marketing of products.
If Age Concern intends to target the stereotype of the over 50 described in the article then it is in for a big disappointment. From the comments you would think the 50+ generation divides its time between spending its affluence on life enhancing experiences, buying organic foods, demonstrating against GM crops and pondering other ways to ‘ease its conscience’. The reality is that you have a huge group of people battling with the financial commitments of children’s education and support, elderly and sick parents and radically reduced pension expectations. We have a generation where nearly half face retirement with no more financial support than the State Pension
There is a role for a UK’s version of AARP but to succeed it must copy the US organisation’s hard-headed commercial principles and its appreciation of the real, rather than perceived needs of its customers.
