What have AARP, Age Concern, SAGA and Help the Aged got in common? They are all trying to discard their association with the “old–old” and become associated with the “young-old.”
Apparently the editor in chief of AARP's magazine now bans the use of "senior citizen" because he considers it a "dead" term.
One recent issue of the magazine proclaimed that "60 is the new 30." Another trumpeted a survey of middle-age singles that found a third of the women who dated preferred younger men. The March/April cover teases with the promo "Help! My Husband Loves Porn."
These are scenes from a high-stakes demographic drama in which the US’s pre-eminent magazine for seniors puts on a younger face to seduce the aging baby boomers.
In this marketing battle, traditional notions of accommodating physical frailty have been replaced by tales of relentless vigor.
This is the classical marketing dilemma. To what extent do you hack-off my existing customer base by appealing to younger people who might have very different requirements? What you really, really don’t want to do is alienate the old without engaging with the new customers.
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