Wednesday, May 12, 2004

Media Industry in denial

Media week is giving a lot of attention, relative to most marketing related media, to the 50+.Another article appeared this week titled “Are media agencies missing the oldest trick in the book?”

I liked the opening couple of paragraphs.

“Surely it would be wrong to suggest that the media industry occasionally misses a trick. After all, brand ambition has always come before media choices on a schedule, right? The compact newspaper had long been in the pipeline before the mischievous Indy broke ranks, correct? Youth was a heavily targeted market before the advent of MTV and teen magazines. Absolutely.

Yeah, right.

The history of media is littered with missed opportunities and ideas. The denial out there is palpable, as every new idea is either lambasted by those who say it will never work, or those who feebly suggest that they already provide said service and that it is nothing new. Well, the industry – media agencies in particular, this time – seems to be missing a trick yet again. The over-50s population is growing and will soon become the majority concern for advertisers and their marketing agenda; yet still no stand-alone, high-profile agency exists to target the grey market.”
Absolutely right.

My only criticism with the article is that it yet again references the OMD research UFO (Understanding Fifties and Over). The most referenced but least accessible 50+ research. I am still looking for a copy.Dick Stroud: www.20plus30.com

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