Best viral video leveraging the Royal Wedding

Nothing whatsoever to do with the 50-plus.

I am not sure if this ad made it to the US but if you didn’t see this spoof of the Royal Wedding then it really is worth a view. Brilliant execution.

Bet you cannot guess until the end who or what is being advertised. Dick Stroud

You will never use the term 65+ again after reading this article

I have said it before, many times, but I really enjoy the writing style and attitude of Laurie Orlov.

In this article she picks apart the idiocy of our obsession with ‘+’ age segmentation (e.g. 50+, 65+..).

I cringe because I have been guilty of doing this as much as the next person.

I will try and mend my ways. Dick Stroud

You will never meet Mr / Ms Average

Nielsen has published some data about the TV audiences in the US.

The ‘average’ American watched 34 hours 39 minutes of TV per week in Q4 2010, a year-over-year increase of two minutes. Not 1 minute or 3 minutes but 2 minutes. Wow

The heaviest users of traditional TV are adults 65+ (47 hours 33 minutes per week), followed by adults 50-64 (43 hours per week). Trailing all other age groups, teens age 12-17 watch the least amount of TV (23 hours 41 minutes per week).

So there you are a whole set of numbers that really don’t mean much and are of a ridiculous level of accuracy.

Factor into this the difference of gender, race and socio economic group and the numbers are even less than useful – they are misleading. Dick Stroud

Living longer a good thing if you’re not living better?

Well done AARP. I really like their “inside-e-street” Web TV magazine.

I reckon that both of these ladies - Susan Jacoby, author of Never Say Die: The Myth and Marketing of the New Old Age and Muriel Gillick, MD, Clinical Professor at Harvard Medical School – talk a great deal of sense.

This video is about the myths we have about the old-old. Not confortable watching but if you are commercially interested in this age group then very important. Dick Stroud

I haven't seen one of these for a long time

There was a time when boomer/50-plus web sites were popping up like daffodils in spring. As most of them wilted and died I thought we had seen the last of their ilk.

But no, I new one has just been launched in the US called Living Better at 50. Maybe they know something that we don't. Whatever, I wish them the best of luck. Dick Stroud

Results of the 2011 Accenture Video-Over-Internet Consumer Usage Survey

As you would expect with Accenture, a well researched and nicely produced document (and free).

I think the graphs tell their own story. Click on to enlarge.

I was interested in Accenture’s take on the numbers. I quote.

However, it’s the pervasiveness of Internet video watching across age groups and genders that is truly an outstanding development. Nearly equal percentages of the men (79 percent) and women (75 percent) surveyed are online video consumers. Numbers across the most profitable age demographics are also extremely strong: 85 percent of 18 to 24 year-olds; 84 percent of 25 to 34 year-olds; and 82 percent of 35 to 44 year-olds.

It was the last sentence of the quote that amused me. I like the phrase: “numbers across the most profitable age demographics” referring to 18-44 year olds. Mmmm. I wonder how they came to that conclusion.

I think the graph showing the trends is about what you would expect. Lower use of laptops by older people and low use of mobile video. The bottom line of the paper for me is that online video is now mainline across all ages. The differences are in the delivery device but that will have as much to do with physiological ageing (i.e. difficult in hearing and watching on a small screen), as it will be to do with attitude. Dick Stroud

AgeWave Australia newsletter

If you are interested in how the older Australian consumer is behaving then this well worth reading.

I like this newsletter, but I just wish they published a bit more of the content rather than having their "to read more" links initiating an e-mail. Dick Stroud

50s and over – what next?

When I was last in the US I received a request from a journalist (Marissa Miley) to contribute to an article that she was writing for AdAge. Not that it would have made any difference but I didn’t realize that it was being sponsored by AARP and based on their 2011 Boomers Envision What’s Next survey. Data was also being used from GfK MRI’s 2010 BoomerView report.

Not surprisingly, the journalist was talking with many of my US counterparts Lori Bitter, Chuck Nyren, Carol Orsborn and a long list of others who know about the older consumer.

First things first. This is a very well written report. I know the time pressure that journalists work under (sometimes I am rude about what they create) but this document is excellent. Honestly, I am not just saying that because she has used some of my quotes.

What is most important about this document is that I think it marks a watershed. The point when we start to get real about the financial issues and their impact on the ageing population.

Readers of my blog will know that I have been bleating on about this for the months. Clearly, I am not alone in this view.

This document sets out, in a well ordered way, the reality of ageing in the US, warts and all. For the US read Europe.

Don’t get me wrong, the future will have lots of ‘all’ as well as ‘warts’. The unfolding debt laden future presents endless marketing opportunities, but until we understand and accept the reality we cannot move forward with positive marketing strategies.

I loved the graphic – when I grow up – I shudder at the implications of the other one.

Thanks AARP, Adage and Marissa Miley for an excellent report. Dick Stroud

The swifts will soon be back - must be about time for ORW

In the UK there are a few things that mark out the change of the seasons. The nicest one is the first time I see a swift in the sky. Another is when the first brochure for Haymarket’s OlderRicherWiser conference drops through my letter-box.

I have spoken and attended this conference over the years and always come away thinking that this will probably be the last one. But no, another year another brochure. The people at Haymarket are not idiots so I can only assume that it keeps turning in a profit.

This will tell you all about the 2011 conference. Dick Stroud

Saga’s PR campaign is greatly improved

I have no idea if their holidays or financial services have improved but for sure the quality of the PR is on the up.

Maybe it is since Dr Ros Altmann, director general of Saga, got behind the wheel, but the company is issuing a stream of serious and not so serious research that is making it into the papers.

I applaud the company for taking up the issue of the differential inflation rates that are disproportionally hurting the old. Whilst good old Emma Soames was probably good company at a dinner table she was always a few steps behind the pace when it came to explaining economic issues. Not so Dr Altmann.

The recent bit of ‘research’ is in the buying headlines category.

“Around 67 per cent of over 50s believe 18-to-24s perceive them as 'past it', but the reality is that just 18 per cent of 18-to-24s actually have that perception."

But why not, that is what most PR research is all about. I am getting a bit worried since my balance of criticism to compliments about Saga is definitely moving in the positive direction. Dick Stroud

Spot the bloke at work – not many of them around

It seems like blokes are having a hard time competing in the job market.

This was the theme of the article in BusinessWeek; however, there was also some commentary about the job prospects of older workers. The chart paints an unhappy picture for men and young people.

A Bureau of Labour Statistics study found that many older workers who lose jobs never go back to work again. Americans aged 55-64 who were displaced (I think that means sacked) from 2007 through 2009, 21% were out of the labor force as of January 2010.

 "I have heard some people say, 'It's not necessarily a bad thing. Maybe people are just making voluntary decisions about work-life balance,'" says the chief U.S. economist for J.P. Morgan Securities. "In principle that's possible, but all of a sudden people wanted more work-life balance? I don't think so."

I don’t think so either. Dick Stroud

The virtual burial

Businessweek has an interesting article about a US company called Basic Funerals that has arranged over 1000 funerals via its Web site.

The founder explained that Boomer’s parents are nearing the end of their lives, while their tech-savvy children are comfortable buying goods and services over the Web.

Hard to argue with that logic. I buy my books online why not the box for poor old Auntie Vi?

Having had a quick look at the site I didn’t realize that there are so many options when arranging a funeral. Dick Stroud

The retail opportunities resulting from the surge in Type 2 Diabetes

The first part of this video talks about the retail opportunities, in American (and Europe), that result from the  rise in Type 2 Diabetes.

This horrible disease is not limited to older people but a lot of them suffer from the problem. As somebody who has had to shop for a relative with both Diabetes and the need for low salt content I can tell you it is a real problem and a real opportunity. Dick Stroud

Generational arrogance

I disagree with the way that Boomers think; more accurately are portrayed, as being something fundamentally different (special) from their parents. Their uniqueness, which is often a coded way of saying superiority, is greatly over-rated.

In the same way I think it is equally naive that younger people are portrayed as being fundamentally different from their parents as a result of the fusing of their DNA and silicon, resulting in the “digital native” and other such labels.

I was just reading an article in the Booz&co strategy magazine about Generation C – yep you guessed it – Generation Connected. You might need to register to read the article. It is free and is worthwhile since most of the articles are excellent.

This is one of the comments that I find hard to take.

They’ve grown up under the influence of Harry Potter, Barack Obama, and iEverything — iPods, iTunes, iPhones. Technology is so intimately woven into their lives that the baby boom–era concept of “early adopters” is essentially meaningless.

This assumes that today’s young people have reached the pinnacle of technology adoption. What nonsense. As long as there is Silicon Valley and increasingly Shanghai and Bangalore there will be new technologies that only a few people will initially want, be able to afford, understand, be geeky enough etc. etc. to buy. Believe me, ‘early adopters’ are going to be around for a long time to come.

The article goes on.

Generation C will distance itself further, particularly in the development of its own pervasive culture of communication. That culture has led some observers to dub this group “the silent generation,” as digital communication channels have replaced much of the physical interaction typical of prior generations.

This all makes interesting futuristic guesswork but I really don’t think it is founded in much of a base of fact or common sense. Dick Stroud

Watching this is worth 15 mins of your life

Like most TED lectures this is excellent.

Filmmaker, Morgan Spurlock, looks at the world of brand marketing, on his quest to make a completely sponsored film about sponsorship.

He starts-off by explaining what happened when he put the naming of his TED lecture on e-Bay. I bet you cannot guess who put in the highest bid.

This guy is a brilliant presenter. If no other reason, watch a pro at work. Think about how he does it, the next time you fire up your first PowerPoint slide.

He exposes our world of marketing and whilst we may not like what we see it is best we are honest with ourselves. That much of what we talk about is unmitigated drivel.
I loved it. Dick Stroud

Reaction to the new Marks & Spencer ad

Marks is still running with the multi-generational ad campaign that includes Twiggy. I think her appearances are getting shorter and shorter.

It is unusual that you get a chance to see a cross section of the British public comment about an ad. Some interesting views.

Watch street interviews about the ad

Dick Stroud

A couple of technologies that might help older people

Getting to grip with all of the odditites of PCs is the biggest hurdle stopping older people who want to get online.

All the stuff about firewalls, virus checkers, upgrades, browser preferences etc etc. Let alone the joys of using a mouse and keyboard.

Technology Review had a couple of examples of new developments that I reckon might make life easier.

Firstly, there is ZeroPC that provides all of the functionality of a PC without having one – instead it is a virtual PC with all of the processing and data held in the cloud. I guess there is no reason why the device used to access the sytem couldn’t be a tablet.

Interestingly the developers see it being applicable to people in developing countries who have to share a computer. As the developer says: “ This can achieve one-desktop-per-child without needing to provide one piece of hardware per child." The use of this system in sheltered housing is an obvious application.

The other development is the beta version of Google’s Chrome Web browser. One of the most interesting new features is an ability to translate speech to text—entirely via the Web.

I have no idea if these developments will ever be channeled into assisting older people but they certainly have the potential Dick Stroud

Finished at 50

A couple of days back I wrote about the issue of employment and older people. This followed a blog post from the Economics honcho from the BBC.

Well yesterday the BBC had a programme giving a different slant to tale of employment, well the lack of it, when you 50-plus.

If you are in the UK you can watch the programme on iPlayer. If you are overseas - sorry!

I don't really like the "personal story" approach to major economic/social issues, however, this was done well.

Like the programme, I offer no solutions, it is a sad story when people are out of work at 50. A simple as that. Dick Stroud

eMarketer report about the online lives of the 50+

You can read an extract from the report but from I can see there is nothing that will knock your socks off.

There is a prediction (for the US) of a high take-up of mobile internet use in the next four years but I have no idea the basis for making the forecast. It is one of those nice charts that you might want to include and hope that nobody asks you to justify the numbers. Dick Stroud

Video of my session at the Dublin Conference

Dick Stroud from The Business of Ageing Conference.

I have already published the podcast of this presentation but for those of you who really have nothing better to do than watch me give the thing you can view the video. Ahhhh makes you squirm when you watch yourself. Dick Stroud

Are Boomers the special case we think they are?

Last week there was an excellent article in Marketing Week, by Richard Madden, that questioned the perceived wisdom about Baby Boomers was no more than a bundle of mass generalisations. I hate to say - I told you so - but I did tell you so.

He starts off the article was a precis of the argument that you read time and time again – in magazines like Marketing Week.

The Boomers are coming. Millions of them are reaching retirement age. And they’re not like the docile cardigan-wearing geriatrics of yesteryear. They’re radicalised. Suspicious of authority. And as consumers, they’re more demanding than any generation before or since.

Mr Madden then goes on to argue that a lot of this is journalist flimflam at best describes one small group of the age cohort.

He refers to David Kynaston’s terrific history of post-war Britain (Austerity Britain and Family Britain) 1945 – 1957. He is right when he says it is: “The nearest thing to a longitudinal qualitative study there’s ever been in this country. And it makes a very revealing read for anyone interested in Boomer psychology.” Could not agree more.

I just hope the other journalists on the Marketing Week and other marketing media read and understand what he saying. Maybe then I will get less calls asking me to summarise the ‘attitudes of Boomers’ in five bullet points. Dick Stroud

It is not what you say but what you omit

Stephanie Flanders is the BBC’s Economic Editor. She recently blogged about what she saw as unfair way in which the over-65s were getting a disproportionate number of jobs at the expense of the young.

This is what she said:
Long term it's excellent news for our economy - and the Treasury - that older people are staying in work. But we cannot afford for that to come at the expense of those who are just starting out. It cannot be good news for the Britain's inner cities that the unemployment rate among 16-24 year olds is now more than 20%.

This is simplistic “zero sum game argument” that there are a fixed number of jobs available and that a job taken by an old person is one less for the young.

To come to this conclusion she had analysed the UK’s employment stats.

What is interesting is not what she said but what she failed to say. Increasingly, I find that people make an argument using a single dataset and fail to consider other explanations for their conclusions. Most of the times it is because they are not very bright and are looking for simple answers to complex questions.

Ms Flanders is no fool, which makes her unwillingness to consider the multiple dimensions of the question more disturbing.

Was it is a matter of expediency that resulted in her dashing out an incomplete argument or was it an intentional omission? I am a charitable guy, it is a Sunday, and so I will assume it was the pressure of time.

First things first. There is an unemployment problem for all ages. Whether it is the inability of a young person getting their first step on the employment ladder or an older person forced out of work before they have amassed sufficient wealth to fund their retirement, it is bad news.

But, there are multiple reasons for the employment pattern and the way that the statistics are reported.

Perhaps when she has a bit more time Ms Flanders might like to incorporate the following into her argument.

Demographics
Look at the change in the absolute number of people in the young and age groups. This graph shows how the numbers change compared to the 2008 figures. Notice anything?

Competition from overseas
Look at the numbers from the ONS’s latest employment data. Notice anything?

Competence

A recent government report came to the depressing conclusion that much of the education is of such a low quality that it doesn’t improve young people’s employment prospects.

The recently retired head of Tesco had a scathing attack on the standards of young people entering the workforce.

Not comparing like with like

The way that employment stats are created doesn’t distinguish between those who are self-employed and those working for an employer. Unfortunately, the term self-employed is often another way of saying “looking for work”.

How many of the jobs are low paid part time employment?

Misleading stats

I have already written about the misleading way that youth unemployment is reported.

The bottom line is that there is a ready audience of dimwits who look for ‘facts’ to support their prejudices. Ms. Flanders should know this and ensure that if she does provide ‘facts’ they are a complete and not a partial view of the truth. Dick Stroud

'Glowstick grannies' to descend on Ibiza as Saga creates holidays for 'pioneer clubbers

This was the headline in the UK’s Daily Mail.

The opening text tells us:
Ibiza has long been famed as a place where the party never stops. But the famous Spanish island is set to prove this point in a literal way in 2014 - when it welcomes its first club-resort aimed exclusively at party-goers aged 50 and over.


If this sounds like surprising news, an even greater shock is that the resort will be run by Saga Holidays - a company more associated with leisurely breaks for silver travellers.

And so the article goes on. It is amazing how many seemed to have taken this as a serious announcement rather than as a April Fool’s joke.

I would have thought his sentence would have given it away.

Saga will be encouraging grannies to pick up their glowsticks and head to the Balearic isle for third-age fun at its resort for 'pioneer clubbers'.

Maybe Saga should give it some thought? Certainly it would be better than a week on a coach touring the delights of Devon. Dick Stroud

Google is an amazing company

Yesterday, as I was driving along a lane in deepest darkest Wiltshire, what should I see coming around the corner? The Google car with its pole on the roof and camera taking the street photos.

I got home and the first e-mail I received was from Google to say that they have just improved the way people can view my blog.

I reckon it is an amazing improvement.

The two images show the Flipcard and the Snapshot views. Have a look and see what you think. I cannot think of any other company that has such a breath of vision and objectives. Dick Stroud