Older radio listeners are funny bunch

DMG Radio Australia chief executive Paul Thompson has vowed to do whatever it takes to get DMG's two struggling Vega stations heading in the right direction.

Thompson is baffled why more people in the over-40 age group are not trying out DMG's two new Vega stations in Sydney and Melbourne, a situation he expects to remedy by conducting a comprehensive study of listener attitudes. The full article is published in The Australian.

In the article is an observation that might contain the solution to Mr Thompson’s conundrum.

"One thing we do know with certainty about boomers is that they hate to be labelled as such, or seen as part of an identifiable group," says Liz Phillips, account director for social research company Heartbeat.

There are many similarities in the thinking and attitudes of people in their 20s and those in their 50s, she says. A sense of adventure and excitement, of living life to the full, appeals.

"A more successful strategy might have been to play up on individualism, that they [Vega] are offering something different," she says.

It is all to do with being age neutral but lifestyle different. Dick Stroud