Marketing to Older Consumers - Examples of Companies that "Get It"

Baby boomers. They are the generation born between 1946 and 1964. And from a economic perspective, they have and control significant wealth and buying power. 

Just check out some of these stats;

• Baby Boomers control over 53% of the country's wealth

• Baby Boomers hold 70% of the disposable income 

• Baby boomers spend over $548 billion a year - more than any other generation, across all categories

• Consumers 65 and older are now the fastest-growing group of online buyers

But companies continue to ignore this demographic. As shared in an article published by Mediapost,  

“Baby Boomers spend the most across all product categories but are targeted by just 5-10 percent of marketing. There’s simply a lack of marketing, and that sometimes results in low awareness of cutting-edge solutions by many 50+ consumers.” 

And even when companies do market to the older consumer, they often get it wrong. Their advertising can be insulting, demoralizing and just downright ageist.

We often highlight these poorly constructed advertising campaigns but thought that we should also share some companies that are getting it right. 

So here is a list of some of our favourites;

First up is our newest addition to our list of age friendly ads. The reason we like this one is that it leverages the popularity of pickleball with an older audience and challenges the outdated stereotypes that competency declines with age. It also is wonderful to see the surprise on people's faces when they meet their match (and lose).

This commercial from BMW is one of our most recent to the list. What we appreciate about this is that not once, was there any reference to age, it portrayed an older person in a very "cool" role and it's an advertisement that would appeal to a large demographic of any age.

Sister Madonna Buder - also known as the "Iron Nun" - was the oldest woman to complete an Ironman (you can read more about her story here). Nike featured her in this video. We love this commercial as it challenges our limited views of aging and shows what is possible.

Another commercial we appreciate is entitled English For Beginners. This commercial provides a couple of positive images. First, it highlights that older people do order products online and secondly if you have the desire, you can learn something new at any age. 

What we really like about this commercial is the multi generational appeal it has. It combines just the right amount of nostalgia and family while also highlighting the fact that older people remain connected through technology.

Now this next commercial is a little cheeky but definitely gets the point across. Again, it's cross generational but helps to remind everyone that older people continue to remain romantic as they age and should remember to take precautions too.

Alcohol consumption by older adults is on the rise and is not only a health risk but can also be quite dangerous. To help try and combat this, this video targeted the need to reduce alcohol consumption as you age. What stands out in this spot is the profiling of people and situations that many may recognize or be able to relate to. We believe it gets the point across without being either condescending or insulting.

This is one of the newer campaigns that we have seen to join this group. We appreciate how they are reframing the term old into something more positive and appreciated.

This video made a splash during the holiday season. It helped to demonstrate that when there is a purpose to what you do, it makes aging and life much more satisfying.

The majority of people would like to age in their own homes but may sometimes feel pressure from family members to move. We like this commercial as it provides some witty answers to some questions that older people may have to answer about wanting to remain in their own home.

Here's a commercial that made it's way onto the scene during Superbowl. This BMW commercial does a great and humourous job of highlighting that retirement can get pretty boring if you don't have something interesting to do. 

And to wrap up this list, we can't forget about "The Most Interesting Man In the World". These commercials were first introduced in 2006 and stopped in 2018. They introduced the idea that aging could be exciting, enjoyable and also entertaining. Just love the line - "He is the life of parties he has never attended".

Those are some of the ones that we thought were quite positively reflective of both the opportunities and realities of aging. Hopefully over time, we will be able to expand our list as more companies "get it".