By David Guy, Founder, Guy & Co.
There Are 21 Million Consumers Aged 50-Plus In The Uk; That’s More Than A Third Of The Population. Some Ten Million Are In Work, According To The Office For National Statistics[1]. The Lion’s Share Still Have Many Financial Choices To Make, From Small To Significant Decisions.
It’s A Huge Number Of Heads For Financial Services Brands To Turn. So Why Do Many Cling To Clichéd Marketing That’s Just Drab Wallpaper When Gen X And Baby Boomer Consumers Really Lead Vibrant Lives Which They Want Brands To Reflect?
A Flat, Fearful And Frankly Beige Approach To Financial Services Marketing Is A Surefire Way To Miss Out On Securing A Slice Of The 70% Of Uk Households’ Combined Wealth Which 50-Plus Consumers Hold. Yet Dull Tropes Endure. An Older Celeb Describing Their Life Insurance Policy Or Funeral Plan In A Conservatory. A Silver-Haired Couple Dancing. Middle-Of-The-Road Music; A Gentle Voice Over.
There Are Two Main Reasons For This Tired And Tested Approach. First, Tight Budgets Often Cut Off The Creative Process Meaning There’s Little Room For A Big Idea To Take Root. Second, The Creative Process Is A Product Of The Industry’s Low Bar. Financial Marketers See What Their Peers Are Up To And Stick With Safer Options. By Trying Not To Offend, Their Brands Often Fail To Connect.
It’s Time To Realise The Unfair Advantage They Have At Their Fingertips, Stamp Out Stereotypes, And Target 50-Plus Consumers With Campaigns Which Their Wit And Wisdom Deserve.
Give Your Work An Unfair Advantage
The Creative Opportunity Lies In Reflecting How People In This Age Group Actually Think And Behave.
Older Generations Are Rewiring Their Lives, Not Retiring From Them. Many Return To Study Or Launch A Second Career. Their Comparative Wealth Drives Travel To New Places. They Aren’t Digital Natives, But They Don’t Stay Off Social Media Or Shun The Latest Tech.
More Than Anything They Need Brands To Enrich Their Existence. This Will Only Happen If Brands Can First Show They Understand The Audience: Their Humour, Confidence, Inspirations And – For Some – Their Inner Rebel. We Might Get Old But That Doesn’t Have To Mean We Lose Ourselves.
Getting Over The Groundless Fear Of Alienating These Generations – Not Portraying “A Version Of Me That Doesn’t Exist”, As One Focus Group Member Stated – Is The Starting Point To Unlocking Big Brand Advantages.
Then It’s A Case Of Challenging The Existing Brief. Suggested Creative For This Audience Comes Pre-Loaded With Assumptions. Thinking Beyond Conventions Is Key. The Catalyst Is A Killer Insight, Derived From Customer And Prospect Data Or Running Primary Research Among The Target Audience.
Playing Over-50s Consumers’ Own Lifestyle Back To Them, In The Form Of Unique, Meaningful Creative Work That Disrupts The Dour Approach, Is A Route To Great Results.
Think Retirement Living. Will Older Consumers Be Attracted By Functional Photos Of Rooms With Heavy Doors And Comfy Seats? Or Would Their Emotions Be Fired By Acknowledging The Tension Between Negative Connotations And The Need For A Sense Of Joining A Community Where They Can Make The Most Of Living Longer?
That’s The Untapped Opportunity: Breaking Out Of The Beige To Build Campaigns Around Emotional Tension; Bottling Consumers’ Energy And Being There To Support Their Choices.
Seek Out Finance’s Field Of Opportunity
The Unfair Advantage Has Three Other Vital Ingredients. Rapid Testing In The Wild – Validation Of Concepts With Real Reactions, Anywhere In The World. Choosing Tone Over Target: Speak To People As A Whole, Don’t Talk At Them. Finally, Find And Measure The Metrics That Matter.
Insurer Aegon Weren’t Seeking To Speak To A Specific Age Group. They Wanted To Establish A Distinctive Digital Brand That Would Exist For A Century, And To Be There For Consumers During All Of Their Big Money Moments – Not Just Retirement.
We Leaned Into The Brand’s Personable And Empowering New Positioning To Help Create And Launch Mylo, Summarising ‘My Longer Life’. The Brand Was Received As A Friendly, Authentic Face, And Trustworthy, Warm Voice That Cut Through The Clutter Of Financial Services To Support People With Big Decisions.
Great Marketing To Gen X And Baby Boomers Doesn’t Look Like ‘Marketing To Older Generations’. It’s Meaningful, Unique, Finely Tuned, And Crafted With Care And Confidence. So, Step Out Of The Conservatory And Into The World Of Possibilities That Awaits Financial Brands Which Choose To Do Something Different.
[1] https://ageing-better.org.uk/news/number-over-50s-uk-workforce-10-million?gad_source=1&gad_campaignid=8358153793&gbraid=0AAAAADQc_k_A9Heu7u6bMSV8fTU77VZMh&gclid=CjwKCAjwup3HBhAAEiwA7euZuqqUAul32koD_9PTMmxn_8s8gholfTPqRjEsw-5eYInCP_y_oMQORBoCRccQAvD_BwE
