Feature: Old Money In The Grey Consumer Market

Advertisers are often accused of overlooking older consumers and talking only to the young. Certainly, the over-50s have a high level of disposable income, which, coupled with their increasingly liberal attitude towards savings, is making them a powerful force.

But they are also among the heaviest consumers of many traditional forms of media, so it is equally possible to argue that they are already subjected to an unusually large amount of advertising. Why put extra effort into reaching an audience that is already consuming more of your marketing messages than any other?

Television remains one of the most effective ways for brands to target older consumers, and in an average week the over-65s spend almost twice as long watching television as 16-24s. The same is true of radio listening and the over-55s tune in for significantly longer than any other age group. National newspapers and consumer magazines also have a sizeable following although internet usage is still very low.

This feature, which has been prepared and written by MediaTel Group, appeared in the Financial Times‘ Creative Business supplement earlier this week.

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