It's always trouble with the old folks!

Time and again, we read that brands “underestimate” the 50-plus demographic: In terms of their purchasing power and willingness to spend, their readiness to use new media and channels, and their digital literacy—the picture that’s consistently painted is of a demographic that’s shamefully misunderstood, neglected, and marginalized by marketing. Accordingly, brands would only need to address this demographic correctly to tap into enormous new revenue potential. But is that good advice?

Quite apart from the fact that “50 plus” actually describes a fairly long span of life in an era when average life expectancy is over 80 years (with the exception of Saarland): We haven’t yet noticed that people over 50 suddenly stop spending exorbitant amounts of money on cars, kitchens, lawn fertilizer, or yoga mats. Nor have we observed that newly minted 50-year-olds immediately renounce all digital communication and collectively return to using landline phones to make an appointment at a travel agency. That’s just not how it is, and we’ll have to disappoint anyone who thinks they’ve struck gold here. Because, unfortunately, the “50-plus” target group doesn’t actually exist. Instead, there are affluent 70-year-old retirees who let AI plan their vacations in Austria, hardworking 54-year-old female teachers who check out Veja sneakers on Instagram, and 62-year-old accountants who are bridging their retirement gap with temp work, enjoy hiking, and otherwise desperately need a new car. And there are so many more different kinds of people over 50 that, in marketing, it’s better to segment by sociographics, attitudes, and lifestyles rather than using the demographic sledgehammer.

Or what do you think?

Here's the link:

https://www.wuv.de/Themen/Marke/Warum-Marken-die-Zielgruppe-50plus-noch-immer-unterschaetzen