AARP, a Washington-based advocacy group for the over-50 crowd, has created a marketing agency to help companies target products and services to the baby boomer market, which AARP thinks doesn’t currently get enough attention from advertisers. This strikes AARP as odd considering baby boomers in today's economy control a large proportion of the disposable income and in the US alone there are around 75 million of them compared to 83.1 million millennials. Yet only 10% of marketing is spent on them. The new agency, called Influent 50, is therefore tapping into an underserved market according to managing director Dave Austin.
AARP has created a marketing agency to help companies target products and services to the baby boomer market
The agency is part of AARP (American Association of Retired Persons) Services, a unit of AARP that holds all of its for-profit companies. It already has over a dozen clients including Avis Budget Group Inc and UnitedHealthcare. Initially it wants to reach boomers on behalf of corporate clients in the initial areas of travel and insurance and eventually pharmaceuticals.
BoomAgers, founded in 2012 by former Saatchi & Saatchi board director Peter Hubbell, also specifically helps brands target baby boomers
As to why the advertising world seems to be focusing almost entirely on millennials? Inflent50 chief creative director believes it's as simple as the fact that the 18 to 30 group is seen as a sexier, edgier audience, and that there's a common misconception that seniors are “Brand loyal,” so any marketing dollars spent on them is pointless. Not all marketers are ignoring the older crowd of course. Procter & Gamble recently re-entered the adult incontinence market in the US with a line of products under its Always brand. Influent50 isn’t the first agency to tap into this age group either. BoomAgers, founded in 2012 by former Saatchi & Saatchi board director Peter Hubbell, also specifically helps brands target baby boomers.
Most agencies are staffed largely by younger people, and when it comes to marketing to seniors, it's difficult for them to settle into that mindset
The problem is, however, that most agencies in ad land are staffed largely by younger people, and when it comes to marketing to seniors, it's difficult for them to settle into that mindset. Indeed, eight out of 10 baby boomers say advertisers are making mistakes when trying to appeal to them, according to a recent survey of 1,000 boomers, which was commissioned by Influent50. Austin said there are agencies marketing to older consumers who are using tactics that instantly turn those consumers off such as marketing that includes photos showing the passage of time. Influent50, however, is staffed by industry veterans who know what senior consumers want to see. Of course, advertising will always be youth-obsessed by and large, but at least there's a niche option now for marketers who want to push against the tide.
