Madison Avenue's obsession with youth appears to be fading. Many brands are said to be switching to targeting a much broader audience, including those over the age of 55.
Examples given in a New York Times article include youthful brands like Jeep and Shape-ups by Skechers advertising in AARP The Magazine. But TV networks, introducing their fall programming lineups this week, are also pushing for better advertising rates for shows reaching older audiences.
Shows targeting younger generations have received hefty advertising rate premiums since the sixties when ABC found success with programs like "Batman" and "Mod Squad."
Wrote the Times' TV industry reporter Bill Carter, "The idea caught on, and even as the boomer generation grew older, advertisers continued to court younger viewers -- first on the theory that they had not yet established brand loyalty, then because they were harder to reach than mature viewers who watched far more television."
Since then, the networks have aimed at two main groups: those between 18 and 49 and 25 to 54.
But targeting those over 55 has become a bigger part of the discussion partly because the old are recently doing better in the wallet. Those between 55 and 64 have significantly lower underemployment rates and much higher median weekly earnings than two particularly coveted groups, 20 to 24 and 25 to 34.
Moreover, maturing boomers are also spending on categories not traditionally associated with older people. A study on "Alpha Boomers" by NBC found 55 to 64 year-olds were just as likely as those 18 to 34 to have high-definition televisions, digital video recorders and broadband service. The older generation also spends more than the average on categories including home improvement, large appliances, casual dining and cosmetics.
"People still think of their grandparents when they were 60 wearing comfort shoes and baggy chinos," Alan Wurtzel, NBC Universal's president of research, told The Wall Street Journal. "These guys are just fundamentally different."
The networks are also looking for more balanced ad rates as the average age of the TV viewer has crept up in recent years.
Still, the Journal article noted that most marketers "prefer to reach young consumers, whose buying preferences can make a product or service cool so that it eventually catches on with older buyers." They are also said to be prime targets for mortgages, car loans and investment advice.
But the Times article inferred that brands can no longer ignore the old. Brent Bouchez, the founder of Agency Five-0, said a big misconception is that older boomers want to be young. He recently stopped asking for Ketel One at bars after the vodka brand shifted to a younger-advertising tone. Mr. Bouchez said, "I don't want to look like the 53-year-old who's trying to look 30."