Name: Marketing to over 50s: Why you should and how to do it
Uploaded: 2024-03-28T14:46:48.068Z
Duration: 437.31
Description: In a world where stale stereotypes often overshadow the vibrant lives of older consumers, many brands are missing out on the purchasing power and loyalty of the over 50s . Janis Thomas, Managing Director at Look Fabulous Forever, shares insights on how challenging assumptions and embracing true diversity can lead to business growth.

Janis v6.mp4

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English

{{00:00:00}}
I think brands are really missing
a trick when they're not paying

{{00:00:03}}
attention to that over 50s group.

{{00:00:05}}
Over 65s are the fastest
growing market in e commerce.

{{00:00:09}}
Women over 50 are the fastest growing
demographic in the next 10 years.

{{00:00:14}}
Women over 50 control 95
households purchasing decisions.

{{00:00:28}}
I think there are a lot of misconceptions.

{{00:00:30}}
So, I'm going to go through
some of the stereotypes that

{{00:00:31}}
I've encountered and some of the
misconceptions about older consumers.

{{00:00:32}}
There's a lot of stereotypes out
there, that particularly in my

{{00:00:36}}
current role, I encounter a lot of
stereotypes about women in their 70s.

{{00:00:41}}
As,  a woman in her 70s is a grey
haired granny in a grey cardigan.

{{00:00:46}}
No, women in their 70s are the
generation of the Beatles, and

{{00:00:50}}
Mary Quant, and the miniskirt.

{{00:00:53}}
They are  colourful, colourful, vibrant
women with  rich lives and brands

{{00:00:58}}
should be treating them accordingly.

{{00:01:01}}
There are huge opportunity that, you
know, you, the stereotype of, you

{{00:01:05}}
know, you're seeing a 50 year old woman
on a Stannis stairlift in, in ads.

{{00:01:09}}
This is just not true.

{{00:01:11}}
And particularly over fifties, they
tend to be really underrepresented in

{{00:01:17}}
advertising that you rarely see them.

{{00:01:20}}
And particularly on websites, even
really inclusive brands that have I've

{{00:01:24}}
gone a long way of still perpetuating
stereotypes about older audiences.

{{00:01:30}}
And I think that's a real
missed opportunity  for brands.

{{00:01:39}}
So I think the best way to approach
over, over 50s is  to start off with,

{{00:01:45}}
to understand them better, to understand
their lives, to challenge the stereotypes

{{00:01:51}}
that we at Look Fabulous Forever know that
our customers, over 40 percent of them

{{00:01:56}}
do all or most of their shopping online.

{{00:01:59}}
Over 80 percent of them
have used online banking.

{{00:02:03}}
Over 80 percent use a
video streaming service.

{{00:02:07}}
70 percent listen to audio books
and podcasts and things like that.

{{00:02:11}}
They really are out there
and they're easy to find.

{{00:02:15}}
And we find.

{{00:02:17}}
That when we accurately represent them,
when we reflect back what their lives

{{00:02:22}}
really are like, they really, they really
resonates with them, that they really,

{{00:02:28}}
they really appreciate being represented
accurately, and not stereotyped, and

{{00:02:33}}
we see enormous engagement on our
advertising, and it really stands out,

{{00:02:38}}
that if we showed a packed shot of a
lipstick, we could be any other beauty

{{00:02:41}}
brand, but by accurately reflecting
out consumers or women in their 80s,

{{00:02:48}}
that they really respond to that and
they're very happy to buy our brand.

{{00:02:58}}
The biggest values that older consumers
are looking for is inclusivity.

{{00:03:03}}
They're looking for belonging.

{{00:03:06}}
Then looking up for feeling welcome.

{{00:03:09}}
And I think traditionally brands
have really pursued this idea of

{{00:03:13}}
being exclusive is the gold standard.

{{00:03:16}}
It's the thing that
we're all striving for.

{{00:03:19}}
Whereas actually making customers
feel welcome, making them feel like

{{00:03:24}}
they belong,  and they are valued.

{{00:03:27}}
Then that is incredibly powerful.

{{00:03:29}}
So for us at Look Fabulous Forever,
we have what we call our four pillars

{{00:03:37}}
of loyalty, and those are useful and
helpful content, really helping our

{{00:03:42}}
customers understand that not only are
the makeup products you need as you

{{00:03:47}}
get older different, but how you apply
them in a flattering way is different.

{{00:03:52}}
The second pillar is personalization,
providing experiences that understand

{{00:03:57}}
customers needs and provide them
with the products and the content

{{00:04:01}}
that they're most interested in.

{{00:04:04}}
The third is community, that for us
providing a place where our customers

{{00:04:08}}
can come together and talk to each other,
as well as interact with the brand, is

{{00:04:14}}
really powerful and really drives loyalty.

{{00:04:17}}
And the fourth pillar for us is
listening, not assuming that we

{{00:04:21}}
know what our customers like,  not
assuming that we know that they,

{{00:04:26}}
what they want, but asking them, do
you want buy now pay later services?

{{00:04:31}}
Are you on TikTok?

{{00:04:34}}
Using these things and listening
to that and then sharing that.

{{00:04:37}}
Those insights around the organization
and using those to spark ideas.

{{00:04:42}}
We know it look fabulous forever.

{{00:04:44}}
The over 80 percent of our customers
want to receive an email from us

{{00:04:48}}
every single day, and they want that
because we provide useful and helpful,

{{00:04:54}}
interesting content that they value.

{{00:04:56}}
So they value our emails and
they want to hear from us.

{{00:05:00}}
And I think any brand can apply that.

{{00:05:07}}
So I think one of the reasons that
brands don't pay enough attention

{{00:05:11}}
to that old over 50s demographic is
if you look around organizations.

{{00:05:16}}
You see them disproportionately
focused on that 25 to 39 demographic.

{{00:05:23}}
And 25 to 39 represents just
20 percent of the population.

{{00:05:28}}
So how can we be inclusive as
organizations and think about a wider

{{00:05:34}}
range of customers when we are so
focused in the age groups that are

{{00:05:39}}
recruited within our organizations.

{{00:05:42}}
One of the key benefits to brands
to being a more inclusive in the

{{00:05:47}}
range of people you hire means that
you better understand the diversity

{{00:05:52}}
of your customer's perspective, and
you're more accurately going to reflect

{{00:05:57}}
that age group, which means that
you're going to resonate for better.

{{00:06:02}}
So for example, when I worked at
Birchbox, we did research to understand

{{00:06:08}}
the people who were not our customers.

{{00:06:11}}
And that research was really valuable.

{{00:06:13}}
It showed that we had
two key target audiences.

{{00:06:17}}
One of them looked a lot like the
women who worked in our office.

{{00:06:21}}
She was a young urban professional
with a bit too much month

{{00:06:24}}
at the end of her money.

{{00:06:26}}
And we were targeting
her really, really well.

{{00:06:28}}
But the research showed that
there was another customer that

{{00:06:32}}
she was,  a little bit older.

{{00:06:34}}
She was more likely to
live outside London.

{{00:06:36}}
She was more likely to have children,
and she's more financially mature,

{{00:06:40}}
which meant that she was more likely
to buy from our e- commerce offering

{{00:06:44}}
and not just our subscription box.

{{00:06:46}}
And by shifting our targeting,
so not ignoring that original

{{00:06:50}}
audience, but by broadening it out,
it enabled us to grow much faster.

{{00:06:56}}
And I think that's the
key message to brands.

{{00:06:59}}
Don't make assumptions
about who your customer is.

{{00:07:03}}
Do research to find those customers
and target a wider demographic

{{00:07:08}}
based on what the data tells you.

I think brands are really missing
a trick when they're not paying

Over 65s are the fastest
growing market in e commerce.

Women over 50 are the fastest growing
demographic in the next 10 years.

Women over 50 control 95
households purchasing decisions.

I think there are a lot of misconceptions.

So, I'm going to go through
some of the stereotypes that

I've encountered and some of the
misconceptions about older consumers.

There's a lot of stereotypes out
there, that particularly in my

current role, I encounter a lot of
stereotypes about women in their 70s.

As,  a woman in her 70s is a grey
haired granny in a grey cardigan.

No, women in their 70s are the
generation of the Beatles, and

They are  colourful, colourful, vibrant
women with  rich lives and brands

There are huge opportunity that, you
know, you, the stereotype of, you

know, you're seeing a 50 year old woman
on a Stannis stairlift in, in ads.

And particularly over fifties, they
tend to be really underrepresented in

And particularly on websites, even
really inclusive brands that have I've

gone a long way of still perpetuating
stereotypes about older audiences.

And I think that's a real
missed opportunity  for brands.

So I think the best way to approach
over, over 50s is  to start off with,

to understand them better, to understand
their lives, to challenge the stereotypes

that we at Look Fabulous Forever know that
our customers, over 40 percent of them

Over 80 percent of them
have used online banking.

Over 80 percent use a
video streaming service.

70 percent listen to audio books
and podcasts and things like that.

They really are out there
and they're easy to find.

That when we accurately represent them,
when we reflect back what their lives

really are like, they really, they really
resonates with them, that they really,

they really appreciate being represented
accurately, and not stereotyped, and

we see enormous engagement on our
advertising, and it really stands out,

that if we showed a packed shot of a
lipstick, we could be any other beauty

brand, but by accurately reflecting
out consumers or women in their 80s,

that they really respond to that and
they're very happy to buy our brand.

The biggest values that older consumers
are looking for is inclusivity.

And I think traditionally brands
have really pursued this idea of

It's the thing that
we're all striving for.

Whereas actually making customers
feel welcome, making them feel like

So for us at Look Fabulous Forever,
we have what we call our four pillars

of loyalty, and those are useful and
helpful content, really helping our

customers understand that not only are
the makeup products you need as you

get older different, but how you apply
them in a flattering way is different.

The second pillar is personalization,
providing experiences that understand

customers needs and provide them
with the products and the content

The third is community, that for us
providing a place where our customers

can come together and talk to each other,
as well as interact with the brand, is

really powerful and really drives loyalty.

And the fourth pillar for us is
listening, not assuming that we

know what our customers like,  not
assuming that we know that they,

what they want, but asking them, do
you want buy now pay later services?

Using these things and listening
to that and then sharing that.

Those insights around the organization
and using those to spark ideas.

The over 80 percent of our customers
want to receive an email from us

every single day, and they want that
because we provide useful and helpful,

So they value our emails and
they want to hear from us.

So I think one of the reasons that
brands don't pay enough attention

to that old over 50s demographic is
if you look around organizations.

You see them disproportionately
focused on that 25 to 39 demographic.

And 25 to 39 represents just
20 percent of the population.

So how can we be inclusive as
organizations and think about a wider

range of customers when we are so
focused in the age groups that are

One of the key benefits to brands
to being a more inclusive in the

range of people you hire means that
you better understand the diversity

of your customer's perspective, and
you're more accurately going to reflect

that age group, which means that
you're going to resonate for better.

So for example, when I worked at
Birchbox, we did research to understand

It showed that we had
two key target audiences.

One of them looked a lot like the
women who worked in our office.

She was a young urban professional
with a bit too much month

And we were targeting
her really, really well.

But the research showed that
there was another customer that

She was more likely to
live outside London.

She was more likely to have children,
and she's more financially mature,

which meant that she was more likely
to buy from our e- commerce offering

And by shifting our targeting,
so not ignoring that original

audience, but by broadening it out,
it enabled us to grow much faster.

And I think that's the
key message to brands.

Don't make assumptions
about who your customer is.

Do research to find those customers
and target a wider demographic

Expert Insight

In a world where stale stereotypes often overshadow the vibrant lives of older consumers, many brands are missing out on the purchasing power and loyalty of the over 50s .
Janis Thomas, Managing Director at Look Fabulous Forever, shares insights on how challenging assumptions  and embracing true diversity can lead to business growth.

Brand

Diversity & Inclusion

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Janis Thomas

Discover insights from other experts

Managing Director 

Thomas talks about how brands miss older women in their campaigns and how they can better include them in marketing. 

Stereotypes and opportunities

Thomas stresses that accurate representation boosts ad engagement. Older consumers value inclusivity, belonging, and feeling welcomed by brands.

How to tardet the over 50s

Thomas emphasises the power of making customers feel welcome, valued, and part of a community and how understanding customers' needs is key to fostering loyalty.

Understand values to build loyalty

According to Thomas, by being more inclusive in hiring practices, brands can better understand diverse customer perspectives and accurately reflect the age group they're targeting.