I know you don’t like to think of yourself as old enough to be a parent of a teenager, or old enough to get an invitation to your to 30^th high school reunion (and, of course, you dress so much younger and hipper), so why would you try to reach senior women by pegging them as “old?”

Especially in these days of health supplements, stretching classes, elder hostels and more, you just can't define those who have lived longest by age alone.  Like the rest of us human beings, older women (I’m generally referring to 60+ for the purposes of this article) want to be respected and heard simply as the life-experienced people that they are.

Un-Retiring Wallets

According to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Administration on Aging, the current life expectancy for women is approaching 80 years.  That’s six years longer than men.  Furthermore, in 2001, women accounted for approximately 58% of those age 60 and older and 70% of those 85 and older. 

As Dr. Ken Dychtwald, author and chairman of Age Wave Communications puts it: “During the next 20 years, the number of 50+ Americans will grow by a whopping 40 million people. And as the mature segment of our society continues to shift from being the poorest to the richest, companies and industries that can sensitively and creatively meet their needs are posed for explosive growth.” 

The women of this booming senior marketplace have money to spend and they are looking for companies that "get" them.  The energetic pitch of Royal Caribbean Cruise Line, for example, which includes the “Get out there” tagline and the “Lust for Life” theme song may seem much more relevant to this growing group of seniors than some of the more traditional approaches .

So…just say no to images of blue-haired people sitting around on a ship deck, playing cards in polyester and pearls, if you want older women to spend their money on your goods or services.

What Defines “Older Woman”

I went to an expert, with access to roughly 40,000 older women, to learn more about the interests and buying behavior of the unfamiliar and often unacknowledged older segment of the women’s market.  

Tam Gray, marketing consultant and publisher of seniorwomen.com, has found that her readers and friends are all interested in the usual topics of the day, from science, politics and computing to career changes, gossip, theater and sports.  The difference is that these women have “a group memory that could stretch back as far as the 1920s and teens.”  The issues that strike a chord with them, and the cues for their product research and buying behaviors, derive from this broad range of knowledge and consumer experience.  Pegging their buying behavior may be a bit more complex than you think.

A few key points taken from the discussions I had with Tam:

• Leave men out of the picture.  Older women are consumers in their own right and want to be treated as such.  Tam purposefully doesn’t include photos or images of women with men on her site because she wants to reflect the independence of her female readers.  She was amazed to discover that her readers were having online discussions about the RVs they bought for themselves and the differences in their axle weights, for example. No males necessary for that conversation.  And, Tam reminds me of another key statistic: “there are the 10 – 12% of lesbian partners in the US who are gifting each other and buying home products too.”

• Marketers seem to think that when you achieve senior status, you’ve lost interest in clothing altogether.  (Notice how many clothing companies pitch seniors with shapeless and sexless jogging suit get-ups).   According to Tam, “Eileen Fisher is almost a lone designer who has understood that older women want unstructured clothes to be attractive, and yes, even sexy.”  She also cites Nordstrom for its overall product mix, customer service and interest in catering to the older consumer.  Being recognized and acknowledged for their continuing interest in cosmetics, attractive shoes, jewelry and more is all these women ask, while looking "younger" is not a big concern.
  
  
• Older women like, and assume, attitude.  They want to be perceived as “with it,” so friends and family don’t discount their opinions.  Furthermore, plenty of these women are genuinely interested in current and pretty accessories like scarves and sunglasses, as well as cell phones and other personal electronics. 

• Just as it is for younger single women, older single women are also a huge market for the housing and DIY industries.  They are particularly interested in decorating or modifying their existing homes for “aging in place.”  HGTV and programs like TLC’s Trading Spaces and While You Were Out, as well as BBCAmerica’s House Invaders are all popular with this demographic.

The Ageless Approach

There aren’t many great examples of marketing (well) to the older woman, but the fairly recent Gap campaign – “for every generation” – may be one. In it, you see gray-haired women and twenty-somethings existing in the same realm and all looking oh-so hip and happenin’ in their denim.  I, for one, certainly enjoyed those print and television ads, and Tam says that their fun and ageless perspective also resonated with her readers. 

Because older women often get overlooked as consumers, when you do include and commit to them as a marketplace, you discover (ta da!) women who are full of life wisdom and who are hunting for the best places to spend their money.  Some more clues to an ageless approach include:

• Don’t assume brand loyalty comes with older age.  Realize that they’ve seen and heard it all, and have had to adapt to major societal changes over the years.  
  
  
• Market to the grandparent and child model.  Toys, books and clothing are all easy products for grandparents to buy, on and offline, for their grandchildren.  In the same way, with so many women having kids later in life, we need to keep in mind that some in this group may not have gotten to the “grand” stage yet and continue be in the more typically parental lifestage.
  
  
• When they use the Internet, these women are often seeking health information or a sense of community.  Their email use is driven by the desire to stay in touch with friends and family.  Interestingly, while grandkids may have led some seniors online, a significant majority (76%) of the seniors surveyed by SeniorNet in 2002 (827 males and 1112 females) learned to use the Internet by teaching themselves.
  
  
• Older Americans watch more TV/spend more time reading the paper and combing through direct mail, which may mean you can utilize those channels more effectively than if you were developing a campaign for the younger generation.
  
  
• Stress the benefits of retirement rather than the anxiety (health ills, financial concerns etc.).  Especially for financial services, present your marketing materials and ad campaigns using imagery and copy that reflect an older woman’s reality of making these sorts of decisions for herself, with no husband or partner around to help.
  
  
• Provide them with solutions, without reminding them of their age.

Disregard Their Influence At Your Own Risk

Older women are vitally interested in non-wheelchair-related products, yet the market seems to reject them altogether after they’ve hit a certain age.  Why don’t their faces, lives and stories get more media coverage or get used in ad campaigns more regularly?  What’s it going to take to find brands that appreciate them as consumers?

As we ourselves all get older, we more frequently notice ad campaigns and marketing approaches falling short of our interests and needs.  So...if you pin up the last ad you saw that depicted a perfectly-coiffed, crisply white-shirted mother of four mopping the floors, I’ll post on my fridge a page from a clothing retailer that presents sexy, mid-30s career woman in the latest low-rider trousers and short skirts (so practical in the workplace) – just as a reminder.

Note how that disconnect feels to you, and learn the lesson.  Then, proceed to develop a much more “real world/real women” marketing campaign for the older market.

Links:

Age Wave/Ken Dychtwald: 
http://www.agewave.com/ken.shtml

SeniorWomen.com:

http://www.seniorwomen.com/

SeniorNet Survey On Internet Use, November 2002 (you may have to cut &

paste this one):

http://www.seniornet.org/php/default.php?PageID=6880&Version=0&Font=0

Part of the fun of writing on a wide variety of topics, industries and women's market segments is that, in addition to polling readers, I can also discover nuggets of anecdotal wisdom by talking either with my mom or with one of my two sisters (who are classic Baby Boom multi-tasking, career women-wives-mothers).

For example, this month I read news of a catalogue company that had long been "successfully" targeting older women and was now also gaining ground with the younger generation (or so their press release said).  When I checked in with my mom to get her opinion on the company's "older women" clothes, I got an immediate response from both my mom and dad (speakerphone, you know) - "oh brother, everyone knows that company has low-quality and ugly stuff."  No more research needed.

My finger is on the pulse, my friends. ;-)

 
Take care until next time,

Andrea


P.S. Yes!  Write me with your ideas, comments, or questions at: andrea@reachwomen.com