Media and Marketers Shift Appeal to 55+ Group – USA

May 15, 2011 | By Kim Walker

Marketers like Kellogg’s, Skechers and 5-Hour Energy drink are broadening their focus to those 55 and up, who were largely ignored in most of their media plans until recently. The new USA television season will see the introduction of shows created to have broad appeal, including to older viewers, and the ad dollars they represent. Is this ‘Age-neutral’ TV?

According to this article in the New York Times, there are a couple of reasons for the recent change of strategy:

• As a result of the recent recession, unemployment rates for younger age groups have been far higher than those for older Americans. The most recent unemployment rate for those 20 to 24 years old is 14.2 percent; for those 25 to 34, it is 9.4 percent. The rate for people aged 55 to 64 is only 6.2 percent.
• People aged 45 to 54 and 55 to 64 had the highest median weekly earnings of any age segment in the United States: $844 and $860, respectively. Meanwhile, those 20 to 24 had weekly earnings of only $454. Those who are 25 to 34 earned $682.

This ad for Sketchers Shape-Ups (a product thought of as youthful) appeared in AARP The Magazine read only by people 50+.

NBC put together its lineup of potential new series for fall emphasising the attractiveness of the 55-plus audience. The network has already ordered a new series, “Playboy,” set in the 1960s, and this week renewed the drama “Harry’s Law,” which stars Kathy Bates, who is 62.