There's gold in them thar senior citizens

Taken seriously

I'm hoping that the information Professor John Simpson and his team at UCT have presented will be taken seriously by marketers and advertisers in South Africa, most of whom are well under the age of 40.

Hopefully, this will spur them, and their equally young peers who buy billions of rands worth of advertising space every year, into understanding that there is a massive target market outside of the 19 - 25 age group and that this older market is a lot more accessible. That is, if media buyers would think beyond the media that they themselves consume.

Myth busting

Another myth that marketers need to put to death is the presumption that anyone over 40 has absolutely no idea of how to work a computer nor any inclination whatsoever to indulge in youthful pursuits such as owning an iPod, joining Facebook or investing in a timesaving multi-application cellphone.

One just has to look around these days - at airports, in restaurants at shopping centres and seminars - to see that the over-40s are doing precisely what the Unilever Institute's report says Prime Timers do.

But, it goes beyond just those yuppie 40-year-olds. Nowadays more and more people in their 50s and 60s are not only computer literate but very much capable of understanding the latest in high tech gadgetry.

Geriatric nerds

Seniors Computer Clubs throughout the country are oversubscribed when it comes to PC training courses. Emailing and sending SMSes are no longer the preserve of teenagers but something older people are using all the time if only to keep in touch with their kids.

When I first moved to the Western Cape and enrolled my wife and mother-in-law into training courses at the Simon's Senior Computer Club, I started getting weekly emailed bulletins on computer tips. I assumed that whoever was putting these together was probably the 19-year-old grandson of one of the committee members, just because of the jargon being used and the fearless approach to computers that most teenagers have.

I was wrong. The man behind it was ex-SABC presenter, Lance Burra-Robinson, who had just celebrated his 90th birthday. He would give many a 19-year-old nerd a run for his money.

Wrinkly Facebook

And have a look at Facebook. When it started, the average age was under 21. Then suddenly an older generation got involved. Today, I am not only seeing 40-year-olds using Facebook as though there was no tomorrow but more and more even older people are beginning to see the communications values of the Facebook phenomenon.

The Unilever Institute's timing on the presentation of this latest study was ideal, because, as it quite rightly points out, the Prime Timers are also a group of consumers least affected by rising interest rates.

And the more one looks at older and older target markets, the more relevant this becomes. A lot of those people in the top 6% don't have any debt but a lot of cash and every time the interest rates go up, they effectively make more money.

Hopefully, with the economy beginning to bite a lot of previously apathetic marketing backsides right now, the youngsters who seem to dominate this industry will start to think of target markets beyond their own peer group and see that there is actually life beyond wearing a belt at crotch level.