Do you think the advertising industry has a problem with age now? In my experience, the majority of marketing departments are run by people under 40. Sometimes the majority, even under 30, and that's reflected in creative agencies as well. I think that's a real problem because if you look at the statistics, people over the age of 55 represent the majority of people in the UK, they have enormous buying power, lost disposable income, and often a bit more time on their hands to spend it as well.

So it's such a shame that we as an industry are neglecting a very significant part of the population. Recently that MullenLowe have released a new report called "The Invisible Powerhouse", looking at the lives of over 50s and how we can market to them better. In this episode, I speak to MullenLowe UK CEO, Jeremy Hine, about the report and what we can do to address this problem.

What we covered in this episode:

52 year old Jeremy introduces himself
What inspired ‘The Invisible Powerhouse’ report on age diversity
Why age represents the greatest disparity in Advertising representation
How do older people feel about the way in which they are portrayed
The business case for people ‘Feeling Seen’ in advertising
Almost half the population are over 50 and own 70% of all assets
Why not all over 50’s are the same
The age people feel rather than the age they are
What segmentation by attitude reveals
Inspiration from the gear lever design in a Jaguar
The dominance of youth in the ad industry
How to brief to ensure older representation
The importance of seeing and understanding the older generation
Why Entertainment matters to an older audience
Inspiration from the Magnum campaign featuring older people
The value of spending time with older people
What we can learn from TikTok
The stereotypes of older people in advertising
Taking inspiration from Top Gun
Why women experience an even greater invisibility in advertising
How Mullen Lowe led the Governments covid response
How a crisis super charged creative work & collaboration
Where to get more help on marketing to an older audience

How to target the invisible powerhouse (over 50s) - Jeremy Hine, MullenLowe

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