Last week we were lucky enough to put our card behind the bar at the Silver Marketing Association drinks, shmooze with Andrea, our fantastic new Patron, and share findings from the Blue Paper, an insight piece all about effective advertising to the mature consumer in the context of leisure travel.
All seemed interested.
Some shocked when we divulged not all mature consumers were engaging well with the cruise industry's advertising messages.
Don't shoot the messenger.
(Yes, you can have a copy of our Blue Paper too. Click here to request a FREE one.)
The long and short of it is that whilst our humble research posits some travel industry ‘beliefs’ as not as in touch with mature consumers as they need to be, it also highlights opportunities where advertising could be more personalised and effective to this audience, with a sprinkle of lateral thinking and dash of maturity.
The glass is definitely half full.
For example, our friendly Prof's at Brunel dug out this gem in the academic review we commissioned:
‘Tourism behaviour is affected by one’s life events which can alter habits and preferences over time.’
(Humber, Milne & Hyde (2019)
TGI’s Arc of Life offers 3 to look forward to - child gets married, the birth of a grandchild, and retirement. Whoopee do.
These insights prompted us to ask our grumpy friends in the Humbug Club about their life experiences. What ever next, they shared over 20 key life events which have impacted their consumer spending and specifically, travel purchases.
Never mind getting children getting married, one said:
'This year we are going on holiday a little bit less than we would. My daughter’s marriage broke up about 18 months ago and her children moved in with us, which has led to a lot more expense'.
Physical decline not only acknowledged but taken into account when planning holidays:
'More adventurous cycling holidays - might not be able to do them in the future - though that bucket list is in order of physical ability. I'd like to do some nature stuff with only a medium amount of walking. I never want to sit in a coach tour.'
Dicky hearts definitely not show-stoppers for others:
‘In 2017 I had a heart operation and I decided that after that I wanted to travel and I wanted to go to long distance places.’
Personal loss can be a habit breaker:
‘The biggest life event that I guess will always change the way that you may travel is going to be the death of a partner.’
And the one I love the most, from a bloke aged 67, who is only living once:
'We have to mention that an inheritance comes along. My father would have wanted me to use it wisely, and so we have basically upped our style in holidays.’
So we say, understanding and mapping key life events is crucial for creating effective advertising to mature consumers.
Mapping key life events will not only offer valuable insight into mature consumers emotional experiences but also shine a light on how physiological and cognitive changes significantly influence their behaviour and spending.
2000
We are currently working with Brunel University Business School, talking to 2000 mature consumers to explore how these 20 life events and other physiological, cognitive, health and well-being criteria impact the effectiveness of advertising on them as they gracefully age.
Then we are going to create some new, unique segmentation and cluster group tools for marketers to plan how to advertise effectively to them, the most valuable consumer group in the UK.
As part of this project we are looking for partners to grow our Humbug Club.
If you are interested in talking to mature consumers about what makes for effective advertising and can help us recruit them into the Humbug Club we will happily share the rewards of what we find out, ask them some questions on your behalf, do the analysis for free, and maybe some things we haven't even thought of yet. Wanna play, pick up the 'phone.
Thought for the week:
Back in July 2023 McKinsey Quarterly said:
94% of Baby Boomers quote other influences as significant on buying a product or brand vs 6% for social media.
Little reminder. By 2040 63p in every £1 will be spent by the mature consumer and this group accounts for around 70% of household wealth.
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