• Get involved.
    We want your input!
    Apply for Membership and join the conversations about everything related to broadcasting.

    After we receive your registration, a moderator will review it. After your registration is approved, you will be permitted to post.
    If you use a disposable or false email address, your registration will be rejected.

    After your membership is approved, please take a minute to tell us a little bit about yourself.
    https://www.radiodiscussions.com/forums/introduce-yourself.1088/

    Thanks in advance and have fun!
    RadioDiscussions Administrators

Gary Theroux to 'Radio': "Ignore older demos at your peril"

That opinion piece misses entirely the point.

Older consumers need progressively more and more convincing to change habits or to try something different. That means more ads, more expense and poor ROI.
 
The headline of that article instriucts radio programmers to "Capitalize on the Graying of America." I'm going to e-mail KRTH right now and ask them to play Jersey Bounce, Paper Doll, How High The Moon, A Tree In The Meadow and A-Tisket A-Tasket. :)
 
Naive article, which assumes that older Americans are awash in money. The reality is quite different.

Story after story in the financial media has dealt with how financially pressured older Americans are. Most have no pensions, little in savings. Something like two-thirds of Americans will rely solely on Social Security for retirement. There's only so much you can pile up on the credit cards before the bubble bursts.

Years ago, the author might have had a good point. Things have changed. Wonder why you see all those Reverse Mortgage ads on TV? It's not because older people are doing well. It's because they are broke.
 
One wonders, do you get to a point where:

- The youth audience has splintered to the point that a large number of hard-to-convince older folks are a better bargain than a smaller number of easier-to-convince youth?
- Are there certain products/services that sell more easily to older consumers? Things they simply didn't need when they were younger, so there's no brand loyalty? Where advertising can still set their preferences?

We certainly see it on TV -- advertising aimed at older consumers. Viagra & other prescription drugs, the aforementioned reverse mortgages, bathroom resurfacing, Medicare supplements, etc.. Radio is not TV, but are the advertising bases *that* different?

I'm an engineer, this is way beyond my professional competency but I have to wonder whether radio is indeed leaving money on the table.
 
dougw9wi said:
One wonders, do you get to a point where:

- The youth audience has splintered to the point that a large number of hard-to-convince older folks are a better bargain than a smaller number of easier-to-convince youth?
- Are there certain products/services that sell more easily to older consumers? Things they simply didn't need when they were younger, so there's no brand loyalty? Where advertising can still set their preferences?

We certainly see it on TV -- advertising aimed at older consumers. Viagra & other prescription drugs, the aforementioned reverse mortgages, bathroom resurfacing, Medicare supplements, etc.. Radio is not TV, but are the advertising bases *that* different?

I'm an engineer, this is way beyond my professional competency but I have to wonder whether radio is indeed leaving money on the table.
Click to expand...

There are essentially no ad placements by agencies (on behalf of thier clients, who call the shots based on market research) for audiences 55+.

You note that the walk-in bathtubs, the scooters for people unable to walk, etc., are generally not run on the major TV networks or larger cable nets. They run more often than not in fringe time on the second tier of cable channels or as local cable system inserts. That is because they are PI or "time filler" buys. TV uses mostly pre-prepared shows, with a set amount of commercial break time an hour. Cable nets like WGN America have to fill those 18 to 20 minutes, no matter what. So they offer best time available packages and use those spots, at low rates, to fill in the blanks of the better quality sales.

It's not much money, but it fills the holes and produces a little income.

The larger senior-targeted campaigns all have creative that focuses on visual aspects. Nice older folks at play and taking walks and swims despite arthritis or nerve pain because they took a pill. Attractive guys doing manly things on the way to their partner to play thanks to a blue pill. Disabled folks zipping around the neighborhood on a scooter... they all require "appetite appeal" visuals as they sell by seeing... even the adult diapers sell the fact you can wear them without noticeable bulges.

Were agencies told to buy 55+, some stations would target that demo. But there are practically no buys at all, and certainly not enough to sustain a station in a larger market that depends (no pun intended) on agency business as a big part of the revenue base.
 
dougw9wi said:
One wonders, do you get to a point where:

- The youth audience has splintered to the point that a large number of hard-to-convince older folks are a better bargain than a smaller number of easier-to-convince youth?
- Are there certain products/services that sell more easily to older consumers? Things they simply didn't need when they were younger, so there's no brand loyalty? Where advertising can still set their preferences?
Click to expand...

Advertisers would have another option in this scenario: stop buying radio altogether.
 
DavidEduardo said:
That opinion piece misses entirely the point.

Older consumers need progressively more and more convincing to change habits or to try something different. That means more ads, more expense and poor ROI.
Click to expand...

Yes. I've finally had to give up my 55 Hudson because I can't get parts anymore. I need a new car, and I've looked in the Yellow Pages, but I can't find a Hudson dealer anywhere. What gives?

Maybe I'd have better luck if I...how do you say it...goggled it on that computer thingee my grandson is always typing on.
 
Last edited:
" What was the last time your station .... did anything else to prevent it from being perceived as a faceless jukebox with commercials? "

That would probably be 1994.
 
DavidEduardo said:


The larger senior-targeted campaigns all have creative that focuses on visual aspects. Nice older folks at play and taking walks and swims despite arthritis or nerve pain because they took a pill. Attractive guys doing manly things on the way to their partner to play thanks to a blue pill. Disabled folks zipping around the neighborhood on a scooter... they all require "appetite appeal" visuals as they sell by seeing... even the adult diapers sell the fact you can wear them without noticeable bulges.
Click to expand...

You just described 95 percent of the ad inventory for "60 Minutes." There's also one that shocked me the first time I saw it -- an old fellow on blood thinners who's just switched to a new brand that supposedly allows blood to clot more freely than Warfarin. In the middle of his spiel, he gets called out to the backyard by (presumably) his son, who's holding a basketball. "No, Grandpa! Don't play basketball!" I wanted to scream. Fortunately, it turns out to be a gentle, no-contact game of H-O-R-S-E, but still, some people might get the idea that this new pill makes it OK to dive for loose balls in your 70s the way you did in high school.

Anyway, my 92-year-old dad hates all those commercials, and when I tell him that they make the networks very little money compared to other, younger-skewing ads, he just wonders why advertisers don't try selling those other products to him instead of constantly reminding him how old he is.
 
Last edited:
CTListener said:
Anyway, my 92-year-old dad hates all those commercials, and when I tell him that they make the networks very little money compared to other, younger-skewing ads, he just wonders why advertisers don't try selling those other products to him instead of constantly reminding him how old he is.
Click to expand...

Because the advertisers don't want their products to be seen being used by anyone other than young, successful, urban (or, at least upper-class suburban) people, even though I'm sure they'll take anybody's money. Even those advertisers that cater to seniors want to be seen with good looking, active, well-off seniors, not the "get off my lawn" contingent in the retirement trailers.

There are exceptions, of course - pickup trucks & redneck-friendly Barbasol immediately come to mind. But for the most part, the advertisers' brand managers and other related marketroids want their products to be seen by people like...themselves.
 
Status
This thread has been closed due to inactivity. You can create a new thread to discuss this topic.


Back
Top Bottom