reelyreal said:
The over 50 crowd is growing, but does that make them any easier to sell to? The resistance of agencies to the older demos is and has always been that the older a consumer gets, the more costly it becomes to influence their purchasing decisions. It's not that they can't be influenced, it's that it becomes so expensive to attempt to do so that it's not worth it.
Has that changed?
No, that has not changed. And there is somewhat of a trend towards looking at 18-49 more than 25-54 as the overall "catch-all" demo.
In TV, 18-49 is the sales demo and the one that pretty much determines whether shows get renewed or not. While CBS has been campaigning at the agency and client level to also recognize 35-64 and the value that 55-64 brings to advertisers, there does not seem to be much sign that the needle has moved... despite encouraging editorials and articles everywhere from Ad Age to the online journals.
Of course, the decisions on targeting are mostly coming from the client, not the agency. The agency just does what it is told, or it gets whacked.