On Monday October 6th, I will be presenting at the Trade Days exhibition at the NEC, Birmingham, on the subject of Marketing and Older People.

Trade Days is a new offshoot of the established Pharmacy Show, which is for the ‘homecare, mobility and assistive technology trade’.

The link between these products and services and older people is, apparently, obvious. The inevitability of physical ageing means that the older you are, the more likely you are to need these products. It is a fact that 50% of those registered as disabled are aged over 65.

Hence, it has been traditional for these sort of businesses to use a rather stereotyped and outdated image of old people and old age. Decrepit and dependent.

However, perhaps this link isn’t so obvious at all. Please consider these points:

• Many older people are physically active for longer. They do not want or need to be confronted with these sorts of products
• Older people are changing. The leading edge of the so-called ‘baby boomer’ generation is now in its late sixties. They will not respond to the sort of approach that might have once worked for their parents and grandparents.
• Many people who use these products are not old. You use a stairlift because you have problems walking up stairs, which can happen at any age. It must be bad enough to be disabled and then patronised, but to be grouped in the same category as a stereotyped group of old people must be beyond annoying.

Want to know more? Come to my presentation, or for a friendly chat contact me:

Mark Beasley
mark@rhcadvantage.co.uk

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