Here are two facts marketers and their advertising agencies need to consider (i.e., not ignore) as they plan next quarter’s budgets:
• 2004 Census data revealed that income in households headed by a person age 55-64 was $4,500 greater than in age 25–34 households.
• People in the 60+ age bracket are increasingly empty nesters, with all of their children finished with college. Thus, their income is available to themselves alone.
The result is that these people are now free—and can afford—vacations to Europe; cruises; winter skiing and summer beaches; restaurants of their choice, as often as they like; good wines; investments; a second home, timeshares; redecorating and remodeling; cars—and they do not stint on things relating to their health, including foods; exercise (and the right clothing for it).
They also have more income at their disposal for—and research shows that they buy—plasma televisions; computers; cell phones; PDAs; and digital cameras; and, of course, the grandchildren. They surf the net; buy on ebay and other sites.
In short, they are a hot consumer market that any marketer would, or should, be giving his proverbial eye teeth to get. But, aside from some ads in the AARP publications and the AAA magazine, the focus remains on the outmoded 18–49 media model!
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