Where have all the seniors gone?

[1]

Last weekend, as I sat watching the Sunday movie on a popular TV channel, I decided that for once I would not zap channels during commercial breaks. And what did I find? Every short movie break had a plethora of advertisements talking about mobiles and personal care products, insurance plans and real estate, cold drinks and chips. Each one experimenting with a new language — Youngistan ka wow!… a new face, a famous photographer and an old approach in a new bottle — the gold that you have should be used as collateral.
The production quality and creatives are world class, the repartee tongue in cheek — Khilana band pilana shuru (a popular tea brand) and innuendos galore: Guess who just heard from us? (A placement portal).
A bouquet of messages targeted to different takers, from the child, to the teen, from the man to the woman to the… Hey wait a minute! I back tracked what I had just seen and I was suddenly struck by the fact that there was practically nothing for the elderly.
The grey haired senior seemed to have been given a backseat. Just a little while ago, there was protection and caring offered by a variety of organisations. There was the care that could be delivered through Help Age; pharmaceutical companies like Pfizer had a whole range of solutions and supportive products, catering to problems of old age, which were advertised frequently. There were pleasant old women advising us on Ajanta clocks, there were classy royal old ladies selling solitaires. The grandmas, advising the next generation on a wide range of products from oils, detergents, cough syrups and salt. There were communications on thermals, to protect the elderly from the cold and the service provider, Airtel which helped you stay in touch with Dadaji.
So what had happened? Were they no longer potential consumers for the array of products in the market? Was the segment no longer important? That seemed a little strange as most reports on population statistics revealed that the average age for Indian men and women had gone up. So WHAT was the reason? A careful examination of the communication targeting the seniors, re-vealed some interesting findings.
The traditional grey haired, wise, sturdy and reliable senior was reduced to selling only cement and batteries. There was a new ‘young’ old consumer, who was bunking and having a ball — while his son slogged away — because he had wisely invested with Max. He was reprimanded by his policing wife for freaking out with friends. He was having a gala game of cricket in the streets, courtesy SBI. He was as full of beans and as mischievous as a young child when he was dancing on the streets and exuberantly proclaiming Kuch meetha ho jai. The old grandparents who instead of indulging their grandchildren were gorging themselves on Alpenliebe. The gang of ‘old girls’ who played pranks on the young girl; Onida and the old lady who still wanted to play seductress with Aaja aaja main hun pyar tera, a… a..a..Aja… The old couple in another advertisement was all set to go on holiday to Singapore and there was the jaunty old lady who got energised by the cool air of an air-conditioner and was giving Shah Rukh Khan a run for his money by dancing away.
The new mood was buoyant, positive and amazingly zestful. In fact, if one traces the origin of this new reality, one cannot help but recall the strict old man, who crashes into his daughter’s dance party, and once he has a taste of ‘the mint with a hole’ he is jiving away as spryly as the youngsters.
This bull’s eye that the marketeer has hit is not just a shot in the dark. There are legitimate and logical reasons why the new-old persona is gaining acceptance.
The first being that the senior of today is the rebellious Baby Boomer (born between 1946-1964) of yesterday, who always had a contrary perspective, was more individualistic and more economically optimistic. He looks on retirement as ‘re-engineering life’ and thus morose and staid messages are not for him. The marketeer thus does not make an error and salutes the indulgent ageless Peter Pan who has a ‘Never say Die’ attitude. The second reason, is that though well meaning, problem–solution advertisements were not welcomed by seniors as they seemed to highlight their weaknesses and be more of an embarrassment rather than a welcome solution.
Thus, the senior is in the market for innovative offerings, his outlook has changed and he is not taking a backseat for the next generation. He has been crooning “Eighteen till I die…’’ and she has been singing Abhi to main jawan hoon… Mr Marketer, you just need to lend a sympathetic ear and play the right songs with hopeful lyrics and dignified notes! So let the vintage symphony play on…
The writer is professor Marketing, International Management Institute
(IMI), Delhi