An Aha! Moment - Jerry Shereshewsky - MediaBizBloggers

In a recent email to friends, prospects and customers I wrote about a familiar subject: the 50+ audience, its size and economic value and why marketers just don't get it (yet). I just received a wonderful reply from a grad student at the VCU BrandCenter, Emily Lacy. Here's what she said:

To be honest, I simply hadn't considered that point of view. Here at the BrandCenter, we spend much of our time focusing on "Millennials," because we feel it will give us a chance to make something "cool," but we are obviously losing sight of the larger picture. Knowing that in 33% of households 50+ grandmothers are making the decisions opens up so many more opportunities for communication. I haven't been giving that audience the credit it deserves--both in terms of the ability to sway a family and in terms of fun-loving capacity.

I couldn't say it better.

The great part about this email is its succinct depiction of a genuine Aha! Moment. The writer suddenly became aware that there's a bigger world out there than the one she stares at daily at school (or in the office). The school (a truly excellent training ground, by the way) is a microcosm of the situation at most agencies. The students are mostly in their mid to late 20's and the faculty in a sense panders to them by asking them to work on things that are most familiar to them: themselves.

But the real world isn't like that at all. Customers and prospects come in all sizes, shapes, colors and, of course, ages. And if we limit ourselves to selling only to people who look like us, we are doing ourselves and our clients a massive disservice. One of my favorite movie scenes is from Mel Gibson's charming "What Women Want," where he is surprised while "exfoliating." While not a regular user of this category, Gibson (or at least his character) knew exactly how to understand the inter-relationship between user and product. It is the ability as creative marketers to go beyond our own narrow range of experiences that makes it worthwhile for clients to hire agencies in the first place.

So thanks Emily for sharing your Aha! Moment. Let's hope others out there can learn from your insights.

Jerry Shereshewsky is CEO of grandparents.com; a lifestage website for the baby boomer grandparents of today and tomorrow. Jerry can be reached at jhs@grandparents.com

Read all Jerry’s MediaBizBloggers commentaries at Rants & Raves from the Heart of Advertising - MediaBizBloggers.

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