It’s Still The Same “Old” Story

Most of us have a tendency to make certain assumptions about different groups of people.
For instance, what are your assumptions when it comes to the elderly?

I recently had an insight into the thought processes of our senior population.
An 80-year old woman is quitting her job, because they are moving the location.
She picked her last day so as not to coincide with the retirement of another 80-year old woman in the same organization.
The other woman is, in her words–“a b*tch and I don’t want to be associated with her.”

After hearing that, I realized that the emotions that drive all of us do not diminish with age.
In some cases they fester for years and become even stronger.

I belong to an organization that has several senior members in their 70’s, 80’s, and 90’s.
Their blood runs just as hot on certain topics as does the emotions of the younger members.

As marketers, we need to remember that the elderly are just as emotion driven as the rest of us.
They have the same vanities, wants, needs, and fears as all of us.
Don’t discount emotion (think of the seven deadly sins) when you target your marketing to that group.