Help the aged: TV advertisers alienating the over-55s

TVBrand owners are so focused on diversity and inclusion in their advertising that they are at risk of completely ignoring the over-55s, despite the fact that this age group makes up nearly one-third of the UK population, accounting for two thirds of TV impressions and 60% of the nation’s wealth.

So says a new report called Wise Up!, claimed to be the most comprehensive study to date on the state of age representation in UK advertising, jointly created by System1 and ITV.

System1 analysed 2021’s top 1,000 ads by media spend in the UK, coding work from 422 brands based on age and gender. In addition to the visibility issue among older people in ads, there is also gender disparity: it was far rarer for older women to star in ads than older men.

From the top ads, System1 tested more than 50 via its Test Your Ad platform to measure emotional response among the general public, as well as the over-55 and over-65 segments. The results of the ad tests highlight that older people may be easy for advertisers to reach, but they are much harder to please compared to younger audiences.

While System1’s 2021 Feeling Seen report on diversity and inclusion in advertising uncovered “diversity dividends”, or uplifts in an ad’s score among diverse groups who feel represented by the creative, these “diversity dividends” are far rarer among older people.

Only 5 out of 56 ads experienced a higher score with older audiences compared to the general population, with some performing considerably worse with the older demographic. Older viewers had more complaints about ad length, generic content and lack of interest.

The average score for the ads in the report was 3.76-stars among the general public, and an average 2.96-stars for older audiences. System1’s Star Rating from 1 to 5.9 predicts long-term brand growth based on the emotional response people have to the creative, with happiness carrying the most weight.

The report offers six key insights that helps brands produce ads that includes, respects and amuses older generations while also pleasing the general population.

System1 chief customer officer Jon Evans said: “The older demographic is a massive commercial opportunity for brands, but too often they’re ignored or portrayed inaccurately. Wise Up! is an actionable playbook that brands and agencies can follow to develop creative that entertains audiences and contributes to long-term growth.”

ITV director of client strategy and planning Kate Waters added: “With our latest report, we sought to first uncover how deep the age representation imbalance is in advertising and then highlight ways in which advertisers can bridge this gap.

“Putting the insights into practice will bring forward wonderful stories featuring older characters who are authentic, valued and part of a greater whole.”

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