Why Empowerment Marketing Unlocks Success in the Longevity Economy

We've generally shifted from 20th century inadequacy marketing to empowering content. This positive messaging approach is perfect for older adults.

When it comes to the massive demographic shift we’re in and the economic power involved, the longevity economy is irrefutable. It’s happening and growing, and nothing can stop it.

What’s not certain is how things will play out. This adds an extra layer of excitement to those who lead the charge, as we can literally help shape how the world looks not only for older people, but society as a whole.

But unlike other trends that enjoy less certainty, the opportunity is not in full focus for many businesses and the marketing professionals who guide them. That’s because ageism, stereotypes, and misconceptions are natural barriers to seeing the full scope of the opportunity. 

The good news is that you now have a clearer understanding of reality. You now know that many of the things we accept as truth about older people, retirement, and aging in general are simply not accurate.

With that out of the way, it’s time to dive into how best to market to older people. First, we remember the “golden rule” that older people are people too, and that means they’re all very different individuals who will go through varying stages of life for decades. So just as with smart marketing in general, no one strategy will appeal to all.

That said, there is an overarching approach that works with all older adults. And it’s radically different from what we’ve seen in the past.

Getting Rid of FOMO (Fear of Marketing Older)

The only logical rationale behind ignoring older adults from a marketing standpoint has been the idea that the spending isn’t there due to being in or preparing for retirement. As this objection unravels, the longevity market’s economic power will become fully evident.

And yet, there will be large amounts of trepidation instead of uniform excitement. Your average Madison Avenue type will not likely find marketing to older people sexy or intriguing. Make no mistake, the market is already here, and the reticence of some companies to fully embrace the opportunity is nothing new – large brands love to think they’re disrupters, but, in reality, they prefer the status quo with only the superficial appearance of change.

This is why marketers remain entranced with younger consumers despite the indisputable demographic shift and clear data on who has the money and does the bulk of the spending. Here’s how author and gerontologist Ken Dychtwald sums it up:

For far too long, marketers have been in love with youth and uncomfortable with aging, and today they’re directing nearly all their attention to Millennials and Gen Z. But those cohorts are strapped for cash, time-constrained, and are not proving to be brand loyal to anyone’s products and services.

The problem is a new kind of FOMO, or fear of marketing older. Too many in our youth-focused culture currently regard older people with uneasiness or even disdain, and consider them a drain on societal resources with little to offer in return. Plus, there’s the preconception that older people are too hard to relate to.

This fear comes from two now-familiar origins. First, a lack of positive examples of how to market to older people well due to their remarkable absence in advertising:

According to the Federal Reserve’s Survey of Consumer Finances, people over 50 now own over 70% of all personal wealth held in the U.S. While people over 50 now represent the majority (52%) of consumer spending, they are depicted in less than 20% of advertisements.

The second origin of the fear is the cringe-inducing nature of the examples that are out there, à la  “I’ve fallen, and I can’t get up.” Given the misconceptions about what it’s actually like to be an older person, most marketers may honestly believe this is how you have to speak to older adults. Would you want that job?

That’s why I’ve spent so much time upfront dispelling the ageist stereotypes and ignorance that most people carry around. While I suspect it won’t be as excusable in the coming years, a culture so steeped in ageism that it’s virtually unnoticeable requires education, not condemnation.

And when that education happens, attitudes among marketers and entrepreneurs do, in fact, change for the better. Dr. Richard Caro does qualitative research aimed at improving the quality of life for older adults and sees firsthand the shift in thinking when he consults with companies:

"One of the strongest recurring themes when we do projects helping company development teams refine their prototypes or explore the unmet needs of older adults,” says Caro, "is how shocked the developers and marketers are when they discover the huge gap between their prior perceptions of older adults and the reality they hear."

The most critical shift in perception involves rejecting the idea that life after 50 is all about the aging process. It’s not. It’s about living the best life possible, and that’s what older adults seek even though it’s largely missing from the marketplace.

From Inadequacy to Empowerment

The 20th century was fueled by inadequacy marketing that encouraged material accumulation to fill the psychological void in status and self-esteem. Without access to alternative perspectives, marketers targeted people with messages that positioned the brand as the hero, promising to save the poor prospect from the anxiety manufactured by the message.

If your neighbor had a new Buick, you were now made to feel lesser in terms of social status. Why not upgrade to a Cadillac and take the lead?

As we entered the internet age, things changed. In this relatively new environment ripe with information and choices, the prospect is in charge. They are no longer passive recipients of messages aimed at them through a severely limited range of media outlets. If your message makes them feel bad about themselves, they’ll click away to an option that strikes a different chord. Worse, there’s a good chance that people will take to social media and tell everyone how braindead your messaging is.

Along with the rise of the internet and social media, there has been a concurrent shift in the psychological philosophy behind most marketing. Empowerment marketing is based on principles of positive psychology — a discipline focused on meaning and satisfaction instead of addressing weaknesses and abnormalities. In contrast, inadequacy marketing was the norm in the days when Freudian abnormal psychology held massive influence over marketers of the last century.

However, the limited amount of marketing and advertising that’s aimed at older people seems hopelessly mired in that 20th-century Freudian style. And the reason is simple – we've been culturally trained to view older people as inherently inadequate. From this perspective, getting older is not about living; it’s about a series of problems that must be solved or, more likely, simply managed until one mercifully departs this mortal coil.

Again, once the myths and stereotypes are dealt with, this view can be easily altered. And that’s where you’re at now as a Longevity Gains reader. But it’s more than that. Older people are not only allergic to inadequacy marketing just like other people of all ages, they are likely even more receptive to forms of empowerment marketing.

Around age 50, people come out of the trough of the U-Shaped Happiness Curve, essentially becoming happier and more satisfied with life. This corresponds with most older people jumping off the hedonic and status-seeking treadmill and generally seeking fulfillment from intrinsic motivators that provide meaning and purpose.

Translation: around age 50, people stop being motivated by what they're supposed to achieve by societal standards and become more focused on who they really want to become. That means they’ll choose to do business with brands that empower them to become their version of their best selves.

How does empowerment marketing work? That’s a question with a highly involved answer, but we can boil it down to three primary aspects.

The first step is both simple and powerful, and that’s to tell the truth. As we’ve seen, simply refuting the stereotypes and misconceptions about older people changes ageist perceptions among the young, the old, and the middle-aged.

The second key characteristic of empowerment marketing emphasizes the power of the prospect. It puts them in the role of the hero, with the company or product as the guide or mentor assisting with a journey of transformation. If you’ve ever thought of Joseph Campbell’s mythical hero’s journey as a metaphor for the buying journey, you’re familiar with a core tenet of empowerment marketing.

The final aspect of empowerment marketing is perhaps the best of all, at least for businesses of all sizes that successfully put their customers in the central role. A values-driven, empowered customer base becomes a group of influential advocates for your company, product, or service in a way that shame-based inadequacy marketing can never hope to achieve.

We’ll explore examples of empowerment marketing in upcoming issues of Longevity Gains. But for now, let’s talk about why empowerment via demonizing the young is not a smart strategy.

The Money Is Not In “Us Versus Them”

I hope by now you understand that our obsession with youth is not only unhealthy for society, it’s bad for the bottom line. And while we can trace back our accelerated obsession with youth to an insidious marketing tactic that initially empowered the young Baby Boomers, that’s not the right move now.

Youth culture was created in the 1940s by the most simplistic marketing tactic around: young is wired, old is tired. This “us versus them” narrative is a rhetorical technique used throughout the ages, often with destructive tribal consequences.

Unfortunately, when the media mentions older people, it’s often along these lines. The “OK Boomer” meme is more about legitimate concerns from young people about income inequality and a perceived lack of urgency about pressing issues such as climate change. But that’s not how it’s often presented in reporting, which instead focuses on general disdain for older people by the young.

More damaging to intergenerational relations was the perceived lack of concern from some about COVID-19, specifically that it “only kills old people, so let’s just proceed with life.” Ironically, the pandemic exposed ageism and misconceptions about older adults more than perhaps any other event in recent history.

Will some marketers resort to the “us versus them” approach? Of course. After all, much of the most damaging political division stoked in recent years can be traced right back to a simple desire to fleece certain people out of their money.

I’ll make the case going forward that the real money will be made by a tighter integration of older people into the rest of society and that divisive messaging is counterproductive. While it may sound idealistic, intergenerational harmony is good for both humanity and business.

Ultimately, the real opportunity of the longevity economy is not in demographic or even generational segmentation. It’s about focusing on healthy lifestyles, empowering values, and positive attitudes that transcend chronological age.