Marketing to the Ageing Consumer: The Secrets of Building an Age Friendly Business

By Dick Stroud and Kim Walker

Published by Palgrave Macmillan

Marketing to the Ageing Consumer is the first and most comprehensive account of physiological ageing, affecting consumers’ minds, bodies and senses. The UN says that ‘Population ageing is unprecedented, a process without parallel in the history of humanity’. This book explains how marketers can exploit this demographic trauma by devising and implementing an age-friendly strategy. Offering many examples including Apple, Tesco, Sky TV and M&S, the authors offer advice on how companies can respond to physiological ageing.

The challenge

First of all, the field of marketing books is very competitive; second, they aren’t easy to promote as they hardly have a ‘news’ angle. Moreover, newspapers’ business pages tend to focus on economy and company news rather than on general stories.

The solution

Since ageing is clearly a topic of social interest: for policy makers, sociologists, the business/marketing community and other professionals… I contacted the corresponding media pitching stories relevant to them.

The result

Dick Stroud was invited by City AM to write an op-ed piece entitled ‘Old age Britain: An Opportunity for firms to profit from demographics’ (City AM is the daily free City newspaper, circ. 97K+). I also set up an interview with Business Daily, aired by the BBC World Service, with Dick Stroud’s co-author, Kim Walker. The Financial Times (circ. 198K+) too mentioned the book. Moreover, the digital edition of Marketing magazine (ABC controlled circ. 11K), Direct Marketing International and the Chartered Institute of Public Relation’s website (the Institute has 12K subscribing members) were among the professional media who covered the book.

Marketing to the Ageing Consumer: The Secrets of Building an Age Friendly Business

By Dick Stroud and Kim Walker

Published by Palgrave Macmillan

Marketing to the Ageing Consumer is the first and most comprehensive account of physiological ageing, affecting consumers’ minds, bodies and senses. The UN says that ‘Population ageing is unprecedented, a process without parallel in the history of humanity’. This book explains how marketers can exploit this demographic trauma by devising and implementing an age-friendly strategy. Offering many examples including Apple, Tesco, Sky TV and M&S, the authors offer advice on how companies can respond to physiological ageing.

The challenge

First of all, the field of marketing books is very competitive; second, they aren’t easy to promote as they hardly have a ‘news’ angle. Moreover, newspapers’ business pages tend to focus on economy and company news rather than on general stories.

The solution

Since ageing is clearly a topic of social interest: for policy makers, sociologists, the business/marketing community and other professionals… I contacted the corresponding media pitching stories relevant to them.

The result

Dick Stroud was invited by City AM to write an op-ed piece entitled ‘Old age Britain: An Opportunity for firms to profit from demographics’ (City AM is the daily free City newspaper, circ. 97K+). I also set up an interview with Business Daily, aired by the BBC World Service, with Dick Stroud’s co-author, Kim Walker. The Financial Times (circ. 198K+) too mentioned the book. Moreover, the digital edition of Marketing magazine (ABC controlled circ. 11K), Direct Marketing International and the Chartered Institute of Public Relation’s website (the Institute has 12K subscribing members) were among the professional media who covered the book.