Offer the Time of Their Lives to Senior Citizens

As the world was getting set to be one century older—on December 28, 1999— Hallmark Cards filed for a U.S. trademark on the phrase “The Time of Your Life.” Hallmark said they wanted to use the phrase on products ranging from greeting cards to journals to paperweights, all targeted to older consumers. Hallmark’s marketing group had noticed that nearly 80 million American baby boomers were turning age 50. Not too long after the registration was approved, special sections appeared in Hallmark Stores carrying “The Time of Your Life” merchandise.
     When it came time to renew the trademark, toward the end of 2007, Hallmark instead cancelled the registration. “The Time of Your Life” merchandise had not sold well. Oh, the greeting cards and the other items were all quite upbeat—showing healthy-looking senior citizens enjoying themselves. But it appeared that few people were interested in buying items that made a point of the recipient being old. These days, Hallmark is using “The Time of Your Life” as a tag line on a greeting card designed for a 21st birthday celebration.
     Skechers is taking a different approach to woo the older consumer. Their “Comeback” campaign features retired sports stars like Wayne Gretzky, Joe Montana, Karl Malone, and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. In the campaign, each of the stars talks about how products from Skechers could help them return to professional-level game performance.

• Unless your retail business model is based on addressing the infirmities of old age, sell to older consumers by highlighting their capabilities and opportunities. For example, call them seniors, not elderly. Researchers at Ghent University and Vlerick Leuven Gent Management School in Belgium had older consumers evaluate the attractiveness of names for them. The participants were quite comfortable with older consumers being senior or retired. “Elderly” got negative reviews.
• At the same time, recognize seniors’ limitations by using large fonts in ads and signage and by confirming understanding during sales presentations. Researchers at University of Toronto, University of Michigan-Ann Arbor, University of Illinois-Urbana/Champaign, and University of Michigan found that older consumers are more likely than younger consumers to get confused about which facts regarding your store and your merchandise are true and false. That’s especially so if there’s a delay of a few days between you giving the facts and the older consumer making a purchase decision. So repeat important information. In a respectful way, of course.

Click below for more:
Market to Seniors, Not to Elderly
Help Seniors to Shop Early
Emphasize Emotions with Older Consumers