Gransnet forums

Product tests and surveys

   Please note: This topic is for your comments and feedback on Product Tests and Surveys being run by Gransnet. It is not the place to post (or ask for) comments on other products or to post your own surveys. If you do this, your comments may be deleted. If you'd like to run your own product test or survey, please email [email protected]. If you are an entrepreneur or start-up and would like to ask for some feedback, please visit our media requests topic here

Advertising to the over 50s - what's the best way to do it? £150 voucher to be won NOW CLOSED

(30 Posts)
MetteGransnet (GNHQ) Thu 07-Sep-17 11:00:40

We want to know your thoughts about advertising - in particular how advertisers could improve in their marketing to people over the age of 50.

Everyone who takes part will be entered into a prize draw where one winner will receive a £150 voucher for the store of their choice (from a list, includes Amazon, M&S, Debenhams and lots more!). All data is confidential.

Here's the link: www.surveymonkey.co.uk/r/WTQ8QCD

Thanks and good luck with the prize draw!

Esspee Mon 25-Sep-17 13:32:40

At the end of the questionnaire you are asked for your GN nickname and email address. This negates the whole idea of this being an anonymous forum.
With that information we could end up receiving targeted advertising based on information about us which has been gleaned from our posts.
I think GN has been remiss in allowing this. My advice to all is do not complete the questionnaire.

DerekY Mon 25-Sep-17 05:43:11

In general I think that most of the adverts are southern middle england based . The people have excellent houses and have that far away look in there eye. When really some are disabled with artheritis,lonley, spehding time on doctors or hospital appointments, Not at all like those potraide in the ads

oldperson Fri 22-Sep-17 11:53:19

done. Is it just me, am I unique? I never look at ads, they annoy me. Of course they are going to say they are the best so why would I believe them.

NanKate Thu 21-Sep-17 21:50:45

All done and dusted.

ellenemery Thu 21-Sep-17 13:47:02

done

dogsmother Thu 21-Sep-17 13:20:43

Whatever 'Garnier' are doing must be right, can't believe how many of their products I have in my bathroom!
It's only me that chooses which shampoo, body lotion etc, so I guess they have the key.

littlemonkeyz Thu 21-Sep-17 13:11:25

I depends on what is being marketed. My husband will be 50 next year and we have a young son. Advertisers need to remember that people are having families later in life and 50 is still young! Also, much of the population now are living on their own, will never have grandchildren and have no intention of sitting on the couch growing old.

Blinko Thu 21-Sep-17 12:49:17

I'm annoyed by adverts for face creams featuring women of about 30. I want to see what miracle these creams do with an older skin...

cassandra264 Thu 21-Sep-17 10:56:34

Never mind the draw, give the £150 to MOnica, she's said it all!

creativz Thu 21-Sep-17 10:41:59

I usually switch myself off from watching TV during ad breaks, but if the audio grabs my attention I'm much more likely to be influenced in some way, the mute button often comes in handy ! smile

landgirl Wed 20-Sep-17 17:00:00

To be honest I rarely see ads - edit them out of recorded TV programmes, use an adblocker online and don't buy newspapers. I do resent being regarded as a group as incompetent with technology though - I don't need a simplified phone, I want one with all the features!

OlderthanElvis Wed 20-Sep-17 13:50:34

I'm in my late 50s and tired of being lumped in with people my mother's age. And, yes, I'm more inclined to buy books and records than a funeral plan.

M0nica Tue 19-Sep-17 17:16:07

With life expectancy growing being over 50 could account for nearly half of your life

When are we going to see surveys about advertising and marketing to the under 50s,which group will include new-borns.

sophie56 Tue 19-Sep-17 15:35:36

All done - the problem is that there is such a large difference between older people. Some 80 year olds are fit, mentally alert, full of life and vigour and still independent and others age less favourably so it is hard to market to everyone over a certain age as if they are all the same. Ageing is part of life and there seems to be a fear of the different stages of life so there is a tendency to view ageing as other, rather than something we all have to accept as just another part of life.

fourormore Sun 17-Sep-17 21:11:20

Like Noreen I get fed up with life insurance, funeral plan ads and the like.
Hubby and I were housebound for a few weeks recently and watched a lot of daytime TV. We are now fully aware that Parky STILL can't say which his most interesting interview was, June from next door is STILL delivering post that has been delivered next door by mistake and as for the vacuum that shackles you to the wall when you can buy theirs for a hundred and ninety-nine 'parnds' - words fail us!!! grin
Don't get me going on the adjustable chairs etc. either grin

Noreen3 Sun 17-Sep-17 16:43:24

I get fed up with adverts for low cost life insurance,you would get hardly any cover for prices as low as they lead you to believe they are.I don't like older people all being shown as grey haired.We asked for some posters advertising our local National Trust supporters group,of course they came back with photos of grey haired people,our members haven't all got grey hair.I also don't like the type of advertising where they advertise expensive holidays and cruises for older people,I certainly can't afford them.Just treat us as normal people,that's all we are.

sylwright Sat 16-Sep-17 22:04:32

Completed the survey, although there wasn't always a suitable answer to choose from. When asked about advertising products aimed at my age group I opted for print for the simple reason I rarely read any newspapers and at least I could ignore the ads there. I hate the fact that all the ads on tv during the day are aimed at gullible old people, ie life insurance that is mostly a con, funeral plan insurance and my biggest bugbear, the constant ads asking for money for "charities" for anything and everything.

dahlia08 Fri 15-Sep-17 12:06:22

Love advert. They look and seem so real. Is it all true?

deltadunarii Fri 15-Sep-17 09:40:07

Done. In my opinion stereotypes don't work anymore. People over 50 are so diverse these days that doesn't make sense to put them all in one category anymore. Some will continue to work for much longer, some are active some not so much. Some people are traditional and prefer the printed paper, some moved their lives online, so advertisers will need to find a way to reach out to this type of customer through different and more innovative ways.

M0nica Thu 14-Sep-17 22:08:53

But that applies to families and couples of all ages in most ads. I have yet to see anyone in an advert selling a product who does not have the perfect life and home, needing only the product in the advert to complete it.

gran1 Thu 14-Sep-17 14:20:06

Most of the older people on TV and in magazines are white couples with large houses, sun lounges, paved driveways leading up to a big garage, massive kitchens (even the ones who are ordering ready meals to be delivered). One well known holiday firm does have two black ladies in it's adverts
but most companies stick to the same old stereotypes.

Lorelei Wed 13-Sep-17 14:57:46

Advertisers need to stop all the fast-talking, annoying voice-over ads that are nothing but annoying. For years I have turned the volume down on TV & radio so that I do not have to listen to the tripe any more. I am also fed-up with the way my age group are portrayed as perfect: big homes, huge well-tended gardens, perfect bodies, hair, make-up, teeth etc to go with perfect lifestyles, yachting around the world, cruising etc. I wish ads aimed at any age group were more realistic, showed normal flaws and all people and stopped being so patronising. Current advertising is a headache, jarring and sometimes bears no resemblance to the truth! I have little that's positive to say about the dreadful state of the advertising that seems to take up far too much air time and most of which is irrelevant to me. Oh, and also hate the way the volume seems to increase for ads - deafen you with drivel.

CaliBoingo Wed 13-Sep-17 10:22:15

M0nica - My thoughts exactly. The survey bore no concern regarding the products they want to push on us. Advertisers seem determined to sell us stairlifts whether we need them or not.

M0nica Mon 11-Sep-17 14:38:58

Not a particularly good questionnaire, and I doubt it will provide much useful data. It was too focused on process rather than content and assumed we would be happy with age defined advertising, if properly presented. Not an assumption that bears any examination.

I watch very little television and have Ad Blocker on my computer, so most of the advertising I see is in print. Usually at the back of a paper are pages and pages of ads and advertorial aimed at older people. I turn them over as a wadge without even looking at them.

I am in France at the moment and in the telephone shop. I picked up some of their advertising literature for the local equivalent of Sky. The editorial pictures included pictures of people of all ages, including the old, either individually or in mixed groups. All the older people were shown as competent and confident with new technology. None of this smirking 'daughter' leaning patronisingly over little old ladies shoulder explaining how it works in words of one syllabub style so common in the UK.

Auntieflo Sun 10-Sep-17 12:51:29

Filled in the questionnaire, but not sure if it "went through" or not. What was daft, was the assumption that we all use FB or similar. There was no facility for N/A. ( that I could see) May be wrong, have been unwell and feeling all at sea.