SAN JOSE: David Wolfe, author of Ageless Marketing, tells the story of Reader’s Digest’s efforts to increase readership. Back around 25 years ago there was a successful lifestyle magazine for the older crowd called 50 Plus. Readers Digest took notice of an aging population and the beachhead that 50 Plus had established in older markets and bought 50 Plus from its founding owners.
Certainly no slacker in magazine marketing, Reader’s Digest announced ambitious plans to run 50 Plus’ circulation up from about 550,000 to over a million in a couple of years. To do this, Reader’s Digest felt it needed a new look and a new name. 50 Plus was rechristened New Choices and launched with page after page of sparklingly youthful looking seniors all sporting the fitness look of a triathlete.
Legions of long loyal 50 Plus subscribers were outraged. They were outraged by the name change, and outraged by the replacement of the real faces of aging with air brushed faces that masked the realities of aging. The iconic Reader’s Digest, one of the smartest magazine marketers, had struck out with an age group it should have better understood: they were a sizable slice of Reader’s Digest circulation.
The New Choices team failed to realize the importance of authenticity in the ranks of older people. Apparently, aging was not a big issue to many on 50 Plus’ subscription roster.
Most advertising featuring pictures of older people are no more authentic than New Choices was. And was is the right word because it shut down its operations in 2002.
It’s widely known in marketing circles that most people over 50 think marketers misrepresent them in ads. Yet, few marketers seem influenced by this or know what to do about it. However, the remedy is simple: Be authentic in representing aging.
Being authentic doesn’t mean glorifying wrinkles or other signs of aging. Above all it simply means being natural. When they are not poorly executed jokes about aging, most depictions of seniors in ads are unnatural. Their contrived smiles in staged settings work against the very idea of authenticity, undercutting the ad’s credibility.
The best way to connect a brand with Baby Boomers is to do so indirectly…