Aim older

“Marketers like to pretend that 28-year-olds buy luxury cars but the average age of those consumers is 51. It’s like the advertising industry is systematically incapable of marketing to people over 50.”

That’s from Robert Campbell, the creator of HIGH50, a content platform that aims for those 50 and older.

He’s just following the money, money that ad agencies refuse to acknowledge in their seemingly eternal fixation on 18-49.

In the US and the UK, nearly one-third of the population is over 50 (Hispanic demographics are considerably younger in America), and according to Campbell, by 2020 50% of the population in the UK will be over 50.

People over 50 control an astonishing 89% of all disposable wealth in the UK. I don’t have comparable figures for the US, but it’s safe to assume those over 50 in America also have lots of disposable wealth.

I realize that Radio, in particular, has totally ignored demos younger than 18, and in some markets, younger than 25 — and that’s an important issue our ownership should address before we permanently lose the youngest generation of potential listeners.

But all those AC and Classic Hits stations that are smoking hot in PPM should be on a lot more buys than they are.

Is this something the NAB and RAB could address?