We have had 16 year old Jamie Cox on work experience with us for a week.  He came along with us to the Mature Marketing Summit and this is his write-up…

On Monday 30th June, the Visbuzz team attended the first Mature Marketing Summit. The aim of this summit was to spread ideas and advice about how to include the elderly section of the demographic in marketing strategies, and for us to raise awareness. The Visbuzz team arrived in plenty of time, and took the opportunity to grab what we considered to be the best table to set up our display.

To kick off the morning’s festivities Jamie West, Deputy Managing Director of Sky Media, delivered a talk on the new Sky Adsmart. He told us of how, if you were a company looking to show an advert to only people residing in West Sussex, who have three children, a dog with black spots and drive a car with a tax band of D or higher, Sky Adsmart could be the very thing you need. He linked it back to mature marketing by showing how it could be used to help direct adverts to be specific and more relevant for the elderly.

After the Sky-guy, Prof Jeremy Myerson told us of the work he had been doing at the Royal College of Art (though he said himself, its more design than art). He delivered a very interesting speech on the challenges of designing for the elderly. From recognising that the life of an elderly person is not the slow fade to grey that it is seen as, and how designs can account for this, to the challenges of designing public space that works for all.

Helenor Gilmour gave a presentation about the problem of the far too unspecific globular term of ‘mature’ or ‘50+’. Her company (DC Thomson) had done a terrific amount of research on dividing the term 50+ into many different categories, this would then make it easier for companies to make their marketing endeavours more relevant and fitting to the diverse range of elderly.

Following up Helenor was Bob Shennan, controller of BBC Radio 2. He talked about the importance of the elderly to Radio 2’s huge success, and how their musical taste isn’t always as presumed. He also talked about how the elderly usually think of themselves as being younger, for at heart they always keep their youth. A very tasty lunch ensued and we had a great chance to have a chat with the others who were attending.

After lunch the eloquent John Redwood, Chairman of Conservative Economic Affairs Committee, gave a speech on the economic situations regarding the EU, China and the US, and their marketing implications and opportunities. He directed the attentions of marketing to specific groups of the 50+.

Next Professor Tom Kirkwood gave a presentation on how innovation is greatly needed for the ageing population. He talked of how when something is designed for the elderly it ends up becoming a great invention for all, be it families or teenagers.

The penultimate talk was given by Joe Twyman from YouGov. He presented some interesting statistics, information about the general operations of YouGov.  The research he is involved in will provide a wealthy base for marketers to refer to. He spoke about the differences between those under 60, and those above, and some of their similarities.

Finally, Elaine Draper Director Process Transformations at Barclays talked about the way that banking was made more inclusive and accessible for the elderly. She talked about the different services that could and are being provided, and the attitudes that should be used to help the elderly. She spoke of developments in Barclays that could be used across all businesses to assist the elderly.

The First Mature Marketing Summit was a fantastic experience for us at Visbuzz, we learned many things and the things we already know were validated, and hopefully we raised a bit of awareness about Visbuzz!