Friday 31 August 2012

Dear Brands and Advertisers



I once read somewhere or other that we are more inclined to purchase something from someone who is within seven years either side of our own age.   

So why don’t Advertisers take this on board when trying to market products to us?  

Especially those in the beauty industry.  

I’ve always loved make up and beauty products and always will no matter how old I get. As a former makeup artist it’s just part of me and I will continue to try new products. Even when I intellectually know that there will be days when my wrinkles would be better assisted by spac filla from the hardware store than expensive moisturiser from the department store.  

However, why is it I get the feeling that Brands regard everyone from their 40s up as comedic fodder.  

Why don’t we get to see believable, yet inspirational imagery that we can relate to? Not wrinkle free, photoshopped 20 and 30 somethings, no matter how gorgeous they are, advertising products designed for mature women.  

It seems the huge focus on youth has diverted attention away from where society is heading. The population is aging dramatically. In the next 20 years the number of over 60s will double and they are rewriting the rule book of advancing years. That means, billions of potential purchasers who are surprisingly interested in way more than just the stereotypical products such as bifocals, funeral insurance, zimmer frames, wheelchairs, retirement homes and incontinence products.  

So wake up advertisers. You need to better engage with the middle-aged and the elderly because ultimately the prize for you is going to be huge.  

You see, we cannot look or act like 20 or 30 somethings no matter how much of your products we use or how much surgery we have. And we are not doddery old folk who have given up on life. Most of us just want to be the best 40, 50, 60, 70, 80, 90, 100 somethings we can.   

Besides, the most valuable consumers for a brand are those who are prepared – and have the financial means – to purchase? In these times of economic slowdown, it’s older people, in general, who are better placed to retain their spending levels. In fact those aged 45-64 have the highest discretionary spending power.  And according to Ad Research the greatest growth in the number of online shoppers is among the over 75s, closely followed by 55 to 64 year olds. Who would have thought it?  

So let's get the marketing images a bit more realistic. Here, for example, is a picture of 101 year old Ruth who appeared on one of my favourite blogs, Advanced Style. 101 years old. No use of photoshop or cosmetic enhancements.



 


I would most definitely be more inclined to buy a beauty product from someone who looks 40 years younger than she is than someone who is in their 20s and 30s and looks it, wouldn't you?

Go on Brands, reinvigorate yourselves and be a little game to try something different. We are ready and waiting. The benefits may just surprise you.


Lilly

Friday 24 August 2012

Ok, maybe it was not one of my best ideas....

Have you ever had what you thought was a great idea only to discover that you were completely deluded as soon as you put your idea into action?

Let's take my great idea for a 24 hour road trip. 

I wanted to drive on my own, up a rural highway, through three States in my little black sporty Mazda. A vehicle which unfortunately like its owner, is built for city living not life in the wild west.

So it all started like this.

An idea. A map. Directions from Point A to Point B. Good intentions.

Easy as.

My journey from A to B, however unfortunately because I trusted my Sat Nav I went A, Z, X Y, P before I noticed I was going in circles.

I left early and all was going well until about 40 minutes into the journey. Yes, 40 minutes. I started to wonder where I could stop to get a decent coffee.

Detour.

During the second hour I was asking myself, "Am I there yet?" There was only so much scenery I could comfortably look at before boredom set in (what do you mean I should have been paying attention to the road....)

Detour.
 

  
And by the third hour I was ready to call it quits for the day and find the nearest bar.  Detour.

I know.  Absolutely no stamina whatsoever.
 
      My two day trip turned into four. I arrived...eventually.
 
     And now I have some tips to share for anyone else considering a long road trip.
      
     1. Seriously don't do it.  Bad idea. Fly instead.

     2. OK, if you insist on going you need more than a positive attitude and perseverance. Take whatever performance enhancing drugs you can find.  Two or three days on a mainly straight highway with only passing trucks for company will present challenges for even the most committed traveller.

     3. Sign up to Jenny Craig before you leave. Because I swear you are going to put on 10 kilos during your trip. The ONLY food you will be able to buy is PROCESSED CARBOHYDRATE CRAP which is full of  SUGAR and TRANSFATS. Those bloody golden Arches are everywhere.......for a reason......

    4. No matter how much you like your own company do not attempt to make this trip alone. Because it is a really long way and you are going to look really, really pathetic when you keep pressing the Sat Nav just to hear another voice .........a voice which says over and over again, Continue on the same road.

    5. Be selective about the music you take. After hearing Leonard Cohen and Jeff Buckley over and over I was ready to throw myself off the nearest cliff (and fortunately for me I did not take the coastal road where cliffs abound). Take music that is up tempo and that you can stomach listening to a few times.

    6. Learn the only rule of the highway that matters - Size is everything.  Just ask those cowboys in those big rigs. They own the road and there is no point in arguing.

      
      7. And speaking of those big rigs, NEVER ever stick your finger up at a truck driver (I just may have...) and expect to get away with it. So what that he was driving on your tail for kilometre after kilometre and refused to pass until he forced you off the road.  They rule the road.

     This is what happens when you mess with semi trailers. Remember Duel with Dennis Weaver? You will if you are at least 100. This should be enough of a reminder to turn you off road tripping......forever.



     8. And finally, have a Plan B. Work out how you can get your car back to point A if you decide midway through the trip that this was an ill conveived idea and you would rather fly instead. I am in the middle of devising Plan B now.....those trucks know my number plate for goodness sake...I am flying back home and one of those semis can take my car back down the highway this time. That way everyone will be happy.





 

Sunday 5 August 2012

Silver is apparently the new gold

Well so said an interior designer in the Homewares store I was in yesterday.

“I went to a Trade show in Sydney last weekend”, she squealed with excitement,  “and I can tell you silver will be big on the home decorating front for years time to come.  It’s definitely the new gold.”

In candlesticks and serving platters maybe but even the Australian Olympic athletes seem to be under the impression that silver medals are the new gold too.

You see after eight days of competition we have little gold to speak of but are right up there on the silver medal tally. Along with Russia, China and the USA. It will be the first time since the 1976 games that we have walked away from the swimming pool without an individual gold medal. 

Shock. Horror. Great Britain, New Zealand and even Kazakhstan are way ahead of us. I am not sitting on the couch yelling Aussie, Aussie, Aussie oi, oi oi but kneeling on the floor crying Aussie, Aussie, Aussie wah, wah wah.

So in an effort to be more sportsmanlike, I would like to congratulate those countries ahead of us on the gold medal table…and there are a lot ……18 to be precise. And a big shout out to the USA who are hanging on to the leader board by one gold medal over China, and to the host nation, Great Britain, for some amazing and spirited performances.

And France - who knew you could be so stylish and so sporty!

I have been unashamedly glued to the TV. I am very competitive. In fact I could easily win a Gold Medal  – for sitting on the couch for extended periods of time yelling at the TV. However, with each Olympics I am inspired to move more.  And now I have found a new sport I am keen to try. I want to take up tossing a ball over a net on a beach even though I may actually be better suited to tossing people around the floor - for reasons I will explain later.

And as you would expect, after so much Olympic viewing I do have a few highlights and lowlights to share. 

The Opening Ceremony
Well done Great Britain. Your athletes uniforms may have looked like Elvis impersonator cast offs but Danny Boyle sure put on a classy and fun opening Ceremony. Queen Elizabeth and Bond were just fantastic as was Rowan Atkinson hilarious. And I loved the fact that talented young athletes who are not yet household names got to light the cauldron. The only lowlight for me came in the shape of a Beatle. And at the risk of sounding sacrilegious, Sir Paul McCartney, I think it’s time to retire…. flogging a dead horse I think it’s called. Yes, I said it. 



The Twitter Games

Isn’t it amazing how much trouble can be started in 140 characters or less. This is the first social media Olympics. A Greek athlete was expelled from the Games for something she tweeted. Then Police had to arrest people in the UK and US for threats sent via Twitter to athletes. Rupert Murdoch thinks the athletes should just toughen up. As he points out, he has received hundreds of death threats since joining Twitter but he doesn't run to the police. Personally, I would like to know why elite athletes are up half the night tweeting and facebooking their fans, friends and family.

A level playing field
Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Brunei had been the only three countries that had never fielded female Olympians in their teams. With all three now including women, these are the first Olympics in which every competing nation, 205, is represented by female competitors. That is a triumph. Now all Saudi Arabia has to do is give women the keys to the car as they are still banned from driving there.


Different shapes
With so much exposed flesh running around you cannot help but admire all the different body shapes.  I am loving what running on sand must do for your body because beach volley ball players have great figures. With those skimpy uniforms you cannot help but notice. Just ask all those men who have filled the stands with each game. I also have been spell bound by the rowing. The athletes  are so long and lean. However, to give us more well padded people hope that we could just walk from our couch straight into Olympic competition, meet  Ricardo Blas Junior a 218k judo player from  Guam.  He was defeated in the second round by someone half his size but skill comes in all shapes and sizes. 



Sportsperson of the Decade
The United States swimmer Michael Phelps. There are no words really but there would not be one person in the entire world who could not given him a standing ovation for what he has achieved. 21 gold medals across three Olympics.  Personally I think his biggest feat is consuming 12,000 calories a day for that many years. Like how?


Best sport of the Games so far

Everyone loves an Olympic underdog (no, I am not talking about Australia here). We all know that large countries spend millions on their athletes to bring home Gold medals. However, think about the small nations who have nothing - no money, resources, training  etc but who still participate in the Games. Meet Hamadou Djibo Issaka, a 35-year old from Niger. He keeps smiling even though he keeps coming last in the rowing.  Four months ago he had never been in a boat.  He won a place at the Games courtesy of a wild card from the IOC ‘in the spirit of universal representation’. His experience until then consisted of watching rowing on television. To be fair, there isn’t much call for rowers in Niger. More than 80 per cent of the country is Sahara desert; there is no coastline, no flat-water lakes, no rowing clubs and no specialist rowing boats. Much of his training was done in a traditional fishing boat.


The fastest man on Earth
Will it be Usain Bolt of Jamaica who wins the 100m final? He is accomplished. Not only is he a five-time World and three-time Olympic gold medalist but he has also been learning Spanish. Why? Because he believes most of the really 'hot' women athletes speak Spanish. Nice to see him so focused on the competition, perhaps just not the right competition. Time will tell.


So onwards we go for the next week of competition.    And a final word to the Australian Olympic Team. Silver is only the new gold in interior decorating NOT Olympic competition. Now that we have that clear. Go on. Get on with it!

News Flash: There is a silver lining apparently. I just found out that the Gold Medals are in fact made of 93% silver, 6% copper and 1% gold.  So there is not much of a difference between the medals after all….maybe our athletes are on to something….no need to exert yourself.....I am only counting silver medals from hereon in. 

So, for those of you who have watched the Games, what are some of your highlights?   And don’t worry I do not take this competition thing too seriously, it’s just sport right? Besides, did you know the world’s richest woman lives here (perhaps she could pay to have those silver medals dipped in gold and we could pretend, lol).