Reaching the senior market isn't rocket science but it does require doing your homework on where seniors live, shop, go for healthcare and socialize. The key then is to target the social circles of the aging to develop relationships and eventually earn their loyalty.
This is the cornerstone strategy of The Senior Network (TSN), Stamford, Conn., marcom firm with a national network of 7,000 senior activity centers.
TSN uses a range of targeted "access channels" to reach the 50-plus market, including in-home sampling, health education seminars and cosponsorships with retailers and healthcare organizations. Earlier this month, TSN launched a national diabetes education campaign with Kmart that will bring disease prevention and treatment displays to the retailer's 1,600 pharmacies and 2,500 TSN centers.
Don Lowey is TSN's SVP of healthcare and a 20-year healthcare marketing veteran. Lowey told HPRMN that he anticipates seniors will continue to find it difficult to navigate increasingly complex healthcare policies and discusses how this frustration translates into exciting marketing opportunities for healthcare communicators.
HPRMN: How can marketers break through the confusion and frustration seniors have with healthcare?
DL: Here's an audience that wants information about several [health] issues, and they have more time than most to get educated. There's a real information void for the 65-plus market with all of the Medicare changes and developments with HCFA. Health plans and hospitals can try to fill this void with edu-cational seminars, town hall meetings and newsletters.
HPRMN: What are some of the top misperceptions about seniors?
DL: There are several. Seniors are frail, on a fixed income, set in their ways and belong to a homogenous group that will respond the same way to marketing messages.
The most effective advertising and marketing messages address various mindsets.
For instance, consider dividing this market into segments. Seniors who were 16- to 20-years-old during the depression tend to have a conservative but fun outlook on life. Seniors who came of age during World War II are more patriotic. It's important to evaluate this market by looking at [the experiences] they lived through.
HPRMN: Are direct-to-consumer campaigns effective with the senior market?
DL: DTC campaigns can be enormously effective if the [drug] indication is broad in nature. The nicotene patches are a good example.
Direct-to-prospect is a better way to reach this market. We use this method for our clients by creating a 'surround sound' environment that uses a combination of media - grassroots, seminars, direct mail - which changes depending on the message. These efforts help seniors arrive at a strong comfort level to make a decision.
Don Lowey can be reached at 203/969-2700.
Senior Segments
Here's a snapshot of age-specific cultural experiences that shape mindsets in the senior market:
| Age | Mindset |
| 74-83 | Depression Society |
| 68-73 | World War II Survivors |
| 59-67 | Post-War Youth |
| 49-58 | End of Innocence |
| Source: The Senior Network | |