Through the lead-lined curtain of Millennial Marketing Madness (M3) we get an occasional glimpse of ageless marketing.

This time it’s a TV spot from UOB (a Singapore Bank), and I love it.

Marketers are often hood-winked to believing that Millennials, GenX and others are unique, as if creatures from another planet. But ultimately, each generation is grappling with many of the same life-stage pressures that their predecessors have done. The same, but different just a few obvious new challenges to deal with.

I’ve been banging on about the fact that with so much of the population now over 50 years of age, the era of age-based marketing is over.

We need to see the similarities among generations (as this UOB Bank spot does brilliantly) and define customers by their needs, wants and desires – regardless of age.

Becoming an ageless marketer

The easiest place to start is with communications (i.e. advertising). However to be a truly ageless marketer requires the application of Age-Friendly principles across the entire customer journey bearing in mind the adage;

“Design for the young, and you exclude the old. Design for the old, and you’ll include everyone.”

Including young and old in a marketing strategy has an ironically ‘inclusive’ ring to it. What’s more, if done correctly, ageless strategies attract younger consumers while effectively embracing the older ones. That’s smart business!

Here’s the script for the TV spot. (I wish I had written it).

This generation.

Self Obsessed. Entitled. Impatient. They ruined music. They ruined love. They ruined everything.

Just like the generation before them.

And the generation before them.

Every generation expresses themselves differently, but the same values define us.

UOB. Right by every generation.