Meeting the needs of the ageing consumer requires an understanding of the physiological changes we all experience as we age. Product innovation based on this foundation of knowledge will have a better chance of satisfying a real consumer need. Nowhere is this thinking more important than in the fundamental basic human need for food. Physiological […]
physiology
How Startups Are Tackling The Longevity Economy
Entrepreneurs are polarising the longevity economy and ignoring the massive middle. In the past, whenever I mention business opportunities associated with the ageing demographic, minds immediately gravitated toward to ‘old, old’ segment. For example, assisted living, medical devices and the like. Now there’s a competitor for investment attention, companies that are seeking to discover the […]
Steroid abuse at 60? Now that’s no stereotype!
We are getting used to seeing ageing stereotype-busters in the media and they are increasingly delightfully positive portrayals. In this blog, I’ve written about some of the darker stereotypes of ageing; ageing prisoners, the rising incidence of sexually transmitted disease in retirement homes, increasing drug abuse and suicides, but this one is new to me. It […]
Ageing skiers and climate change; a double blow for winter sports
Ageing skiers are gradually and inevitably giving up the sport. The problem is that the numbers are not being made up fast enough by younger skiers. Demographics plus the impact of global warming, pose a dual threat to the skiing industry. According to this article in the Economist magazine, the number of skier-days (visits to […]
Health and wellness of older consumers means big opportunities for FMCG companies
Older consumers say that health and wellness influences their product purchases. In fact, according to a report from GlobalData, 62% of consumers aged over 55 say that the way a product impacts their health and wellness often or always influences their product choice in food. Clearly, mortality is a powerful motivator to change behaviour. It’s a […]
Is the beauty industry changing the way it thinks about ageing, or is it just a new spin?
The beauty industry is caught between appearing youthful yet desperately clinging to their ageing customers. We see the signs everywhere; The increasing use of older women in advertising. For example Susan Sarandon, Helen Mirren and others promoting for L’Oreal. The move away from the expression ‘Anti-Ageing’. The Editor of Allure magazine has resolved to stop […]
The Australian wine industry is vulnerable to ageing wine grape growers
Our ageing populations will impact each and every industry. Even the business of wine growing is feeling the effects. Rock bottom prices are forcing wine grape growers to sell water and diversify crops just to make ends meet. While younger growers can diversify crops and wait for prices to improve, older growers don’t have the […]
Hearing-aids will become easier to buy. But will they be easy to use?
My brother-in-law suffered hearing loss attributed to years of working close to the squeal of a dentists drill. But he refused to wear a hearing-aid because of what others might think of him. In the USA, about 48 million people (20% of the population) have hearing loss in at least one ear, but just 14% […]
Why our hands become increasingly critical to our customer experience
Hand strength declines with age and the effect is exacerbated by hand arthritis – one of the most common problems that adversely affect the fine motor skills of older people. I should know, I suffer it. This issue and it’s consequences for the customer journey (think packaging and product design) are a centrepiece of my […]
Background noise drives older customers away from restaurants
It’s always good to find quantitative evidence for what we’ve been proclaiming for years. In fact, according to research conducted by UK’s Action on Hearing Loss, 79 per cent of people have left an establishment because it was too noisy and and 90 percent say background noise is their biggest problem when eating out. I am […]
