With a recession on the horizon and typical consumer behaviours shifting, the grey market, namely the 55-plus aged consumers, must not be overlooked. 

This audience stand out from the rest in times of national financial decline and could arguably be the most loyal customer demographic in current times. 

Often more financially stable than their younger counterparts, typical grey market consumers are more likely to have paid off mortgages and have benefited from rising house prices, are seeing interest rates and therefore savings rise and may be receiving rightful financial support with the likes of the energy cap. 

Global Web Index data taken between May and July of this year shows that over half of those aged 55-64 (52%) are still describing themselves as financially secure and 13% as very financially secure.

Furthermore, women in this bracket are more likely to report as financially secure and are often holders of the household budget, presenting the most buying power; another consideration in any creative strategy! 

“Over 50’s consumers have a huge spending power, already spending £319 billion a year (excluding housing costs), equivalent to roughly 54% of total household consumer spending (ILC UK). Aside from clothing and footwear, they spend more on all categories of goods and services than younger households (ILC UK, 2019)”

Research from the Centre of Ageing Better Charity reinforced the market potential of aspirational and age-inclusive marketing, sharing insights around the potentially lucrative over 50’s consumer group who are “expected to spend £550 billion a year by 2040, £221 billion more than projected spending by younger households.”

According to WARC, the ‘grey market’ is set to account for 66% of total retail spending by the year 2025, yet despite this, less than a quarter (22%) of marketers directly target them as a demographic.  

The numbers are clear, this valuable and active market must not be overlooked, above all in a time where their love for familiarity and personal experience is matched with a newer appreciation for the flexibility, ease of product delivery and ability to search and compare prices online. 

E-Commerce has swamped the retail scene post-pandemic, Charities are more in need than ever to recruit loyal donors, the Pharmaceutical market has a potential dual audience reaching the grey market and their parents’ generation indirectly, the Travel industry have opportunity to be targeting and tailoring campaigns to reach an audience who feel underrepresented in advertising but who hold more financial stability and spending power versus other demographic groups in a turbulent market – and the list doesn’t end there.

59% of consumers are more trusting of brands they are represented in their ads. (Microsoft Advertising)

This presents vast opportunity for advertisers, and at Media Concierge, we offer our planning expertise to build multi-platform, expertly targeted marketing campaigns at scale, with local at heart.

Dec 2022

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