What you can’t see won’t hurt you

Apparently BBC Radio 4 has boosted its audience by more than three quarters of a million in the past year and now has well over 10 million listeners each week. The Today programme, Woman’s Hour and You and Yours are especially popular choices. The average audience age is around 55, and, unlike on TV, one would assume that the average age of Radio 4 presenters must be somewhere around there too. As it likewise is on Radio 2, which also continues to attract significant numbers of new listeners (or perhaps returners?)

Strange isn’t it that BBC bosses can’t make the connection between people being turned off by ‘yoof’ TV and turning to the stimulus of sensible, interesting, grown-up radio programmes and the need to ensure that those who deliver services generally should mirror the age range of their customers (as many other service providers are discovering). Odd too that it’s alright for presenters to be old and even sound old on Radio – but God forbid that we turn on the TV and see them looking old.

Ability not age

When will the BBC start taking some responsibility in its role as a public broadcaster and stop the shocking example it sets with its ageist policies? Apparently it has now added to its list of questionable decisions by banning dancers over 35 from auditioning for new Saturday night show, So You Think You Can Dance, to be aired on BBC One next year. The BBC argues that dancers over 35 lack the physical condition to perform the challenging routines required by the show, supporting its decision with all sorts of noises about health and safety. Whilst 35 seems a completely arbitrary age (why not 33 or 37?) and laughably young compared to most ageist decisions, it clearly underlines that the BBC seems unable to grasp the basic fact that chronological age is a meaningless concept.

Decisions about fitness for purpose in any arena need to be on the basis of individual ability and in this instance, as we all know, many dancers remain incredibly able until well into their sixties and older. Yes, it does mean having to put them through some sort of fitness and ability assessment but shouldn’t they be doing this for all potential competitors anyway? The BBC’s stance is compounding that taken by many employers with respect to the retirement age, i.e. that it’s easier to hide behind a policy and a number rather than putting in the effort to properly and adequately (and fairly) performance manage your employees on an individual basis.

According to a report in the Times, The English Amateur Dancesport Association (EADA) has warned the BBC that it could face a challenge in the courts. I do hope so.

Mass media communication

The more we deal with issues relating to the in my prime market, the more it becomes apparent that a great deal more education and information is required to help people plan and prepare for the latter decades of their lives. Traditionally this has been viewed as “pre-retirement planning” or has come from government or charitable organisations striving to “help” the elderly to manage better. Whilst these initiatives are all well and good, there is still a gaping hole in respect of what the “young old” need to know about the preparations we should all be making for the future.

A recent report from retirement housing developers Dunwood Court revealed that older people worry about their futures, but most do not actively plan for the time when they will become less able. In fact more than half of us are likely to die without even writing a Will. Whilst some might put this down to active complacency, we believe that it results from a lack of awareness of some of the issues and the possible actions that could be taken in order to ensure a smoother and more comfortable transition into true old age. Okay we might not know exactly what is going to happen to us, but there is a reasonable degree of certainty in respect of certain aspects of ageing.

Happily we are frequently asked to contribute to radio programmes concerning aspects of ageing (recent events include slots on Radio City 96.7 and Talk Radio Europe) but these tend to relate to discussions about a particular topic which is currently the focus of media attention. What we would like to see (and be involved in) are programmes which more seriously question and debate issues around what it means to grow older in today’s society and what innovative approaches might be taken to helping people take greater responsibility for their own futures. Any takers anyone?

Goodbye 9 to 5 – on TV

Following on from my previous blog, this week I tuned into a new TV programme “Goodbye 9 to 5” aimed at those over 55 who have retired or are about to retire.

It can be found on “Information TV” (Sky 166 or Freesat 402) and is put together by Chris Gosling who runs the firm Serious Leisure TV from East Anglia. The programmes are low budget but very interesting and professionally put together, and obviously now need all the visibility they can get as they roll out their schedule.

55 is an interesting age to choose but we can fully understand why. There will be those who have retired and will appreciate the leisure aspects and also the injustices that some in retirement will have to face but there are many for whom retirement is not yet an option and those people will be looking for content of a differing nature. Advance notice of issues to come show that Chris is well aware of this and we look forward to watching the content develop.

Furthermore, there is also a networking site to back it up which is actively seeking feedback and suggestions from people regarding the direction the programmes should take – and even, maybe, the possibility of contributing to the programmes at some future date. Check it out and sign up at http://goodbye925.ning.com/.

We wish this venture every success and look forward to seeing it progress.

Maturity: a mystery for marketers

Our website www.inmyprime.info is now well-established and continues to be well-visited (go on, have a look if you haven’t already). As a result we are, on a daily basis, emailed and called by numerous marketing and PR people promoting products, services and stories relating to those of mature years in the hope that we will use their material.

We’re not complaining about this. Some of the stuff is very interesting and pertinent. Some of it provides us with knowledge, insight and substance we can use on the website or elsewhere. But unfortunately rather a lot of it has nothing at all to do with the market we operate in.

The array of material we get forcefully underlines just how little marketing and PR people in general understand age. The age group we focus on, as is clearly stated on our website, is 50 to 70. As such it is a totally different generation from the truly elderly which in itself is a group fragmented by health, wealth, and cognitive and other abilities. As our focus is on the mature market our only interest in products and services to do with the rather insensitively named geriatric market is in respect of things we might need or need to know about for our elderly parents or others of that age.

If this was acknowledged by hopeful young PRs we might be somewhat more receptive towards their material. As it is (without naming and shaming) we receive a load of old dross about comfy slippers, fluffy kittens, incontinence products, personal alarms… and far too many pictures of  white haired people in their seventies or eighties accompanying press releases containing the words “over 50s”.

Any PR or marketing people who would like to really make a mark on the mature market are advised to get in touch…

Challenging media portrayals of the old

Hoorah! At last there is a challenge to the way older people are portrayed in the media. Counsel and Care, a national charity that works with older people, their families and carers has launched a competition looking for good – and bad – examples of media coverage relating to older people.  As they rightly recognise, the way that older people are portrayed in the media has a crucial effect not only on how they are treated by wider society, but also by care and support services.

Their Older People in the Media Awards will recognise individuals and/or organisations for positively portraying older people and will give ‘Raspberries’ to those whose work shows older people in a negative light. The intention behind the awards is to influence journalists to think harder about what they say and write about ‘older people’.

People will be asked to nominate in eight media categories and winners will be chosen by a panel of expert judges. The closing date for entries is Tuesday 30 June 2009. Entry forms can be downloaded from their website: www.counselandcare.org.uk/influence/events

So – get nominating. I’m sure we will.