Time Waits for No One -- Especially those who aren't thinking
With some 24 million Boomers already over 50, banks should be rethinking how they market their products for those in their golden years. Isn't it time to stop saying a product is for everyone "50+"? |
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We're pretty sure a 52-year-old, with two kids in college, a mortgage, two car leases and a recently shrunken 401(k) doesn't give a damn about "Crown Classic Checking" with a "Gold Check Card."
Maybe her mother might be interested...
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Quite frankly, when we came across this ad from a top ten bank, we were surprised -- and disappointed. Wachovia is falling into the trap of treating everyone over the age of 50 as one single group, all interested in the same basic checking account. While perhaps relevant in 1975, or to someone well over the age of 75, this is hardly relevant to today's Boomer between the age of 50 and 58. There's a growing school of thought that "age-based" marketing is a concept whose time has come and gone. What sense does it make to point out the age qualification for a product that, by its very design, appeals to folks likely retired, with simple financial requirements? Someone in their early 50's has more complicated financial requirements than a "classic" checking account. At least, that's our guess. Wonder what Wachovia is thinking -- if anything?
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I know what I'm thinking. I'm thinking they aren't going to get anybody under 70 years old to respond to advertising messages like this. And they'll likely turn off potential customers ages 50 to 60.
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