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Experiencia EAE
Juan Carlos Alcaide: “The Silver Economy is the economy of the future”
10 de December de 2019
The silver economy was the focus of the latest Business Networking session organized in collaboration con la AME.
The AME (Spanish Marketing Association) and BBDO España organized a Business Networking session at the Joaquín Costa Campus of EAE Business School focusing on an analysis of the business opportunities generated by the ageing population.
The participants at the event included Juan Carlos Alcaide, a consultant specializing in the silver economy, service marketing specialist and board member of the la AME. Juan Carlos has set up a company called The Silver Economy focusing on this market, as well as publishing a book on the issue entitled “65 year-olds, the new target”.
Juan Carlos is an advocate of positivizing the concept of ageing and maturity, referring to a quote by Charles Augustin Sainte-Beuve: “Ageing is still the only way we have found to live a long time”. “We have to see ageing as wisdom”, concluded Juan Carlos. He went on to define the silver economy as the economic activity specifically designed to cater for the needs and motivations of older people, the needs of their families and the transformation of the product and service ranges of companies to adapt to demographic change with their segmented range.
He then defined the Silver age groups, from 50 years old, which he referred to as “active ageing”, right up to older people, the elderly and centenarians. “These subgroups are very useful for focusing the stages of maturity”, he explained, giving two statistics to illustrate: “2 million older people over 65 live on their own in Spain and, of this group, 7 out of 10 are women living alone long term”.
“The Silver Economy generates a business opportunity with respect to the solitude experienced by many older people, as well as in relation to carers (as María Angeles Durán defined them)”, clarified the expert. Therefore, we have to generate business, because it is ethical to improve people’s lives and make money from doing so. “There are lots of older people demanding entrepreneurship, and that is perfectly ethical”.
“The Silver Economy is the economy of the future” because the future belongs to those with a longer past. In 2025, 31.5% of the economy will depend more directly on serving/marketing for older people. The ‘silverization’ of the economy means that all sectors can be subject to reinterpretation based on changes in the economy. This has given rise to the concept of senior marketing. Juan Carlos Alcaide ended his presentation with some advice: “we add life to our years, rather than years to our lives, because the future of the economy belongs to those with more past”.
Meliá and Opticalia embrace the Silver Economy
In her presentation, Susanna Mander, the Global Head of Brand Marketing-Senior Director of Global Brand Marketing at Melià Hotels International - MELIÀ Hotels&Resorts, explained how the hotel groups uses its different brands to cater for this senior target market. Moreover, she introduced the concept of ‘bleisure’, as a combination of and ideal balance between Business and Leisure.
Consumer behaviour is changing thanks to technology. Brands such as ME attract senior customers of between 50 and 79 years old with hardly any effort, together with the divisions of Sol, Gran Meliá and Meliá. The Spanish hotel giant has developed a differentiated and segmented product range and brand to cater for the demands of the senior profile and ensure that they end up becoming influencers in their own target segment.
In her presentation, Susanna Mander illustrated with examples such as the Bravos Taste Experts, programs, with books in the hotels that represent the brand through the cultural experience of reading as a differential feature. She also mentioned the success of the Exceptional Experiences concept with the roofs of Seville’s cathedral decorating the Meliá Sevilla. To sum up, the marketing expert emphasized the great opportunities related to culture for both the Meliá brand and the companies that it deals with.
The Meliá Group has over 120 hotels all over the world in iconic cities for an enjoyable getaway and taking advantage of this additional opportunity. This cultural challenge is an added draw for the Sol brand as far as multigenerational families are concerned. This is a more traditional target segment that travels in a group and often repeats its custom.
Opticalia: a brand for young people of all ages
In his presentation, Víctor Gonzalo, the General Corporate Sub-Director at Opticalia Global Holding. S.A, explained how the company has adapted its message to the more senior target market in its advertising campaigns. Celebrities such as Antonio Banderas and Miguel Bosé have challenged the stereotypes of age in the world of optometry.
Víctor explained that Opticalia “is for young people of all ages”, emphasizing that silver customers should be given a friendly, sensitive experience. With this in mind, it is important to rid glasses of this label and shift the concept from being necessary to being appealing. “Older people are increasingly feeling younger. Age has become more of a feeling because we want to live longer and better”. Within this context, new business opportunities have developed as this new customer has got older.
Youth is not simply a question of age; it is a matter of energy, being active, being at ease with yourself. “If we manage to understand this consumer, we will be able to offer them what they really want”, explained the Marketing Director of Opticalia. “Our brand is targeted at this youthful profile that takes care of themselves and sees glasses as a fashion accessory”, he added, focusing on the business opportunities that can arise by ridding age of its stereotypical labels, because eyecare and hearing products have been associated with such stereotypes for many years.
The Business Networking session ended with an interesting discussion panel chaired by Víctor Conde, the General Director of the Spanish Marketing Association and lecturer at EAE Business School. David Coral, the President and CEO of BBDO Iberia, focused on the inclusive attitude and transversal approach. “It is essential to have an in-depth understanding of the great opportunity arising for brands connected with senior consumers and their carers, who are widely ignored and most of whom are women”. David emphasized the need to connect with the family is a more modern and smarter way.