Digital marketing for the ‘charmed generation’

Abstract

The `charmed generation' is a group of people who are retired or who will retire in the next five to ten years with a level of wealth and income that is unlikely to be repeated in future generations. They represent a business opportunity that, once gone, is unlikely to be repeated. Their high income results from a combination of guaranteed pensions, property ownership, low levels of debts and inherited wealth. Many of this generation use the internet to research products and buy online. Digital marketers are like the rest of the marketing profession in paying little attention to the requirements of older people. Websites, e-mail marketing campaigns and web advertising are invariably created by the young for the young. This paper has two objectives: first, to explain who the charmed generation are and why they represent a unique business opportunity that should not be ignored; and secondly, to show why the charmed generation's age requires companies to change the way they design and test their websites