elderlybook.com?

When I hear people talk about emerging digital marketing channels, I intuitively think of products and services targeted at younger generations (X, Y, Z) -- after all, who else really engages with all these new media?

I was therefore surprised when I saw the results of Deloitte's recent "State of the Media Democracy" survey on eMarketer. While 14 to 26-year-olds clearly lead the pack in terms of social media presence (77% of respondents claim to maintain a social networking site profile, vs. 76% the year before), the biggest increase in usage was recorded in the 63 to 75-year-old category. Between 2008 and 2009 , the number of "Matures", as this segment is called, maintaining a social networking profile increased from 14% to a whopping 36%. What's more, it appears that 90% of these "mature" profiles are being created on Facebook.

This presents enormous opportunties: as society continues to age, the older / retired population has long been identified as an extremely lucrative demographic. After all, many have plenty of money to spend and long days to fill. If Facebook can provide targeted access to this segment, its value to marketers would surely increase dramatically. Furthermore, attracting an older, less fickle user base could partially insulate Facebook from the whims of the highly media-promiscuous youth.

On the other hand, I can imagine this also presenting real challenges. Do older and younger generations engage with social media in the same way? Are they looking for similar experiences, features and products? What's more, can they successfully cohabitate in the same social realm? Do Gen Y'ers really want to be friends with their mom or even grandmom? My guess is probably not. That said, it raises an interesting question: Is the world ready for a large, powerful social networking site geared purely towards senior citizens?

Patrick Busse
Based on an article in eMarketer
http://www.emarketer.com/Article.aspx?R=1007484