PPB November 2021

by Audrey Sellers Sen i o r Ma r ke t Gray Pride The over-65 set is 54-million strong and ready to spend. Here’s what to know about marketing to this often forgotten but active and growing segment of consumers. G olden agers, mature adults, seniors. Whatever you call them, people in their 60s, 70s, 80s and older make up a massive portion of the population. While there’s no exact age that one achieves senior-citizen status, most dictionaries define a senior citizen as someone over age 65. Around the world, there are more than 750 million seniors, with about 54 million in the United States, according to research group Brookings. By 2060, the National Council on Aging projects there to be 98 million older adults living in the U.S. The population for those 85 and older is projected to increase 118 percent between 2019 and 2040, rising from 6.6 million to 14.4 million. While marketers spend millions wooing millennials (those born between 1981 and 1996) and Gen Z’s (those born after 1997), the senior market represents a prime segment of consumers, many of whom are 40 | NOVEMBER 2021 | GROW