The loyalty blind spot: are marketers betting on the wrong generation?
- Jack Hendry
- Read time: 8 minutes
There is a blind spot in advertising… but why?
I’ve worked in digital marketing agencies for nearly 15 years. I’ve been fortunate enough to work across different continents, in various specialisms, serving clients across a multitude of verticals. Over this time, I’ve observed a growing fixation - or perhaps a bias, conscious or not - on targeting the Gen Z audience. They’re the new thing, they defy convention, and with that comes an obsession for brands to reach and resonate with them. But at what cost?
‘Gen Z’, a demographic group encompassing those born between the mid-1990s and early 2000s, are seen as the drivers of digital culture. But in focusing so intently on them, have brands and advertisers created a glaring blind spot? The blind spot I’m referring to is the older generation - the ‘Baby Boomers’ (those born between 1946 and 1964) - both in terms of actively targeting them and how they are portrayed in messaging.
At the end of the day, no matter how complex algorithms and AI become in the world of digital marketing, the goal remains: to achieve your objectives as efficiently as possible.
Why exactly is this a problem?
Let’s first explore whether this is actually a problem by asking: who is your product or service aimed at? Let’s assume we’re talking about a mass-market product, relevant to a broad range of consumers.
Gen Z, the largest generation in history and future leaders in spending power, currently account for an estimated 17.1% of consumer spending. In comparison, Baby Boomers (born 1946–1964) and Gen X (1965–1980) account for a combined 44.3%.
Older generations - particularly Baby Boomers - hold significant spending power due to a growing economy during their peak earning years, strong pensions, and increased home values. Baby Boomers make up around 24% of the global population but hold a disproportionately large share of global wealth.
Despite this, Baby Boomers receive just an estimated 5–10% of advertising media budgets. The numbers alone reveal a significant oversight. And when older audiences are targeted, there’s often a problem with how they’re depicted. CreativeX analysed over 126,000 ads globally and found that just 4% featured people aged over 60. Of those, two-thirds were shown in family or domestic settings, and fewer than 1% were cast in professional or leadership roles.
Source: The Drum
What about AI-generated bias?
We’re in the middle of a period of substantial change within the creative industry, where AI LLMs provide access to media quality, variety and sheer scale that has not been seen before. I wanted to conduct a mini experiment to see whether or not this bias is potentially creeping into LLM AI image generation.
We used the following prompt: “Create an image of a woman that could be used for a mascara advert” which as you can see doesn’t provide any indication of age, to see what various LLMs would provide as their default image. The results all followed a similar style:
Platforms tested:
- DALL·E
- DeepAI
- Adobe Firefly
- Leonardo.Ai
This is just one example, but when changing the product to a set of golf clubs, a sport where across Europe over 50s account for an estimated 66% of the audience:
This is a simple experiment, made through a single prompt without further refinement so in no way would replicate what any sort of creative output would represent but at the same time, indicates that this pre-determined bias towards youthfulness has carried through to LLMs.
Why have we leaned this way?
I think firstly it’s important to mention that this is not unique to the advertising industry but something that is persistent in everyday lives.
Hollywood provides a clear example of this with women seemingly disappearing between the ages of 40 and 50 only to return cast in a role that sees their storyline focused on them losing their youthful looks or playing the role of a doting grandparent.
Source: The Guardian
One of the key reasons why this has developed is the clear disconnect of those who sit in the driving seat of the 4Ps and those that we can reach. There is an ageism problem across the advertising industry so those ideating, producing creative and then even executing activity do not necessarily reflect across the broad spectrum of consumers.
Across the UK, the average age of employees at advertising agencies is 33.9, with just 6.2% of the industry being over the age of 50.
Source: Campaign Live
Are advertisers and brands being lured by the potential to build loyalty? One could assume that reaching potential customers younger will allow them to build affiliation and thus drive loyalty, however, this needs to be approached with caution. A McKinsey study suggests that Gen Z seem reluctant to be tied down to a brand, 62% suggest they would check out other options, even if they have a favourite brand. Baby Boomers on the other hand tend to show the highest brand loyalty, over-indexing in most product categories when compared to the rest of adults:
What does this change for brands?
1. Representation within agencies:
If your team doesn’t reflect your audience, your creative probably won’t either. Representation across demographics at every stage of the advertising process improves the chances of connecting meaningfully with all age groups.
2. Drop the creative stigma:
Tailoring messaging for younger audiences is standard practice. But how often do we go to similar lengths for older audiences? A 2018 UM study found that 44% of women over 50 found ads patronising.
3. Challenge assumptions and test often:
Digital habits are changing fast. Platforms once seen as youth-centric are now seeing older growth. For example, TikTok usage among over-50s has grown by 57% since 2021 (GWI), while Facebook is quietly being adopted by Gen Z—for different reasons (events, groups, Marketplace).
4. Embrace older influencers:
Baby Boomers do engage with video content. They want representation they can relate to. Trinny Woodall is a standout example. After her TV career, she launched Trinny London, a £55 million beauty brand, and positioned herself as its relatable face - realistic, not aspirational.
Source: Vogue Business
5. Creative is now the strongest targeting tool:
As platform targeting weakens and privacy concerns rise, creative becomes even more critical. Meta itself acknowledged this during their latest marketing summit.
When writing this I was somewhat reassured by the amount of coverage this subject has had, I’ve included sources throughout, but at the same time, I couldn’t help but question how much progress has been made?
Further reading
- Ageism in ads
- Calling ‘bullshit’ on ageism in advertising
- It's time for marketers to talk to baby boomers
- Is our Marketing Obsession with Gen Z getting out of hand?
- Why is advertising still ignoring people in their 50s and 60s?
- TikTok is the fastest-growing app for Boomers
About Herd
Herd are based in Hessle, and we specialise in performance marketing and Shopify development. We combine our expertise across both areas to deliver solutions that are ambitious and impactful.
Over the past decade, we’ve earned Shopify Plus Partner status and driven growth for a host of ambitious global brands, executing bespoke strategies that are grounded in data.
Our talented performance marketing team features vastly experienced channel experts across SEO, paid media, content, and digital PR.
