Well a sort of future.

When I started out on my own had very grand and idealistic thoughts of hanging out in co-working spaces and generally changing the world with an incredible work life balance and a network of people fighting for my time. Not quite got there yet but I like to think the acorns are germinating!

The future I’m thinking about was really more of a present and was based on seeing the magnificent Orbital at Hammersmith Apollo just before Christmas. As part of my extended midlife crisis I’m experiencing an ever stronger desire to reconnect with my youth – nothing to report there apart from my joy/surprise at how many others feel the same and were doing something about it on a cold December Saturday evening. Dancing away with 5000 other folks all of my vintage and above gave me a timely reminder of why I started greyafro in the first place. The facts on aging are clear and the cohort I’m most interested in the 50 to 70 lived group lived through the magic that was late 80s/early 90s raving.

Think I’m past the dancing all night stage (think) but nowhere near afternoon tea dances and quizzes. So what is happening for this group.?

Whilst Baby Boomers are an acknowledged group but continue to be ignored/misunderstood the not actually very old at all 50+ I think are starting to fall into a void. Too young to need some of the specialist products of older age but too old to be of interest to a huge community of youth obsessed brands.

The behaviour of people within this group is I think are fascinating. To start with the group needs a name for us all to misappropriate. Basically it is the age fading group – in all the key jobs its the time where age becomes an issue and people start to disappear from public life. The only place I can see the male of this group flourish is at Football/sporting events where they are the majority!

Really interesting to see how brands start to address this subtle difference – the desire to take age focused brands down a decade or two has been happening for a while witness Saga and Age UK over the last couple of years. I think sport/leisure is a huge opportunity and the boom in cycling/mind body attests to it but I’d suggest we are still early in the process. Given the woes of retail I cannot help but think there is another opportunity here to look at the needs and wants of this “sandwich” generation. I won’t hold my breath but would be happy to talk to anyone who is starting to wrestle with a challenge in this space.

Thanks for reading and if you found even slightly useful please do let me know.

#50notout

Until next time

Julian@greyafro.com