Creative agency BBH is warning marketers about the perils of ignoring older people, urging the industry to focus more on what it calls ‘silver culture’ as much as it does on youth culture.

Through its ‘Silver Culture Project’, the London agency is shining a light on one of the advertising world’s biggest blind spots, as over-65s are actually the age group with more time, money and purchasing power than any other.

BBH London’s ethnographic research aims to help marketers better understand how they can tap into this lucrative market, with many brands still cutting off their segmentation at 65, or even earlier.

According to the findings, the demographic sees this part of their life as a ‘second wind’, brining with it a time of liberation, purpose, freedom and trying new things.

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As a result, the over-65s are crying out for brands to get to know them better, with as many as 73% saying that they believe brands don’t understand them or their desires.

The research is represented visually by a redesign of the iconic shopping trolley (see main image and below), reimagined to reflect what over 65s told BBH they actually want from brands.

“We want our industry to be as obsessed with silver culture as we are with youth culture. The over-65s hold most of the UK’s wealth and offer businesses the opportunity for growth that young people once did,” BBH London senior strategist, Jessica Garlick said.

“The Silver Culture Project is about understanding this lucrative audience better, and looks to help us challenge our assumptions about who our brands are for.