Andrew Ryan, Director at Halo Promo Risk, shares how ageism in marketing plans should be avoided at all costs.
As if getting old isn’t challenging enough for us Baby Boomers being constantly reminded by every card-carrying Millennial the negative impact, we’re having on the very fabric of our nation is cause for much amusement. From clogging up the NHS to single handedly causing Brexit, to ruining the pension system or even totally killing off their chances of ever owning a property. That’s quite some list of achievements it must be said.
But seriously these examples are used to stress the point but also to highlight the inadequacies and sheer laziness that this form of segmentation has on key issues impacting the world in general and the marketing industry specifically.
Getting old is something we hopefully will all experience and it should be embraced and not ignored – According to Claude Denson Pepper – Ageism is as odious as racism and sexism. Whilst the songbird Madonna Ciccone commented that there have been so many advances in other areas such as civil and gay rights, but ageism is still an area that’s taboo. How ageism manifests itself in the workplace can be very complex and is often driven by the industry in question from a footballer that is deemed over the hill at 30 to an actress who struggles to find work once she’s reached the ripe old of 40. Regardless of profession an ageing “workforce” needs to positively be integrated into a company’s plans with appropriate roles and responsibilities created to harness an individual’s skills and life plans. In Japan they have a phrase “Ikigai” which is about a person’s value and self-worth which lies at the heart of how they are dealing with an ageing population.
Closer to home there are thankfully certain professions were somebody’s age is seen to be key, where life experiences, a few battle scars and war stories can be vital to performing the job well – a surgeon, vet, a vicar – and of course your fixed fee professional.
There might be no correlation between age and maturity but there certainly is one between age and experience.
At Halo we are not old just heavily experienced! And we are trying to demystify the whole process.
So, when you break it all down there is no secret to how fixed fee works – there are no dark arts and there are certainly no magicians – it largely comes down to a little basic maths, a calculator and a heavy dose of experience – sorry to say there’s rarely an algorithm in sight.
Being able to trawl back through many years of past case studies whilst still able to remember them is a big plus! Before we can look forward, we must take a long hard look in the rear mirror – because hindsight gives us 2020 vision. Our aim is always to provide a solution that works within the budget and enables the activity to take place – it’s not a necessary evil it’s often a necessary function to allow the campaign to run. In some cases, after much analysis a fixed fee might not be the best solution but if it is and all the numbers work then bingo and off, we go.
As the oldest new kids on the block– we are here to offer up our heavily experienced team for your next promotional campaign.
—
Halo was launched in September 2019 as a dedicated specialist fixed fee business. We’ve been doing this for the past 15 years under the Opia name and continue to be owned by Village Roadshow a $600 million Australian plc. We work with agencies and brand partners to understand their big ideas and then take the risk out. As a mix of senior agency players and promotional risk experts we can make an immediate and measurable positive impact on next promotional campaign. You’ll find our start up mentality a breath of fresh air and our demystifying approach a welcome change. So, to throw a Halo round your next promotion please call:
Andrew Ryan on andrew@halopromorisk.com 07736 813243
Rupert Postlethwaite on rupert@halopromorisk.com 07766 526810
Philip Penlington on Philip@halopromorisk.com 07597 398184
@halopromorisk
