Programmer sees green in AARP's gray
Org to tout television skeins for older auds
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"It's simply crazy for ad agencies to buy time based on an arbitrary cutoff age, as though once you reach your 50s you might as well be dead," said Dick Kurlander, who has signed up as head of TV program development for AARP. Kurlander spent a number of years as VP of programming for New York-based rep firm Petry Television, where he advised dozens of TV-station clients on what TV shows to buy.
Kurlander reports to Mark Slimp, director of broadcast programs for AARP, who said both he and Kurlander plan to hold a number of meetings at next month's NATPE convention in Las Vegas with advertisers, TV stations and cable networks. AARP has 36 million dues-paying members, according to Slimp.
Where are the shows?
Advertisers like P&G have told Slimp that they're often hard-pressed to find a cable series or syndicated program for products targeted to people between the ages of 46 and 64, he said.
One of Kurlander's jobs will be to link up an interested advertiser with a cable network or a TV syndicator willing to buck the overpowering trend toward young viewers. Slimp said that AARP has compiled masses of research overturning the conventional wisdom that, by the age of 40 or so, people become so habituated to the brands they like -- everything from toothpaste to breakfast cereal to the automobile they drive -- that even the best-produced advertising spot for a competing product will not convince them to change.
"We're talking about 76 million baby boomers who will soon start to retire in waves," said Kurlander, referring to the generation of Americans born between 1946 and 1964. He said modern medicine has done wonders for the average life span of these people, advancing it to between 78 and 80 for men and between 80 and 82 for women.
Living longer
People are not only living longer, Kurlander said, but a good percentage of them are active, healthy and rolling in money.
Slimp said these people tend to act as though they're at least 15 years younger than their actual ages, so they'd be ripe for the blandishments of creative advertisers.
Initially, AARP will approach networks like Discovery Health, Home & Garden TV and Fine Living to see if they'd be willing to carry, and even produce, shows aimed at people, say, between 35 to 64.
In some cases, the networks might not have to put up any production money if the advertiser takes over production and sponsorship in partnership with AARP.
The same pattern could be true of a syndicated TV show, with one extra advantage to stations: Kurlander said that the advertiser might be willing to steer a larger percentage of its spot budget to the station carrying its show in a particular market.
A few good shows
"We're not starting with grandiose plans -- we're not Warner Bros.," said Kurlander. "But getting some programs on the air that appeal to people slightly older than their mid-20s will represent positive social change and certainly help the brand identity of AARP."
