Crowd DNA and 72andSunny launch the Reframing Ageing research report
New research by cultural insights consultancy Crowd DNA and strategic advertising and design company 72andSunny has revealed the outdated narratives surrounding ageing are changing.
The report identifies how the traditional cultural narratives surrounding ageing have seen older people relegated into the ‘four I’s’: Irrelevance, Inferiority, Infantilization and Invisibility. These negative and unfair categorisations are alienating, leading to poorer social and health outcomes for older people.
The Reframing Ageing report, available HERE, reveals these narratives are changing. Older people are becoming more vocal about who they are, smashing negative tropes and stereotypes and leading conversations about how they should be represented in culture.
The effect of this is that many new opportunities are being created for marketers to reach and engage with a sophisticated audience that is increasing in size, influence and buying power.
Three new ageing narratives are emerging:
- 1. Rejecting Ageing: Ageing has traditionally been associated with diminishing qualities and attractiveness; the fact that you no longer resemble ‘you’. Instead, rejecting ageing is all about maintaining youthful traits, qualities and abilities, showing that you’ve ‘still got it’.
- 2. Reclaiming Ageing: Ageing narratives are evolving into a space where people are tired of trying to fit into ‘ageing ideals’. Instead, people are embracing who they are as they age, choosing how they want to look and behave, without the need for validation.
- 3. Reassessing Ageing: Ageing is seen as an outlet for continual growth and self-fulfilment. Older people are positively reflecting on life in a way that can only occur by embracing the ageing process, redefining what it means to grow older.
Brands must embrace these dynamic new narratives, or risk losing cultural relevance.
Reframing Ageing is part of the New Narratives series, an ongoing collaboration between Crowd DNA and 72andSunny that explores significant shifts in cultural narratives. Previous events included the evolving narratives around Masculinity and Femininity in Australian culture.