Changing mouldy mindsets is no small order in a world full of media messages that reinforce arbitrary judgements based solely on age.

If you’re young, you’re this way, if you’re older, this is surely you - no room for individual differences.

Nadia Tuma-Weldon joins Susan from the top tier of the advertising industry in New York City. She’s the senior vice president and director of a global division at McCann Worldgroup, one of the biggest brand communications outfits around.

Hear what when: * Origin of name of her thought leadership division Truth Central at McCann * Details of her Truth About Age global study of views of ageing across life stages * Research finds age is no longer a reliable indicator of anything * Has study changed the way McCann works? * Advertising agency and client tradition, protocols and aversion to risk often hinder creation of more truthful marketing * Any company stand out in reflecting changing reality of healthy olders? * Major finding: ageing is a problem for the young - causing identity crises - and that was “really shocking to us” * Old-school practice of targeting people according to age milestones - job, marriage, parenthood - replaced by ‘age moments’ - constant societal nudges that make you feel differently about your age

“With the advent of social media, increased advertising that you’re seeing every day, those ‘age moments’ are multiplying. You are constantly being reminded of your age.”

  • People have distorted or no sense of what ageing means, especially positive aspects
  • Surprising fact about age brackets in Philippines
  • Truth Central researchers challenged conventional consumer age segmentations by removing age from equation and creating five cross-cultural, cross-generational attitudinal groups
  • Is big part of problem of distorted advertising messaging due to lack of older women in the industry?
  • Time to ditch generational labels?
  • The utopia of the internet is allowing all to connect via passion points

“Your world is huge now, you can connect with every piece of music, every movie, you have thousands of choices to watch every night, you can connect with people all over the world that you never could before. So amidst the chaos of the echo chambers and the polarisation there is this sort of shining light.

  • Women bear the brunt of age discrimination but research showed men are struggling with the psychological aspects of growing older and are more pessimistic about it than women
  • The study confirmed the importance and power of intergenerational connections

Links * Truth About Age study * nextavenue.org article on Truth About Age * McCann Worldgroup * Nadia Tuma-Weldon LinkedIn

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