Ok Boomer, Maybe We Are Ageist?

For an industry that prides itself on diversity and inclusion, we are failing when it comes to ageism, said Elizabeth Gulliver, Connections Planning Associate Director at Mindshare, during her insightful 2023 MFA EX Inspiration X presentation. It’s evident throughout our industry, from hiring and retaining people of different ages, through to buying and planning campaigns that target people aged 25-54. 

But an age-diverse workplace offers many benefits, she said, including increased productivity, better skill diversity, a more inclusive organisation, more mentorship opportunities and improved employee retention.

Gulliver encouraged the audience to consider their own unconscious biases around age, as well as those of their agency and clients, by doing the following:

Challenge yourself

Think about your own unconscious biases when it comes to age, and challenge some of your own assumptions about what different generations want and feel, and how they engage and work.

Challenge your agency

Ask yourself; is your organisation age-inclusive and does it support people through all life stages? Does your agency have an employee resource group taking action against ageism? If not, could you start a committee dedicated to this? Do you have initiatives and policies that support people through all life stages or are they skewed towards a certain demographic? 

Challenge your clients

• Next time you receive a brief with a target audience of people aged 25-54, ask provocative questions to understand whether it is based on assumption and prejudice or data and insight. For example: Are you planning and implementing campaigns on platforms that exclude certain demographics?

• How can you broaden your capabilities to reach a more age-diverse audience?

• Do the creatives assets your clients supply represent just one generation or multiple generations, and how could you change that?

Use the abundance of data and tools available to break down stereotypes and biases, so that we all have a seat in media, regardless of our age.

You can watch Elizabeth Gulliver’s MFA EX talk here.