THE GENERATION OF CZECHS 45+ IS NOT OFFLINE ANYMORE. HOW TO REACH THEM?

Czechs aged 45+ remain loyal to TV and radio, but are also increasingly spending time online and on social networks. For marketers, this means reaching a target group that is not as fragmented as the younger generation, but gaining their attention is more challenging. Petr Tomáš describes how to do it in the final part of the series on the target group of Czechs over 45.

In the final part of our series on Czechs 45+, we look at where to tell this generation that you have something for them.

Probably the first thing that comes to mind is that among Czechs aged 45-64, television is definitely more powerful than among younger generations. This is true, but at the same time, it has long been the case that people of this age are not online or on social media and instead spend their evenings mostly reading books.

In fact, in terms of daily and weekly reach, it is not TV that is strongest among the 45+ Czechs (and even among the younger ones aged 25-44), but the internet (=web browsing in general) and social networks.

There are of course differences in the intensity of social networking, but perhaps not as abysmal as you might expect. Mature Czechs are 59% daily and 83% weekly on social networks , while younger Czechs are 76% and 94% respectively.

The differences in this respect are mainly due to the preference of individual social networks. Yes, unsurprisingly, younger people are more on TikTok and Instagram, while Facebook reigns supreme for older people.

Where there is a really big difference between the two compared age groups of Czechs is online video. While the daily and weekly reach of online video is 46% and 89% for Czechs aged 25-44, it is only 22% and 69% for Czechs aged 45-64.

Other media types where there are significant differences between the two age groups is the use of music streaming services, podcasts but also VOD - especially in terms of total weekly reach.

On the other hand, the above-average favourite media type of Czechs aged 45-64 is classical radio (= not online). It is listened to daily by 27% and weekly by 58% (18% and 54% of Czechs aged 25-44). Similarly, more mature Czechs are more popular with newspapers and magazines.

Daily reach

Weekly reach

But in addition to daily and weekly reach, we also find quite large differences in the average time spent with given media types.

After all, Czechs aged 45-64 spend half an hour more per day on live TV overall, compared to those younger than 25-44 (specifically 2 hours vs. an hour and a half). Mature Czechs also spend almost 20 minutes more per day listening to the radio.

In contrast, younger people spend half an hour more per day on phone apps and watching online videos or a quarter of an hour longer on social media.

But before you quickly conclude that this is actually expected, and that this is simply the "old" target audience, try to look at the whole thing from a media planning and indeed marketing perspective. Firstly, even in the middle generation of Czechs, the penetration of various new media types and platforms continues to grow.

You can find 45+ Czechs on Instagram and TikTok as well. Similarly, middle-aged Czechs play electronic games (48% at least once a week) and follow influencers more and more (already 16%). And in purely practical terms, the Czechs 45+ are actually a slightly simpler target group, with their attention more concentrated on a few main mediums, and you don't have to hunt them down intricately in every nook and cranny online.

Besides, the Czech open web (while it's alive) might be interested to know that it's the Czechs aged 45+ who are its mainstay - starting with Seznam. Moreover, this age group uses relatively the least ad block.

But there is a catch to all of this, and that is the significant differences between segments - it is the wealthiest segments that get hit the hardest, because they have plenty of activities other than just looking at or into something. But in truth this is true of the rich and educated across the ages.

And how do you reach them?

First of all, consider the simple fact that by the time people are 50, they've seen tens and more likely hundreds of thousands of commercials in their lifetime. They can no longer perceive advertising, and they see little of relevance in it. 55% of Czechs aged 45+ say that advertising goes beyond them (37% of the 15-24 age group). Similarly, the proportion of people who feel that advertising informs them about news decreases with age.

On top of this, you have to take into account that as you get older you already have habits, routines and especially experiences as consumers. Simply, yes it's not an easy target! They don't fall for everything anymore, they've seen it a hundred times, they've been burned too many times, so they check things out more and value (pr)verified brands.

Plus, as you know from the last piece, it's not a homogeneous target, something a little different applies to each segment.

Characteristics of segments 45+

Naturally, we don't expect you to immediately start changing your communication strategies and start targeting even detailed segments of more mature Czechs. Our goal is mainly to generate interest in this somewhat neglected target group. But if you do the work to reach the more mature Czechs in a relevant way, they will reward you with higher loyalty than the younger ones.

Petr Tomáš, Consumer Research Skillhead, WPP Media

Source: mediaguru.cz