There is a certain inevitability about the
subject but ‘Marketing to our Future Selves’ proved to be a popular subject
during presentations at this year’s Bathroom and Kitchen Business
Conference. Key industry decision makers
attended the event which surprised many with its quality and depth of discussions.
The ‘grey market’ was just one of the topics on
the agenda and Mat Hunter, Chief Design Officer at the Design Council which champions
the use of design and architecture to improve lives, developed the discussion
which had manufacturers totally absorbed.
Mat suggested that we were sitting on what he
described as a ‘demographic time bomb’.
The population in the UK is expanding and growing older with the 85+ age
group set to double in the next 25 years.
This, he regarded, was an opportunity too good
to miss. But the UK Bathroom and Kitchen industry was doing just that – missing
it!
The grey market has not been tackled by
designers and manufacturers with sufficient seriousness. Certainly there are
products out there that are well designed and look good. But they are subject
to a ‘failure of marketing.’ There is insufficient choice and prices are too
high.
The UK industry needs to wake up to the
challenges which the aging population is creating and with an injection of
creative thinking manufacturers will both supply the growing the need and, in
turn, satisfy their shareholders.