AARP will seek to cultivate a more contemporary image with a big new brand campaign that, to underline the message the advertising intends to convey, will make its debut during the CBS broadcast of the Grammy Awards on Sunday night.
The campaign, with a budget estimated at $25 million to $30 million, will introduce the theme “Real possibilities,†which will appear not only in the ads but also in high-profile locations like the home page of the AARP Web site, aarp.org, and the front cover of publications that include AARP the Magazine.
The campaign is the first work for AARP from the organization’s new brand advertising agency, Grey New York, which was selected to handle the assignment after a lengthy review. The previous agency for AARP’s brand work was GSD&M in Austin, Tex., part of the Omnicom Group.
ARP is among many blue-chip brands that will advertise during the Grammys show. Although it is nowhere near the showcase for new commercials that the Super Bowl is each year, the Grammys broadcast will feature several new campaigns, like AARP’s, along with new and fresh commercials in ongoing campaigns, like for candy brands sold by Mars.
The Grammys represents “a great venue to reintroduce†AARP and “close the relevance gap,†said Emilio Pardo, chief brand officer at AARP in Washington, by promoting the organization as understanding how the target audience - Americans ages 50 and older - lives their lives today.
“As you get older, you used to have the feeling you had fewer possibilities, for romance, for work,†Mr. Pardo said. “Now, it’s quite the opposite; possibilities should be ageless.â€
AARP has addressed those issues previously, particularly when it began using the name AARP in place of what the letters once stood for, American Association of Retired Person! s.
Still, there remain stigmas surrounding the words “retired†and “retirement,†particularly a perception that AARP and its members consider retirement a conclusion rather than the start of something new in life.
To counter that, the “Real possibilities†theme will be used to suggest that AARP members are eagerly “asking what’s next,†Mr. Pardo said.
The ads will underline that by presenting the name AARP as standing for “An Ally for Real Possibilities,†and suggest that the “R†in the name stands for positive words like “Reimagine,†“Rewarding†and “Richer.â€
AARP is to run two commercials from the new campaign during the Grammys; there are three more planned. The commercials, filmed in arty black and white by the director Tony Kaye, will be narrated by the actor Chris Noth of “Law & Order†and “Sex and the City,†who is, at age 58, squarely in the organization’s demographic target.
In one commercial, depicting a man driving, Mr.Noth says: “A car has a rather small rear-view mirror so we can occasionally glance back at where we’ve been. It has an enormous windshield, so we can look ahead to where we’re going.â€
“Now is always the time to go forward and imagine all the possibilities that lie before us,†Mr. Noth continues, then suggests a visit to aarp.org/possibilities to “find tools and guidance.â€
In the other commercial, boots are shown walking down a porch and into a field. “Were you more interesting in your 20s, or now†Mr. Noth asks.
“Experience makes you wiser for the wear,†he adds, “and now come the richer possibilities.â€
Rob Baiocco, the executive creative director at Grey New York who wrote the campaign, said he has some perspective on the subject matter because he is, at 49, “close to the AARP age myself.â€
“We’re hitting a reset button with this campaign,†Mr. Baiocco said, because the definition of “what it means to be†50 and older has change! d to the ! point where many people now believe that “instead of running from it, they embrace it.â€
“Fifty is not the new 30,†he added. “Fifty is the new 50. Lean into the knowledge and life experience that comes with it.â€
The campaign will include, in addition to the television commercials, print and digital ads, radio commercials and a significant presence in social media like Facebook and Twitter.
“Our digital and social outreach might be the most ever in the history of our organization,†Mr. Pardo said, reflecting the changing media consumption habits of the target audience.
Mr. Baiocco said, “We’re trying to be provocative, interesting, cool maybe, like the people we’re talking about†in the campaign. Grey New York is part of the Grey division of the Grey Group, which is owned by WPP.
Mars plans to run two commercials during the Grammys, for its Twix and Snickers cadies. They will follow the appearance during Super Bowl XLVII last Sunday of a new commercial for another Mars brand, M&M’s.
The commercial for Twix will be new, another in a humorous campaign, “Try both and pick a side,†that is centered on a fanciful history of the brand. The campaign describes how the left and right sides of each Twix bar are made in separate factories.
The commercial for Snickers was introduced recently, during the SAG Awards presentation on TBS and TNT. The spot, part of the humorous campaign “You’re not you when you’re hungry,†features Robin Williams and Bobcat Goldthwait.
The Snickers and Twix commercials, like the M&M’s Super Bowl spot, were created by BBDO, part of Omnicom.
