Can Granfluencing be an influential trend in India?
IT advancements and netizen’s accessibility and flexibility towards it led to a sharp rise in the internet user base. It has proven why we Indians spend an average of 3.4 hours per day online. Coronavirus was undoubtedly one of the contributing factors as India’s internet consumption rose by 13% in the lockdown.
As of 2021, India’s elderly population accounts for 138 million of our total population. Elders are actively engaging in social media to keep up and stay in touch with changing times. Lockdown may have caused havoc but families that were once estranged could now connect with one another thanks to the internet. The elderly lot which is often overlooked could now easily avail essential services at the comfort of their home and talk to their families that are miles apart.
Even though social media might seem like a challenge for them, some are leaving the younger generation behind with a tech-savvy approach and emerging as, what is popularly known as granfluencers. A term, given to these exceptionally cool senior citizens that are no different from other influencers. The ‘granfluencers’ acknowledge the power of social media and influence their followers with a “live life to the fullest” attitude and narratives that break the social construct built around senior citizens as people who are in constant need of aid and care.
These granfluencers are marking their charm on the world and also participating in paid campaigns to promote a lifestyle that is often tabooed for people of their age group. With the rise of authentic and raw content, people are appreciating and welcoming granfluencers with open arms. Their fresh perspective towards defying odds associated with age and living freely with passion is causing all the craze for them. Despite the age difference they have managed to build trusting relations with their younger audience and encouraged people to be more open-minded.
These granfluencers are hitting the big brands and are in demand for their positive persona and wisdom of reality. They add life experiences to their brand image that brands are in need of and want to promote as one of their ideologies.
Interestingly enough, the top 10 senior influencers on Instagram had seen a 24% increase in followers since 2017 and brands timely introduced product offerings that catered to various age groups and onboarded several granfluencers to promote the same.
Influencers like @baddiewinkle (92 years old),@magdalife57 (76 years old) and @irvinrandle have taken the internet by storm. They are leading fashionistas in the game and have encouraged people of all shapes, sizes and ages to take fashion as a medium of expression and art.
Brands like Aura Frames collaborated with the elderly due to a steady shift in their sales pattern. They experimented by introducing a famous retired 65-year-old guidance counsellor @travelingblackwidow as the face of their campaign who not only managed to increase brand engagement but brought back five times more conversions owing to her influence.
Fashion Nova, Amazon and Nike are huge brands that are also following closely behind with campaigns that cater to a wider scope of audience.
With seniors becoming better at social media usage and infact surpassing their younger counterparts, people need to become more open to the idea of granfluencers and encourage senior citizens to come online.
Soon brands worldwide will acknowledge the importance of including granfluencers in their campaigns to discover the unknown lengths of a demographic that has a high purchasing power and demand creation but low service rendering due to negligence. The scope is huge and our seniors are ready.
This article is authored by Sahil Chopra, Founder & CEO- iCubesWire.
