50+ with an additional plus

 
Credit cards The Glanzmann Consulting Group, together with MasterCard and the agency ViznerBorel, launches the new "Golden Years" credit card for people over 50. 
"Senior citizens no longer exist," explains Toni Glanzmann with conviction. The new 50+ generation of consumers is making its way into the "golden years." The PR legend should know. The current owner of Switzerland's oldest PR agency founded another start-up in his prime in his seventies.
His idea runs under the term "Golden Years", which Glanzmann has already trademarked in many ways. The concept includes a credit card that is issued exclusively to the 50+ generation. "The only difference between this group of people is that they have time and usually also money to enjoy life more intensively than before," says Glanzmann. Otherwise, the 50+ generation has no different expectations of life than the younger generations. "The age boundaries are blurred. There are now only active and passive people."
Active people over 50 are now the main target group for Glanzmann's new credit card. The "Golden Years" card opens the door for this generation to consume products and services that are on the market due to overcapacity or underuse. In concrete terms: on Wednesdays, the beds in the beautiful luxury hotels in Gstaad or St. Moritz often stay cold because that's when the young and affluent clientele are at work. The vacation resorts in Mauritius or Dubai are just as empty in the summer because the British managers have no need to escape the drizzly weather in London. "But it's very nice in Mauritius in summer," says Glanzmann. After all, he also acts as a tourism consultant for the island. Glanzmann would now like to offer these and similar overcapacities such as mountain railroads, luxury restaurants and midweek helicopter flights at reduced prices to wealthy "early retirees" with the necessary leisure time. Discounts of up to 50 percent are to be offered to those who are 50+ and can therefore pay with the "Golden Years" card.
For Glanzmann, this matchmaking offers a "win-win situation" for everyone. The 50+ generation has more fun thanks to more frequent consumption and the economy is boosted.
In order to make his card attractive, Glanzmann and his first team members, such as former FIFA Marketing Director Guido Tognoni and several consultants for product development and marketing communication, are already negotiating intensively with various luxury brands. These brands, such as Jaguar, IWC, Kuoni Travel and luxury ski and golf equipment suppliers, are to offer massive discounts to owners of "Golden Years". In return, they can address a consumer group with an estimated annual income of CHF 15 billion.
In 2010, over 3 million people in Switzerland will be over 50. Every second pensioner has over CHF 250,000 in assets. One in five is a millionaire. For Glanzmann, this financial development goes hand in hand with a change in values. "People want to be able to afford something better after a lifetime of work." The 50+ generation is interested in fashion, leisure, travel and, increasingly, education. Glanzmann is therefore also in contact with institutions such as Akad regarding discounts.
To ensure that the card is correctly positioned, it is only issued "against proof of age". However, the father can easily buy his daughter-in-law a discounted Jaguar.
The new card is issued by Viseca and can be used worldwide as a sub-brand of MasterCard. With an annual fee of 500 francs, "Golden Years" is 200 francs more expensive than American Express. "But that is quickly recouped," Glanzmann calculates. His plan for the first phase in Switzerland is at least 20,000 cards. Exclusive card numbers can still be allocated for the first 1,000 in August.
The expansion of "Golden Years" from Switzerland to other countries is already in the pipeline. The new card is being launched with a campaign by ViznerBorel. The Zurich agency also created the logo and design.    
 
Andreas Panzeri 
 
 
 
Start-up at 70Born in 1938, Toni Glanzmann
took over the management of PRW Public Relations + Werbe AG in Lucerne, which was founded in 1965 by former National Councillor Robert Eibel, in 1981. During this takeover, Eibel's political column "Trumpf-Buur" was spun off from PRW. In return, the agency managed major campaigns for the introduction of casinos and the launch of Coca-Cola light in Switzerland. Glanzmann was a consultant for American Express for 14 years. Together with former Migros boss Pierre Arnold, he founded the world's first recruitment agency for board members. In the 1960s, the trained businessman was head of the Zurich cooking studio, the PR service of Knorr, Roco and Findus. An important success
Glanzmann's PR was the successful campaign against the drug initiative. He was President of the Zurich PR Society and, as Chairman of the Swiss Professional Organization of PR Professionals, drafted the code of conduct that is still valid today. Now Glanzmann wants to take off again with "Golden Years". (pan)