Presentation prepared and delivered by Kim Walker, CEO of Silver Group at the 12th World Knowledge Forum in Seoul, Korea on October 13th, 2011. Opening address for the panel 'March to an Ageing Society'. This presentation intro

1. -!Asia is faced with upcoming crisis with an aged society. How far will the aged
society spread in Asia in 50 years?-
-!What impact will aging in Asia impose on this region’s economy?
-!What would be the proper response of Asia to the aging problem?
-! What are the hidden opportunities in an aged society?
Contact: Kim Walker, CEO, Silver Group
+65 91555567 (Singapore)
kim@silvergroup.asia
© Silver Group 2011 1

2. •!Our world is optimised for a younger population
•!Designed by us (baby boomers) for us
•!Serious consequences as society ages
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3. A symbol of fear for older people
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4. © Silver Group 2011 4

5. The degree of ageing is driven by two factors: life expectancy and fertility rate.
In 1900, life expectancy in developed world was around 40 years, due to high child
mortality. Fertility rate was around four in most western countries, large families then!
Until mid-century, life expectancy mainly increased because of lower child mortality.
Now look at the so-called RDE's (Rapidly Developing Economies), and in particular at
the BRIC. In 1950, life expectancy was around 40 years in what we then called the
3rd world. Russia was much more like the West. Average fertility rate was about 6
children per woman.
In the next 60 years, life expectancy increased everywhere, although less so in Africa
(poverty, wars, AIDS). The change in fertility rate was even more impressive: in just
60 years fertility rate dropped to a third, while it took the developed countries 100+
years to "only" halve it! The reasons for that were increasing women education,
access to contraceptives, etc. Also Governments played a big role, e.g. China
introduced the 1 child policy and fertility quickly dropped.
However, it's worth noticing that while Governments have been very effective in
decreasing fertility rate, they have not been so effective in increasing it. E.g.
Singapore has been trying since years to increase it but without much success.
Overall, by 2010 the picture did not look so different anymore from the West. In many
developing countries, family sizes are around 2 children and life expectancy has
reached 60-70 years.
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6. •!10-year horizon more relevant to most business leaders.
•!50+ population will grow almost 5 times faster than the total population
growth and become the second most populous segment across Asia Pacific
•!Most developed countries will have more than 35% population over 50
•!Decisions we make today will affect the world we age in in 20 years from
now. Buildings, factories, infrastructure, brands
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7. •!While the 50+ population grows, younger segments stagnate or decline.
•!Implications for marketers, employers and governments.
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8. Labor: Will we still have enough skilled employees, do we need to work with
more elderly?
Capital: In an aging world, will there be sufficient capital available? Should we
prepare for shortages or surpluses?
Growth: Can the world still grow when there is aging? How will this differ
between the developed world and Rapidly Developing Economies?
Needs: If clients become older. What does that mean in terms of products they
want, but also in terms of services and how they are addressed?
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9. •!So is ageing a problem or opportunity? A risk or reward?
•!I believe it’s can be a competitive advantage / vote winner for early movers.
•!Example; in USA, AARP (American Association of retired Persons) = A 60
million-strong voting lobby!
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10. •!Why is it so hard to gain inertia? We need a tipping point.
•!Environment is another ‘global phenomenon’ that will impact everyone
•! The issue suffered from ‘Much Talk/No Action’ for years
•!The tipping point: 2006 - An Inconvenient Truth and Al Gore.
•!He dramatised the issue and created popular ‘pull’ that encouraged
governments and businesses to move.
•!Green credentials and CSR now a defining element of a business. Something
young employees often use as criteria to evaluate companies they work for
and buy from.
•!So should be our goal with the ageing phenomenon.
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11. •!Two core aspects of ageing are Physiology and Psychology
•!Psychology shaped by major events such as retirement, loss of spouse plus
local, regional, ethnic differences
•!Physiology is universal, relentless and inevitable
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12. •!The ‘new old’ have a six-letter word when it comes to anything to do with
ageing ..................DENIAL
•!It’s a powerful psychological aspect of the future of ageing.
•!Growing difference between ones actual (chronological) age and perceived
age
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13. •! I believe the corporate response to this issue is that we must enable our
ageing consumer, employee and citizen to Think, Feel and Look younger
for longer.
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14. •!Physiology is universal, relentless and inevitable
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15. •!We need a world that is no longer merely optimised for young people but ……
•!Neither do we want a world that is optimised for older people
•!We need an age-friendly world: “A world that accommodates the unique
physical needs of older people in a way that is natural and beneficial for all
ages”
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16. •!World Health Organisation. Published guide on Age-Friendly cities.
•!First global conference held in Dublin, Ireland September 28~30, 2011.
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17. •!On the workforce productivity side BMW serves as a fantastic example. In
one of its plants, a manager anticipated the rise of the average age of his
factory workers in a very pragmatic way: he staffed one production line with
workers with an average age of 47, i.e. the average age all of his workers
would have in 10 years.
•!The new line had a productivity 7% lower than the average in the factory, saw
higher levels of absenteeism and achieved lower quality scores. This
confirmed that going unchecked, aging would indeed cause a problem.
He then had all the workers on the line come up with adjustments that would
help them overcome physical and mental restrictions that older people face.
Very simple changes were made,
•! Tools: ergonomic chairs, magnifying lenses, wooden flooring
•! Process: Job rotation, stretching exercises before work
Results were impressive despite a limited investment
•! Productivity at par with other lines
•! Absenteeism dropped (7% ! 2%), below plant average
•! Line achieved a zero defects rate
Several similar project now are being run within BMW.
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18. •!60% of people 50+, think an age-friendly experience is critical to brand
choice. (SilverPoll. June 2011)
•!Kaiser's supermarkets, one of Berlin's largest supermarket chains, part of
Tengelmann Group.
They designed special senior branches, Some of the special features of the
stores are:
•! brighter lighting, shelves fitted with steps, extra wide isles, non-slip floors,
magnifying glasses on shelves and trolleys, lighter trolleys, larger signs
and labels, emergency call buttons
Targeting the older customers has been successful : The supermarket
regional manager, says revenues at the store are already up 30 percent.
•! Not a coincidence that this example is from Germany. As Germany is the
most aged country in Europe and the second in the world after Japan.
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19. •! Age-friendly business for consumers
•! Age-friendly cities for our citizens
•! Age-friendly workplace for our employees
and even
•! Age-friendly medical care for patients
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20. •!Our proprietary AF tool measures and benchmarks the age-friendliness of an
enterprise. It measures the ‘journeys’ made by consumers, by employees or
by citizens through the prism of ageing.
•!We’ve identified over 20 universal physiological effects of ageing. And on a
complete ‘journey’ there can be more than 150 touchpoints.
•!Uses an iPad interface to guide qualified auditors through a rigorous
sequence of tests.
•!Objective measures require deployment of special applications to measure
light and sound levels etc.
•!The Tool employs cloud storage technology to store inputs, images and more
•!The result is a comprehensive, accurate assessment of age-friendliness
clearly indicating the potential barriers that need to be addressed.
•!The AF mark certifies the age-friendliness of companies, brands and
institutions who consistently achieve a high (4+) rating based on our audit.
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21. •!So far, Apple has achieved one of the highest scores (4.4 of a possible 5) for
age-friendliness.
•!No wonder more older consumers are gravitating to Apple products
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22. There are challenges. But there are definitely opportunities.
It’s about perspective.
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23. Let’s make the planet ‘age-friendly’!?
Contact: Kim Walker, CEO, Silver Group
+65 91555567 (Singapore)
kim@silvergroup.asia
© Silver Group 2011 25

24. Contact: Kim Walker, CEO, Silver Group
+65 91555567 (Singapore)
kim@silvergroup.asia
© Silver Group 2011 26