Brought to Singapore by the Procter & Gamble company, the LWC-S is an independent innovation research centre focused on revolutionising product design and development for consumers aged 50 and above in Asia.
It is an extension of the Live Well Collaborative in Cincinnati (LWC-C), the business-academia partnership model pioneered by P&G and the University of Cincinnati in the US.
Deb Henretta, group president at P&G Asia, said, "Traditionally, new products have been targeted at younger consumers, and companies that are first-to-market with novel products and solutions that delight the underserved baby boomer market in Asia will open new sources of business growth. Based on the success of the original LWC and our connect and develop model, we are confident that the LWC-S will enhance P&G's and other corporate partners' product design capabilities in Asia."
Currently, more than half the older population in the world lives in Asia (54 per cent). In the next decade, the over-50 population will total almost one billion across Asia-Pacific with mature consumers estimated to spend US$1.5 trillion per year by 2015.