Marketers ignore at their peril the needs and wants of women aged 35 and over, Bonds and Berlei group general manager Sue Morphet says.
Traditionally, the focus in this demographic has been on “the role”, as mother or wife, and not “the woman”, Morphet says.
“I think it’s a great untapped market. This woman shops for everything that we sell. Of everything that Bonds or Pacific Brands sells, 80% of it would be bought by the woman who runs the household, and she often feels very neglected by the marketplace in general, unless we are selling her something she can use for the betterment of her family.”
The vast majority of women in this age bracket now hold down at least a part-time job, Morphet says.
“The demands on women are much greater—they are expected to run a very good household, they are expected to be very good at their job (if they hold one), they are expected to be very good mothers if they are, which are all very good roles, but they need time out to be the woman that they are versus the mother or the wife or the worker.”
She identifies leisure sport as a key area where women over 35 increasingly get “me time”.
“There are more women active generally across the population: they’re out walking, they’re going to yoga classes, they’re doing meditation, they’re into healthy food, they are very active in terms of self-alignment. So women are stepping away from just being in the role by putting their hand up and saying, ‘I need time out. I’m going to a yoga class, find your own breakfast’ or ‘You get the train home tonight, I’ll be at meditation’.
“That’s not been the case unless the woman hasn’t been working and she’s been able to fit those things into the family off-time. Women are beginning to say to their families more and more, ‘I need personal time—it may clash with your time but that’s just the way it needs to be’. Which is a good thing, it is a very good thing,” Morphet says.
When women of this age engage in activities outside the family and home, it creates opportunities for marketers. If physically exercising, for example, they may need tracksuits, sand shoes, athletic bras or gym memberships.
“Or if they are working, they need more haircuts than when they’re not working,” Morphet says. “When you’re not working you tie your hair back in a pony-tail...you need to feel like the woman you are, not like the mother who scrambles to the office by 8.30am...they don’t want to look like they feel many a time.”
Out-of-home engagements aside, women aged 35-plus still decide much of what gets bought for the household. Advertisers recognise this through campaigns such as Meadow Lea’s “You oughta be congratulated”, Morphet says.
“And then there’s the opposite of that, like the Special K ad where they go straight to the woman. It’s a very, very strong positioning. They are not selling to the family with Special K, they’re selling directly to the woman and her needs and how she wants to feel about herself.”
