Perennial women are not women who grow perennials. If your target market is women, especially the midlife or older woman, then your marketing strategies are probably out-of-date. There’s a whole new way to reach your target audience.
When it comes to traditional marketing, it’s age demographics and age-related labels. There’s a descriptive label for the Millennials, Generation X and Boomers that identify their interests and spending habits.
Who wants to see grandma in designer clothes? Click To Tweet
Traditional marketing campaigns cater to the younger generation and relegate to the side women who have aged-out. After all, who wants to see grandma in designer clothes? However, for those who have been paying attention to the stats, there’s a bigger untapped opportunity being missed.
The stats already tell us women live longer and make up more of the workforce. They also make more financial decisions and are on target to control 80% of the economic wealth.
The Marketing Mistake
The mistake most marketers are making is to believe there’s been little change in mindset and attitudes of these aged-out women.
Research indicators show a change starting with women in their 40’s who “… look, feel and live differently than the generation before them – 90 per cent consider themselves to have a much younger attitude than their own mother’s generation at the same age.”
The marketing agency SuperHuman surveyed 500 women and found:
- 67 per cent of women over 40 felt more confident than they did a decade ago, and just as many were more ambitious too.
- ‘Doing things that challenge me’ was important to 60 per cent
- Personal fulfillment was a priority for 61 per cent,
- 63 per cent described themselves as ‘very optimistic’ about the future.
- Almost 80 per cent said they had a strong appetite to explore and experience new things with or without their kids.
- 40-plus women feel very confident in their abilities and opinions,
- [but] 48 per cent …said they felt less confident about their appearance than they had a decade ago, citing pressure to stay looking young –
- and 83 per cent felt this affected their self-image.
Perennial Women
Gina Bell, founded Spendora.com back in the late 90’s as an Internet lifestyle and luxury site which she later sold. Today she’s a tech entrepreneur and founder of the What List. All of which has led her to the cultural shift she calls “Perennials.”
“We are ever-blooming, relevant people of all ages who live in the present time, know what’s happening in the world, stay current with technology, and have friends of all ages. We get involved, stay curious, mentor others, are passionate, compassionate, creative, confident, collaborative, global-minded, risk takers who continue to push up against our growing edge and know how to hustle. We comprise an inclusive, enduring mindset, not a divisive demographic. Perennials are also vectors who have a wide appeal and spread ideas and commerce faster than any single generation.”
According to Pell’s friend Margaret Johnson, the chief creative officer at Goodby, Silverstein & Partners, “… demographic tools are obsolete.”
“Marketing and advertising have shifted from spending ad dollars on a single demo group to going after a cultural zeitgeist.”
Perennial women are your new marketing audience.
Why bother trying to market to them with the old labels associated with age? Rather, use the descriptives they use to define themselves.
You already know that the age-defying cosmetics is a multi-billion dollar business because it addresses appearance. Think how successful you could be if you marketed to their confidence, challenges, personal fulfillment, optimism, desire to explore and experience, and abilities and opinions?
Are there undiscovered perennials in your target market?
Resources:
https://medium.com/the-what/meet-the-perennials-e91a7cd9f65f
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/women/life/women-40-50-new-ageless-generation/
Images: Wikimedia Commons, Degas, A Woman Seated beside a Vase of Flowers (Madame Paul Valpinçon
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Maybe I’m an oddball, but I actually do want to see grandma in designer clothes if that’s what she wants to do! 🙂 Just because we age doesn’t mean we have to stop enjoying what we’ve always enjoyed. I plan to rock it as long as I’m able!
Great point Jennifer. I could have rephrased that better. I spent part of my career in advertising and during that time, there were women in the field trying to raise the image of older women. One of the blowbacks was that no one wanted to see older women in designer clothes. Some of that old thinking still prevails, but attitudes are quickly changing.
Glad for the perennial woman who are constantly evolving. That is a great development. This also helps in understanding among different generations. It also sounds they are a great segment to capture.
Hi, Lorii. You are right women are evolving and generations gaps are less than they use to be. This all gives us more marketing opportunities.
Definitely important to narrow the target market and understand them. Tagging them with a name makes it easier for some. Perennial is cute.
Thanks, Cathy for your comment. Perennial is cute, as well as, being an interesting label which expands the meaning of a market. The target market can be narrow but far more diverse. If properly marketed to, it means that they have the potential to become long-term loyal customers.
So much time, effort, and money in marketing are invested in targeting youth when businesses could be taking advantage of other demographics. It’s a shame that most women over 35 are overlooked by brands. The over 40 crowd often has more money, more knowledge, and a bigger desire to branch out since their children are older. While I love that women over 40 have a more youthful outlook, I don’t feel society and marketers have kept up. I struggle to find youthful, fashionable clothes and to find appealing entertainment options. The term ‘perennial’ is perfect. Thank you for helping to open marketers’ eyes to serving a market that deserves attention!
So true, Meghan. Many marketers have relied on what they believe to be the tried and true buyers and have failed to recognize how change is driven by consumers. That’s why it’s good to reassess a marketing campaign to make sure that it’s reaching an interest audience rather than being restricted to an age audience.
Determining your target market is always difficult but very necessary. And we have to be sure we are marketing to them as such. Thanks for sharing this Joyce!
Agree, Kristen. Finding our target market initially is a challenge. And, we have to pay attention if they are changing on us as well.
I absolutely love this Joyce. I recently bought a course that spoke about this particular subject. It is true most marketer have a wrong perception about Perennial women. I am glad that you have provided us with such rich resources to better understand them especially in marketing and advertising
Good to hear that this topic is getting wider attention. Old time marketers will tell you that customers are fickle. We always need to be on alert for changes in our target market.
I love this article Joyce. Thank you for bringing to light the mistake that many marketers make and the value of Perennials…love it!
Thanks, Teresa. We can never rest on our laurels and always need to be on the lookout for changes.
Love this Joyce- yes I am a perennial woman and I know these are my market too- just didn’t know the term. I relate to the description . This is so refreshing to read thank you xx
Glad you now have a word that describes yourself, Suzie. There’s a lot of women out there who need to know there’s a word for them as well. Go forth and share exponentially.
Thanks for pointing out this gap in marketing message to ‘perennial women,’ Joyce. I agree with your post, 40 today is clearly at a far remove from 40 of 40 years ago. And what a welcome change it is!
Yes, I can’t wait until they say 100 is the new normal. LOL.
Wonderingly accurate post! I found with my organizing blog, that women from all ages deal with issues of decluttering their lives. Sometimes not being too specific on a demographic data when strateging is best.
That’s very smart of you to figure this out early in your business Sabrina. We always need to be reassessing how we are reaching customers who need our products/services but are outside of what we think our target market should be.
So much interesting information in this, Joyce. And what you say makes perfect sense. The bulk of marketing tends to cater to younger women and overlook the 40+ age group – except when it comes to anti ageing products. Sad that so many older women are struggling with their self-image because of the push for eternal youth.
So true, Tami. We place so much emphasis on a youthful image that we forget the value that each woman brings with her years of experience.
Yes! I love this, Joyce! You have hit it right on the head. I know for a fact that I am different in many ways at age 65 than who and what my mom was at 65. And as for “who wants to see grandma in designer clothes” — I do, I do! What are we supposed to do, wear thick support hose under our ankle-length shapeless dresses as we shuffle along in bedroom slippers? F*** that. 😉
No reason why we can’t be style setters, Jackie. I always notice an older woman who looks absolutely fabulous and think that she must have an interesting life. Time to get our dancing shoes and have a party.
Love this, Joyce! I absolutely adore Gina Bloom’s description of a perennial. I completely relate to so many of her descriptives. Several years ago I was brainstorming with a marketing friend and he confirmed that demographics no longer apply in the marketing world, but to think ‘psychographics’ instead. This is what Gina is describing clearly too.
Another older marketing friend of mine also believes that most brands are operating from an old-school belief that you want to attract your loyal customers at a young age and keep them for life, which is why a lot of advertising still is directed at the youth market. It’s amazing how much of the economy is controlled by women and how the attitudes have changed when it comes to staying relevant and how women want to reinvent themselves to contribute to the world. Very encouraging for us all! Now if we could just get more women into the political arena, we could really turn this world around and reinvent a planet that is healthy and safe for us all to live in.
Totally agree with you Beverley. The old marketing just isn’t working any longer. We need to reorient ourselves to who needs our product and services and not worry about age demographics. Yes, more women in politics are needed. We need to get out of this old, stodgy male mentality making decisions for us.
Excellent point, Joyce, thanks for pointing this out to all of us.
How we market is changing and we pay attention if we are going to reach the audience we want to market to.