Brands, midlife & marketing
Cynicism is advised
If you’ve just arrived at Ink Tank, hello! I’m Sue, copywriter and messaging strategist.
My current twin interests are copywriting psychology and marketing to midlife women. I often write about how they interact.
My most popular posts so far? Glad you asked.
It’s this one on writing your About Page and this one on copywriting for midlife women.
If you’re interested in reading my weekly posts (usually sent on a Monday, but you can read them whenever) just tap the button below. Everything is free for the time being.
How brands can win over midlife women
Recently I went along to an event called 'How your brand can genuinely win-over midlife women', run by the The Behaviours Agency.
💭 Some thoughts it inspired
Brands are obsessed with marketing to younger generations, and often overlook Gen X. Yet midlife women have huge purchase power and extensive influence over younger buyers.
Midlife women are taking stock and reconsidering everything at this stage in life, and are therefore open to new products, services or ways of being/doing.
However, we can also sniff a fake a mile off. We're suspicious about brands trying to monetise our midlife challenges. Meno-washing is a big ‘no thanks’.
Coincidentally, one of the speakers was Sam Walker, Group Marketing and Creative Director at JD Williams. I was pleased I'd written positive things about the brand a few weeks ago here.
What do you think of their slogan - Admit it, this age thing suits you?
Midlife meets preloved
Here’s question I plan to address in a future post - are midlife women the sustainability drivers behind fashion's luxury resale market?
Penny Brook, Chief Marketing and Experience Officer at Canada Goose, inspired my musing. I’ve been on a Vinted spree myself recently.
Tell me about the pre-loved treasures you've found ...
Other recent gems
Monetising menopause
It seems that once the menopause taboos were broken, the brands moved in to make the most of it. This article by Helen Lewis in The Atlantic asks some awkward questions - “What concerns me is the likely outcome of all the recent awareness raising: stealth marketing in lieu of actual help. Capitalism has gotten its hooks into menopause and wants to shake it until money falls out.”
Skincare complicated by language
I enjoyed reading this article on skincare for men from
on Substack, which is a guest post by . Interesting because it lays out the manipulation inherent in the language typically used to market skincare to women - “generally, all of that jargon can be avoided by opting for masculine-marketed products.”As Holst points out - “I get to spend less time rewriting my internal skincare hard drive for things like whatever “milky” is, less time reading labels online and in-store, and even less time applying products.”
I wrote about pain-point copywriting and women’s skincare brands a few weeks ago. I wonder will a sceptical midlife market eventually edge out copywriting like this - is your neck ageing faster than your face? We’ll see.
Is Gen X the ‘Karen Generation’?
This deep-dive article in Dame magazine has a US twist, taking a nuanced look at why Gen X is accused of being conservative (small C) and disinterested in driving social change.
Marketing to Gen X Women: Knowledge Vault
I've gathered together articles, podcasts, organisations, books and Substacks on the topic, if you're interested in reading more. Google no more. Peek here.