Do brands still treat the Menopause as a marketing moment?
In line with World Menopause Day (Friday 18th), Nicola Kemp asked industry leaders, including our very own Aimee Luther, whether brands are doing enough, or still treating menopause as just another marketing moment.
Curious about their thoughts? Grab a Spiced Pumpkin Latte for a 3 minute read.
We ask industry leaders if brands should be doing more to recognise the universal experience of Menopause.
When any life stage is a marketing opportunity the lack of innovation, sustained investment and attention given to the Menopause is a huge missed opportunity for the industry.
Research from Menopause Mandate, the campaign group focused on improving education and support for women going through the Menopause, underlines the scale of the issue. Their recent survey of nearly 20,000 women aged 45-65 has shed light on the numerous challenges women face during this stage of life, including the alarming lack of support for many of the most debilitating symptoms.
The study revealed that 97% of respondents experience menopausal symptoms, with the majority reporting psychological issues such as brain fog (82%), low mood (72%), reduced motivation (67%), and anxiety or panic attacks (62%). In addition to these, many women endure physical symptoms like night sweats, hot flushes, and weight gain.
While many brands will mark World Menopause Day today, questions remain as to how committed brands are to unstereotyping older women and how seriously the industry is taking this issue. Questions that extend to the broader malaise surrounding gendered ageism in advertising.
As Emilie Pine writes in Notes to Self: Essays: "If getting my period was ‘becoming a woman’, I fear that the end of my period is the end of being a woman. As I think about bleeding, and not bleeding, I realise that the cultural silence around female blood is part of a much wider problem – a total shitstorm – of how women’s bodies are imagined, aestheticised and policed to be a certain way. Any variations from the approved script render you invisible and silent."
A red thread runs between the failure to create products, services and advertising that adequately reflect and meet the needs of older women and gendered ageism. An advertising industry which has for decades instructed women to ‘fight the signs of ageing’ retains the talents of very few women over 50. In creative departments, so small is the number of female creative directors over 50 that there isn’t even a data point to share. If we measure what we treasure then it is clear the advertising and marketing industry isn’t taking older women seriously. With this in mind, we asked industry experts, if the industry is still guilty of viewing the Menopause as a marketing moment and if brands should be doing more to recognise the universal experience.
Aimee Luther
MD, The Liberty Guild
Brands love a moment; a date in the diary to show their unexpected allegiance too. 11th January is World Step In A Puddle day, apparently. Or 9th May is World Lost Sock Day. And we’re currently in the middle of Shetland Wool Week. Marketing at its not-so-finest. But when there is a genuine cause to rally around, a reason to draw attention to a matter we do it rather well.
The menopause taboo is finally being broken, and our industry is playing an important role. I get invited to things now. I see it on the agenda. It’s becoming normalised - just as Always did with periods 10 years ago. But me-no-pause: there’s work still to be done.
From the brand side, there seems to be three types of approaches;The Money Spinner - they see human interest and offer poor services at high cost with high disappointment. There are those that will give October the Cursory Poke with some light-weight messaging. Imagine Estro-Jen and Berry’s making "Hot Flash Fudge" or "Cool Down Caramel” ice-cream? But within the third approach there lies hope. Some brands like Holland & Barrett and Boots are taking this seriously - educating, lobbying, busting myths and practising what they preach internally.
Read the full article and other industry leaders opinion here.
First published by Creativebrief
Photo by Priscilla Du on Unsplash
