For Boomer women, midlife means the freedom to get real and be her authentic self. She won't respond to marketing tactics that seem contrived or fake-marketing strategies need to "get real" with her. Let's explore some of the psychology behind this transition.
Up until midlife, the individual is developing the "social" self, which is defined by the need to fit in, belong, and be accepted by others. Authenticity is a matter of finding one's "real" self and involves integrating the internal, or "secret," self with the external, or "social" self.
Interestingly, finding what Carl Jung calls the "real self" is about letting go of the ego. Boomer women are not as compelled to make social statements by their brand choices, and they are no longer controlled by the need to have perfect looks and perfect behavior.
Looking for the long-submerged "secret self" is also about listening to one's own counsel rather than listening to others. Boomer women are more individuated, more autonomous and less influenced by peers and celebrity endorsements. As Lynda shared in our Girlfriends Group:
"You learn with age. You listen to yourself." - Lynda, 57
With apologies for playing a bit fast and loose with serious concepts of psychology, the youthful focus on one's "social self" basically means that young people feel it's more important to be seen as the "right" sort of person, however that is defined-successful, rebellious, winning and so on. Older people have been there, done that, seen through it a billion times.
In midlife, you want more. You want people to know you for who you really are, and to like the real you, not the "pretend" you that you built in your younger days. You want to be your real self all the time. You want to be dealing with other "real selves" and don't have a lot of patience with contrived personalities (as in perky TV people extolling their fascination and enthusiasm for a product).
Without this merging of the social self and the secret self into the real self, the disconnect between the internal and external selves makes people feel like a fraud and created anxiety about being revealed for who they really are. When people are successful in the merger, they achieve a state of integrity, of wholeness. They feel strong, complete, uncorrupted and more confident.
Boomers-men and women-know themselves, accept themselves, want to be themselves and express themselves and, importantly for marketing to them, want to be seen accurately for who they really are.
This article is part of the Freedom series:
Part 1- The Gifts of Midlife Offer Marketing to Boomer Women Opportunities
Part 2- Pay Attention, Marketing Professionals: Boomer Women Have Freedom, Time and Resources
Part 3 - Free to Be Me: Boomer Women Shun Social Conventions
"Being older is great. I intend to develop all sorts of interesting eccentricities... now that I can get away with it!" This sentiment from a friend of mine sums up Boomer women's newfound freedom from social conventions-and they are loving it!
Their freedom comes partly from their 50+ years of experience that tell them that, no matter what you do, you can't please everybody anyway, so you might as well please yourself. Those who are marketing to Boomer women should take notice that Boomer women are looking for brands that help them fulfill this new stage in life.
Author Gail Sheehy, famous for her work and writing on life stages, associates freedom from social conventions with reaching what she calls the "Age of Mastery," which takes places between 50-65. She writes in Sex and the Seasoned Woman:
"The great transition in the passage to Second Adulthood for women is to move from pleasing to mastery. In our First Adulthood, we survive by figuring out how to please and perform for the powerful people who protect and reward us: parents, teachers and bosses. But by our mid-forties, we are all looking for greater mastery over our environment-emotional, physical and vocational."
Moreover, relative to their younger selves, Boomer women are more conscious that life is finite and time is precious, which gives them less patience with the nonsense of daily life, and more likelihood of saying so. Marketing campaigns with a "keeping up with the Joneses" vibe are sure to fail with Boomer women, but marketing strategies that emphasize the Boomer woman's freedom to be herself are sure to win with the Boomer market.
This article is part of the Freedom series:
Part 1- The Gifts of Midlife Offer Marketing to Boomer Women Opportunities
Part 2- Pay Attention, Marketing Professionals: Boomer Women Have Freedom, Time and Resources
When Boomer women reach mid-life, they find themselves surprised by freedom. In their forties, Boomer women are nervous about the future, but when 50 arrives, midlife brings an important freedom: Freedom from family chores.
Not only do Boomer women find themselves with more time, but they can indulge in "my time," too. Up until this point, women have made their priorities their kids, their husbands, their own parents and siblings, the PTA, the Girl Scout troop, the swim team, their kids' college applications, and so on. Their orientation towards others and their commitment to making a nice home for their families don't leave much time for their own interests and activities.
However, once Boomer women are able to scale back their responsibilities as mother, room mom, soccer mom and so on, they find themselves with whole heaping handfuls of time they can use to explore their options, rekindle old interests, and experiment with something new. And they mean to use it!
Men have always been more "me" focused, but now it's women's turn. While men's responsibilities don't change much in midlife, once the immediate family needs ease off, Boomer women's focus changes dramatically. This point in life marks a beginning for Boomer women, not an ending. It's the beginning of "My Time"-no wonder women love it! Here are two "midlife testimonials" from our Girlfriend Groups:
"You wake up and do whatever you feel like doing. I do a lot of walking outside for myself, walking the dogs for an hour. Meet friends for lunch, go shopping, read, cook. Whatever I feel like doing." - Barbara, 55
"I spend more today... I had to provide for other people, and now I don't have to." - Leanna, 68
In many respects, the Boomer woman is able at last to return to who she was before she married and had kids-a dancer, traveler, an actress in community theatre. She can read until 2AM and sleep late on weekends if she wants, because nobody has to be at the soccer field by 8AM. If all she wants for lunch is asparagus, there's no one to insist on hot dogs and mac ‘n cheese. Nothing for kids to do on a wine tour through Tuscany? So what? Let's go!
The marketing team at Celebrity Cruises clearly understands the Boomer woman's "freedom from family chores" attitude. Awhile back, they had an advertising campaign featuring a woman relaxing in beautiful blue water, and the copy captured the midlife transition from "taking care of everyone" to "having someone take care of me," with the headline: "Somewhere between Monte Carlo and Mykonos, ‘mom' becomes ‘madame.'"
Using freedom as a marketing approach is inspiring for marketers-and it works with marketing to Boomer women! It's a win-win for everyone.
This article is part of the Freedom series. Read part one here: The Gifts of Midlife Offer Marketing to Boomer Women Opportunities
AARP's research effort "Understanding Women 45+" (PDF) found that 65% of Boomer women are "happier now than they have ever been." One woman was quoted as saying, "To me, life right now just seems so wonderful."
How can this be? What's so great about being older?
To start with, Boomer women enjoy three freedoms as they grow older:
1. Freedom from family chores
2. Freedom from social conventions
3. Freedom to get real
Freedom from family chores
It should be no surprise that as a woman reached midlife, her family is growing up and becoming independent. And Boomer women start to find themselves with time and resources. Mary, 62, sums it up quite nicely:
"I have more time and money to indulge my priorities"
Statements like Mary's should make marketing professionals' ears perk up. When your brand is a priority for Boomer women, marketing to these women just got easier.
Freedom from social conventions
With age comes perspective on life, and Boomer women come to accept themselves as they really are and become more comfortable behaving the way they really want to. Marketing to these Boomer Women gives brands a certain degree of their own freedom to shed stuffy propriety and unrealistic imagery.
Freedom to get real
One characteristic of midlife for Boomer women is the drive for greater authenticity. You don't "decide" to be more authentic, any more than you "decide" to be hungry. It evolves in the individual, like the drive to learn to express yourself.
When marketing to Boomer women, brands must recognize the different connotations "get real" has for young adults vs. women in midlife. Young adults are breaking out of the safety net of childhood while Boomer women are embracing their lifetime of experience. Lynn, 50, is a great example:
"I don't doubt myself. Go with my intuition. Know that inner person. It takes a long time to know who you are. Because we have experienced ourselves for 50-off years."
Today, I've just introduced these three freedoms Boomer women enjoy as they grow into midlife. In future posts, I'll go into each a little deeper, with more marketing advice and more research behind each point.
On Monday, April 23, join me at the Women Mean Business! Week Global Kickoff Luncheon. The focus is on global marketing to women, and I'm excited for the speakers, Kristine Malkoski, Steve Thomas and Lois Scott.
All proceeds from the Global Kickoff Luncheon will benefit the wonderful charity Habitat for Humanity International. You can't beat that-- great speakers, connecting with other marketing to women professionals, and all for a good cause!
Register at this link. This event is sure to sell out, so I recommend reserving your spot now. View the Global Kickoff Luncheon information sheet here.
For more information on Women Mean Business! Week, download the Women Mean Business! Summary Overview.
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