Idealism Is OUT, Realism is IN

How an Aging Population Is Changing the Mind of the Market

#8 More authentic – Humility over hubris; less tolerant of puffery in marketing communications, prefer reality to unrealistic idealism.

Jamie Lee Curtis both stunned and charmed middle age and older women across the country when she appeared in the September 2002 issue of More in sweat halter top and briefs, displaying a widening girth. She had agreed to be the cover story only if the magazine showed “the real Jamie Lee Curtis” in an unretouched picture taken without special lighting. (See the "real" Jamie.)

Said Jamie, “I don’t have great thighs. I have very big breasts and a soft, fatty little tummy.  Glam Jamie, the perfect Jamie…it’s such a fraud.”

Jamie Lee said in the More article that she’s used a litany of age-fighting methods from Botox to liposuction but now has renounced them all.

“The more I like me, the less I want to pretend to be other people,” said the torridly sexy star of True Lies. At age 43, Jamie Lee – right on schedule – has switched from the social-actualization track of life to the self-actualization track.

Her midlife paradigm shift from focus on the outer world to focus on the inner self promotes the self-honesty that was displayed in the More article. As her self-honesty grows richer in authenticity, she will become less tolerant of those who lack authenticity.

For decades, marketers have heavily stressed the ideal – the ideal lifestyle, the ideal mate, the ideal children, and – the ideal woman. It was a good strategy when teens and twentysomethings ruled the marketplace because, still saturated with the idealism of youth, anything less than the ideal was an unwelcome compromise.

However, as midlife approaches idealism begins to be replaced by pragmatic realism. The Madison Avenue ethos of idealism begins being perceived as wantonly unauthentic. The brand managers of Unilever’s Dove Soap have recognized this as previously noted several times in this space, first in August and again at the beginning of this thread in February.

From time immemorial the young have taken measures to enhance attributes they believe they have going for them and other measures that minimize attributes that social consensus deems less attractive. It’s all part of the mating game – not just among humans. The young of myriad creatures of fur and feather, far and wide, strut their stuff in search of – the ideal mate. However, when the most biologically fecund years of our lives are in the past, the urge to strut dissipates.

The fact that most people are now beyond their peak strutting years, authenticity in marketing communications has risen to crucial importance. “Be real, not emptily idealistic,” the midlife soul calls out to marketers.

The relatively newly achieved majority status of people 40 and older has already influenced the marketplace behavior of the young in many ways. It will be interesting to see how the expectations of marketing authenticity this New Customer Majority has will influence the expectations of the New Customer Minority – the formerly “much coveted” 16-39-year-olds.

Comments

[M.R. Maguire]

David,

I just discovered your blog and couldn't be happier. (Well, my brain is actually crying "Uncle" from the weight of all the cool blogs I keep discovering..)

After reading today's entry, I had to respond. Jamie Lee Curtis' attitude is incredibly refreshing. My target market is the 40+ woman. I emphasize self-love and appreciation instead of mourning the fact we are no longer twenty. (Good night, I'm glad I'm no longer in my twenties. I love getting older.)

I have quite a bit of silver on my head at 42. I decided to "go natural" three years ago when I married for the first time at age 39. My husband encouraged me. (He was a soft gray at 42 when we met.) I've been amused and amazed by the response. Many women have told me how "brave" I am to no longer color my hair and then wistfully say they wish their hair was so evenly grayed. One hairstylist said, "Wow! How free are you! You go, girl!"

Like Jamie, I wanted to get real. Getting older is a part of life and I don't appreciate the constant barrage of advertising preaching the "youth-at-all-costs" message. As the Dove ad campaign has shown, women of all ages are beautiful. Joyce Tenneson's photographs ("Wise Women") are other examples of how older women can look fantastic. (In spite of the gorgeous lighting, the wrinkles were not airbrushed away but instead celebrated.) Accomplishments, a strong sense of self and poise go a long way in my book.

Sexy and silver-haired? You bet. And I suspect we're going to see more of them in the years to come.

[David Wolfe]

M.R. McGuire,

Thanks for sharing your thoughts. We're seeing just the very beginning of a future in which authenticity -- being real -- is a stronger element in our cultural ethos because people like you -- and Jamie Lee Curtis -- multiplied by millions are taking us into what I term the Age of transcendence. Key that term into the serch box in my blog to locate several postings on the topic. Also, I will be addressing it very shortly in a posting in which I will review Daniel Pink's new book that projects a similar view of the future.

DBW

[Atare Agbamu]

David --

Thank you very much for the series "How an Aging Population In Changing the Mind of the Market." I am richer for it.

Atare Agbamu