23
? ? Not so Desperate Housewives Not so Desperate Housewives How the Dutch housewife is liberated from perfection

Not So Desperate Housewives

Embed Size (px)

Citation preview

Page 1: Not So Desperate Housewives

??

Not so Desperate

Housewives

Not so Desperate

HousewivesHow the Dutch housewife

is liberated from perfection

Page 2: Not So Desperate Housewives

I’ve got to admit it’s getting better - It’s getting

better all the time.

Paul McCartney.

Life Begins at 40.

John Lennon

Page 3: Not So Desperate Housewives

Source: CBS (2009)

Less than 12 hours

12-19 hours

28-34 hours

35 hours or more

no paid job

20-27 hours

Number of hours of work per week for mothers with two children

The Target Group

Women in their 40’s

With chiLdren

and a part time job

529.500

Page 4: Not So Desperate Housewives

The 40+ mother is an important target group for many brands.

We feel that she is poorly understood or atleast approached by marketeers.

A lot has changed since the fifties, and so has she.

WHY THIS INVESTIGATION? SOURCES

Our own client experiences.

Books, articles and research studies.

Conversations with the target group.

Page 5: Not So Desperate Housewives

‘Some things happen in your life which you may think you could have handled differently. But life is as it is and you just have to deal with it.’

Karin, 45

‘I am very satisfied with my life right now. I wouldn’t want to go back to the past. I am so much more relaxed now, because I know everything will turn out fine.’

nicoL, 44

‘You have to let go of that idealistic image. Your life will inevitably run into certain roadblocks. Life will never turn out the way you thought it would.’

FLeur, 42

Page 6: Not So Desperate Housewives

Women are driven by a utopian impuLse: the urge to create a perFect LiFe For themseLves and peopLe around them

Phillipa Roberts & Jane Cunningham, Inside Her Pretty Little Head

ACCEPTED KNOWLEDGE

our visionWomen in their

forties have thrown away the quest for perfection.

Page 7: Not So Desperate Housewives

What happens after 40?

What happens after 40?

Page 8: Not So Desperate Housewives

Fading ambitions and a healthy sense of realism…

…makes them more relaxed

and self assured.

Page 9: Not So Desperate Housewives

RelaxismRelaxismThey enter the era of

Page 10: Not So Desperate Housewives

‘It’s about confidence: knowing who you are, what you want and how to get it. I know I can wear what I like, and - having juggled the whole wife, mother and career package - feel glad to have proved there are many roles I can play.’

‘I have financial security, I know exactly what I want and I waste far less time worrying about what people will think. It’s what I think that matters. I have none of the doubts and insecurities of youth… I have far more confidence in my body.’

‘I feel in the prime of my life and far more confident than ever before… I feel I can finally be the woman I want to be... I no longer care what people think of me, I’m confident with my opinions and I can stand up for myself.’

beL mooney journalist for the Listener, the times & the sunday times

edWina currie Writer, broadcaster, & former member of british parliament

sandra dicKinson actress

Page 11: Not So Desperate Housewives

A New AttitudeA New Attitude

Page 12: Not So Desperate Housewives

‘I’m not as driven as I used to be, striving for accomplishments and always wanting to be the best is in the past. This gives me a lot more peace.’

Linda, 40

NO AMBITIONS, AND HAPPY WITH IT

‘I just find other things more important than work at the moment.’

Lisette, 42

TAKE LIFE AS IT IS

‘I have learned to live day by day and not think about the future. Because it usually turns out different than you think. I just have to see how it goes…’

monique, 40

‘I used to have a nice job, but a part-time management position is simply not possible. And to be honest I’m totally fine with it.’

myLene, 44margot, 42

‘So they go to bed without showering once, who cares? And what if we don’t eat at exactly 6? So what? You become less strict with these things, and that makes it a lot easier. Just go with the flow!’

‘You worry less about things when you’ve passed forty. You have more experience, you can handle things more easily and you take things as they come.’

nicoL, 44

LOOKING GOOD IS GOOD ENOUGH

‘I know that my skin doesn’t look as smooth and elastic as it used to. But it doesn’t have to be, as long as I am groomed.’

astrid, 42

‘I still spend time in front of the mirror, but not as much as I used to. Of course you get wrinkles and turn grey, that’s only natural.’

carLa, 43

‘When I was young, I spent a lot of time making sure that others would find me attractive. Now I try to look good for myself.’

Lisette, 42

Page 13: Not So Desperate Housewives

New Attitude

New Attitude

Where does this

come from?

Page 14: Not So Desperate Housewives

life is getting less stressful

MOTHERS WITH SCHOOL KIDS DO NOT WORK LONGER

Source: Dag (2008)

the Kids are groWing oLder and

go to schooL...

...WhiLe mothers Keep WorKing the same

hours

Page 15: Not So Desperate Housewives

Karin, 45

‘This attitude is a logical consequence of the busy years I’ve had.’

THEIR PAST EXPERIENCE TEACHES THEM THAT WORRYING IS NOT EFFECTIVE

‘I consciously try to let go of my worries. And I’m noticing that this makes my life so much easier.’

monique, 40

THE INNER-WOMAN IN THESE MOTHERS IS GRADUALLY RE-AWAKENING

Linda, 40

‘At this age, with the kids being a bit older, I’m noticing that the focus is more on me again.’

carLa, 43

‘I recently picked up my lingerie design study, and last year I had singing lessons.’

WISDOM AND CONFIDENCE REPLACE UNREALISTIC AMBITIONS FOR BEAUTY

The Research Study “Aging Redefined” suggests: As women age, most actually look forward to getting older and wiser, and are less likely to define “aging well” as looking 10 years younger than their true age. While looking healthy is still important, they care more about how they feel as they age.

The study concludes: In their mid-thirties women aim to look a decade younger than they truly are. In their mid-forties women begin to welcome the confidence and wisdom that come with age, and enjoy their retrospective view on life.

Page 16: Not So Desperate Housewives

Marketing & CommunicationMarketing &

Communication

implications for

Page 17: Not So Desperate Housewives

As they get older, women need to be approached more realistically in communication. Showing skinny models might be effective for twenty year olds, because they have the ambition to look that way. But middle-aged women cannot identify with them. And more importantly, they no longer think looking great is the most important thing in life.

IMPLICATION ONEReal vs perfect

Women over 40 identiFy

With dutch ceLebrities that

don’t behave and LooK LiKe

ceLebrities

Page 18: Not So Desperate Housewives

BEST PRACTICE

dove reveals that being

beautiful does not mean looking

perfect.

Page 19: Not So Desperate Housewives

What would seem evident knowledge is still not practiced by many marketers. The modern forty year old woman is not the same as fifty years ago. She doesn’t like to be designated as a housewife. Women have become advanced multi-taskers, with a lot more on their minds than a nice and shiny house or nice and shiny children.

IMPLICATION TWOOpen minded versus narrow minded

Page 20: Not So Desperate Housewives

BEST PRACTICE

omo Finally a

detergent admitting that cleanliness isn’t

everything

Page 21: Not So Desperate Housewives

IMPLICATION THREEME VERSES THEM

What goes for all women, goes for women over forty even more. They discovered, through good and bad, that living the life of someone else simply doesn’t work. They put themselves in the number one spot more and more. They care less about ‘what people might think’ and have a more pragmatic view towards live.

Page 22: Not So Desperate Housewives

BEST PRACTICE

ocean spray A display of the

modern-day woman enjoying her “me-time”.

Page 23: Not So Desperate Housewives

For more information, please contact:Christiane Anell [email protected]