More and more industries are now entering the New Normal and refocusing on the new areas for future growth, such as the New Old 55+ generation in the West. Cosmetics companies are the latest to change direction:
• When the Boomers were young, they encouraged women to be youth-obsessed
• But now, the key messages have changed as the Boomers enter the New Old 55+ generation
• ’60 is becoming the new 60′ as women increasingly prefer to be themselves
Thus as the pictures show, 66-year old Diane Keaton is the face of L’Oreal; 62-year old Meryl Streep was on Vogue’s January cover (the oldest woman ever to be so featured).
Smart suppliers to this lucrative market such as Croda have already woken up to the massive opportunity this represents. Others need to catch up quickly, if they are not to be left behind.
Clarins, for example, is already moving one step further. It is adding Prof Michael Porter’s concept of Societal Value as a key driver for the future. Their new concept is ‘gift with a purpose’, and it means Clarins has been donating $1 to provide 10 free school meals in New York, every time someone buys 2 Clarins items at Macy’s.
Clarins is, of course, merely following a trail blazed by Kellogg’s in 2011, when they donated 1m breakfasts to needy US children. Consumer giant Procter & Gamble similarly had its best-ever US sales week, when it offered to donate a day of safe water for every water filter purchase.
Now the beauty business is highlighting its own New Normal thinking. They have realised the New Olders accept they will never be young again. But being alive at the age of 60 is also an achievement that the New Olders would like to celebrate.