Want an example of Age Neutral marketing – look at anti ageing products

These details appeared in this week’s edition of Marketing Week (sorry subscription only)

British women use the lowest amount of anti-ageing products within the five key European countries of Britain, France, Germany, Italy and Spain. By contrast, French women are four times as likely as British women, and twice as likely as Italian women, to use anti-ageing creams.

The TNS Care report shows that market growth has largely been driven by women aged 35- to 54-years-old and, increasingly, women are using so-called "age-defying" products at a younger age as a preventative measure rather than a cure. Indeed, women as young as 25 now use such creams about five times a week to delay the signs of ageing.

Interestingly, there is wide variation in the use of anti-ageing products in France - ranging from 11 per cent of women aged 25- to 34-years-old, to a high of 28 per cent of 55- to 64-year-olds. In Britain, on the other hand, use of these products is relatively uniform across all age groups. This suggests that anti-ageing product marketing campaigns have been able target and appeal to women of all ages. In fact, anti-ageing creams are the only type of skincare product to have similar levels of usage among women aged 25- to 74-years-old. Dick Stroud: www.20plus30.com