Meet the 'age-positive' expert trying to stop menopausal women being invisible to advertisers

After working in a variety of marketing roles, Ms Lowson now heads Leeds-based brand consultancy Propaganda’s age-positive consulting arm, which aims to help brands differently frame how we see mid-life and the years beyond.

“I think this age group, particularly for women, is invisible in branding,” she said, “it is either misrepresented or it is not there.

“My general take on this is that brands maybe fear it and they think its unattractive. They think its not necessarily that interesting or viable.

“But actually, if they look at the stats and the opportunity, this is a massive audience of people who are getting increasingly demanding about what they want. They’re powerful, and they've got spending power.

“To write off that part of society is nonsense.”

Ms Lowson also believes that if brands are able to push a vision of life after menopause being aspirational, then the whole of society will benefit.

"I think its about raising the bar,” she said.

"If you think you’re going to be old and decrepit at 65 then you will be, but if you see role models, and you see brands showing you people of that age living life differently, doing different things and achieving more, then you raise your own game.

"You’ve got to have a tribe to belong to - and these people are out there. There has always been women looking good at that age - and performing well at that age.

“But if you think that being 60 means having curly silver hair and a paunch then that’s what you’re going to have.

“Society needs a healthier aging population, and if age were aspirational we might get that.”

Ms Lowson went on to note her belief that brands focusing on youth has also led to a huge gap in the consumer market.

“Youth is transient. It is transient for everybody, so it doesn't seem to me to be a viable end game to only advertise around that.

“But I think brands don't see it at all, they don't push that, it’s all about youth.

“If we can work through that tipping point and show that this is a massively desirable, attractive, aspirational and glamorous market, because it is, then brands will go there.

“We know that women over 40 hold the spending power, we know that women over 40 are now out-earning and outspending those under 40 for the first time ever.

"There’s a massive demographic with unmet needs, who are in need of products, services, recognition, education, and brands have massive opportunity to step into that and serve that, and in doing so, do a really good thing.”

Ms Lowson said she disagrees with the notion that targeted advertising towards an older demographic could be seen as a way of taking advantage of them.

“There’s always going to be a bit of a kickback of people saying brands are jumping on the wagon and exploiting vulnerable women.

“But it makes me angry - because why are menopausal women vulnerable? Theyre unserved, but they aren’t vulnerable - I think it’s really patronising.

“And this is not about patronising that audience - it is about asking them what would be useful and offering them choice.

"So we’re putting a call out to all brands saying ‘this is the next big market transformation’, and you have the chance to join that now, don’t get left behind.”