Brands Are Chasing Gen Z and Ignoring the Most Valuable Consumer in the Market: Women 35+
If you look at marketing budgets, social listening dashboards, or brand strategy decks, one thing is clear: The industry is obsessed with Gen Z. Every mood, micro-trend, aesthetic shift, and treat-based behavior is analyzed in real time. But here’s the part no one wants to say out loud:
Gen Z may shape the algorithm, but women 35+ shape the economy.
And the more brands over-index on youth, the more they overlook the most powerful, stable, high-value consumer segment of the next decade.
Let’s be blunt:
Brands are investing in volatility while ignoring value. Gen Z’s “Little Treat Economy” Is a Symptom. Not a Strategy Gen Z’s spending right now tells a very specific story:
declining economic confidence
rising unemployment
early-career instability
identity-first, low-cost consumption
high volatility in trends and loyalty
Small indulgences are less about joy and more about coping. It’s emotional self-regulation packaged as consumer behavior. Useful for cultural headlines. Not the foundation of long-term growth. Meanwhile, Women 35+ Are Powering the Categories Everyone Calls ‘The Future’.
This is the part brands underestimate. Women 35+ are driving:
wellness and longevity
premium beauty and skincare
financial planning
travel and experiential spending
health, fitness, home, lifestyle
multi-generational household decisions
They’re entering the most powerful cycle of their earning, influence, identity, and spending lives yet remain nearly invisible in marketing. How does a segment this valuable stay ignored?
Because marketing still worships youth. Gen Z Is the Cultural Spark. Women 35+ Are the Economic Infrastructure.
Brands follow Gen Z for aesthetic relevance. That’s fine. But:
you can’t build revenue on vibes
you can’t build loyalty on trend cycles
you can’t build forecasting models on emotional whiplash
Women 35+ offer what businesses claim to crave:
stability
depth
recurring spend
values-driven decision-making
premium willingness-to-pay
cross-category influence
long-term relationship potential
They don’t shop to soothe. They shop to transform. The Real Blind Spot: Cultural Conditioning, Not Consumer Behavior.
Brands aren’t ignoring women 35+ because the data says to. They’re ignoring them because culture still ties relevance to youth.
As a result:
campaigns cast 22-year-olds to sell products bought by 45-year-olds
brands recycle outdated “anti-aging” narratives
insight teams test with the wrong demographic
product roadmaps ignore midlife needs
It’s not strategic. It’s a hangover.
And it’s causing companies to miss the single biggest commercial opportunity hiding in plain sight. Women 35+ Aren’t Aging Out > They’re Doubling Down. At 35, women enter a decade-spanning identity shift marked by:
reinvention
career acceleration or realignment
financial growth
renewed autonomy
emerging health + hormone transitions
higher spending on self-directed wellbeing
This is the exact consumer psychology driving growth in wellness, beauty, travel, finance, and lifestyle. Women 35+ aren’t settling down.
They’re leveling up. And brands that don’t evolve with them will fall out of relevance fast.
**Let’s Put It Plainly: Gen Z Generates Attention. Women 35+ Generate Revenue.**
Brands don’t need to choose between the two, but they do need to rebalance. Because right now, the entire industry is tilted toward the wrong end of the funnel. Gen Z sets the pace of culture. Women 35+ sustain the market. The sooner brands recognize this, the sooner they’ll stop chasing cultural noise and start building influence that lasts.
This is not a demographic adjustment. It’s a strategic correction. And it’s long overdue.
