Choosing older models might seem an obvious way to make advertising more representative, but clothing brand Damart’s customers offered a more nuanced verdict. In the second part of Prolific North’s focus week with HUB, we examine what makes older audiences recognise themselves in a campaign.
When Damart, the clothing brand known for its thermal wear, used models aged around 50 and above in a TV advert, some of its older customers preferred the younger models they had seen before.
While others welcomed the change, the varied response left the brand with a creative challenge. How should it respond when customers within its target audience disagree about who should represent them?
“There was definitely a split,” said co-managing director Jeanette Howard-Jones. She described women over 70 who felt the advert was not for them, despite the decision to use older models.
Yesterday’s opening Age of Opportunity feature explored how much difference the over-55 label conceals. Today, we look at how Damart’s experience brings that question into the creative brief. and how casting someone closer to a customer’s age offers no guarantee that the customer will identify with them.
Research published by the Advertising Standards Authority in 2025 found that 62% of women aged 55 and over wanted to see more people their own age in advertising for a wide range of products. However, Damart’s experience shows how nuanced the response to how that is executed can still be.
Capturing how people feel
Model and age representation campaigner Annie Stirk brought a customer’s perspective to the roundtable hosted by HUB and Prolific North in Leeds.
“I don’t feel in my 70s. I didn’t feel in my 60s,” she said.
Annie described a continuing sense of fun and an appetite for experiences that advertising can often fail to reflect. “Forget the grey hair. Forget the wrinkles,” she said.
Annie’s confidence is echoed in the ASA research. Some 85% of respondents aged 55 and over said they felt comfortable in their own skin, compared with 63% of those aged 16–54.
Annie pointed to recent adverts from Trainline and Boots as examples that captured a feeling she recognised. Her comments raised a question about what creates genuine identification with a campaign. The personality and behaviour of the people on screen can matter as much, if not more, than their age.
For creative teams that also means considering where older people appear. If their presence is mainly reserved for products associated with ageing, much of their everyday life remains outside the frame.
HUB examines a related problem in The Silver Times, its publication for marketers working with older audiences. Efforts to move beyond depictions of frailty can produce another narrow portrayal, with older people shown skydiving or undertaking other extraordinary activities. Everyday experiences can receive less attention, including those of people who use mobility aids.
When customers surprise the brand
Great Rail Journeys’ head of marketing Sarah Fussey offered the roundtable an example of how customers’ behaviour can complicate the image a business presents.
The company markets elegant, five-star river cruises. But footage Sarah received from the final night of one recent trip showed guests singing Sweet Caroline after the captain’s dinner.
Her initial reaction was that the video would never appear on the brand’s social channels. The scene felt far from the image used to promote the holidays.
Reflecting on it at the roundtable, however, she questioned whether that instinct overlooked something about the customers themselves.
The footage showed people enjoying the holiday the company had sold them. It raised a practical question about how much of that enjoyment should make its way into the marketing, even when it surprises the team behind the campaign.
Listening to the customer
At Damart, discussions with customers prompted the team to question whether its casting was defining the brand too narrowly.
“We’re definitely going more ageless,” said marketing director Ben Phillips.
Customers are regularly invited to focus groups at the company’s Bingley mill, where they give frank feedback on its advertising. Some asked for a balance of ages rather than a cast that placed the brand firmly within one age group.
Ben described the attempt to fit the brand into an age bracket as “clunky” and Jeanette also stressed that the clothes had to appeal to customers and suit the way they wanted to dress.
“You know your style,” she said. “The women who buy our clothes know what cuts, necklines and styles work for them because they’ve had years of experimenting and figuring it out. They’re looking to be inspired rather than to reinvent their style.”
Their experience shows that customers can welcome greater visibility while disagreeing about the execution. Their response to the whole advert matters, including the clothes, the styling and the way people are portrayed. Listening to those responses helped Damart question its own choices – helping even greater authenticity to take shape.
Tomorrow, Age of Opportunity goes inside HUB’s campaign for Assistive Bathing, exploring how stylish bathroom settings and expanded TV sponsorship helped present mobility support as a positive choice that preserves independence, identity and personal taste.
