Description
Something happens when a woman turns 52. This is the average age when she starts to feel invisible*. She’s erased from culture, and even though she can have economic clout, she’s ignored by brands. Why? Since the beginning of time, ‘society’ decided that women perceived as past their required use are not worth paying attention to. Midlife women have been cowed, or vilified, by the myths surrounding this vibrant life stage—but not anymore.
As the brand for midlife style, JD Williams is saying enough is enough. Ignore midlife women at your peril. For Autumn Winter 2023, they are putting midlife women centre-stage in a new campaign that takes those midlife myths head-on. Spearheaded by a 30-second TV spot, House 337 shows them as the fiercely stylish women they really are, turning them from invisible to unmissable, capturing the spirit that has got them this far and is fuelling a whole new stage in life.
A cast of 50+ women are seen embracing all aspects of life, blatantly flouting the received wisdom around their age as a narrator repeats all the tired old rumours: “We have lost our style, forgotten how to party, are past it, probably stopped having sex a long time ago, choose to be invisible, play it safe – we are nothing but a hot mess.” House 337’s work rejects these mediaeval myths of midlife in all aspects of women’s lives, from style to beauty, their sex lives, to partying and hosting at home.
This campaign follows on from JD Williams’s previous work celebrating women in midlife in their SS23 collection, and their role as sponsor of Davina McCall’s hit midlife dating show My Mum Your Dad. All these activities have helped JD Williams become the leading brand for rewriting the narrative of midlife.
Esme Stone, Head of Brand Marketing at JD Williams, said: “We’re proud to present a second campaign that once again demonstrates our commitment to truly representing midlife women. With House 337, we’ll continue to flip the perception society holds of women past a certain age and represent a style which is made for them. Embracing the wit, confidence and the true stories of real midlife women across the entire lifestyle category this Autumn.”
Zara Ineson, Executive Creative Director at House 337, said: “The tides are slowly turning on society seeing the value and awesomeness of middle-aged women. But this can’t happen soon enough. We’ve been misrepresented or altogether ignored for too long, so shove over ‘silver fox’ men HERE COME THE F-ING GIRLS, and we’re not who you think we are! It’s fulfilling to be a part of this cultural revolution of really seeing midlife women through our myth-busting work with JD Williams. And I encourage even more marketers to harness the power of creativity and the reach of their brands for both commercial and societal progress.”
Lou Canham, Creative Director at House 337, said: “With the work demanding an even stronger POV on midlife for AW23 we stripped out the noise and placed our women in simple spaces that kept the spotlight on them and the message. This campaign demanded a stellar team filled with a diversely fierce female energy.”
“The crew behind the lens had a huge impact on the energy on set. Director Amy Becker-Burnett’s punchy aesthetic was essential to ensure our visuals steered clear of midlife stereotypical advertising, supported by Jameela Elfaki on stills. With the styling, we pushed hard against expectations, to inspire midlife women to dress for themselves and no one else. Midlife, we see you, and for those of us that aren’t there yet, a galvanising message that there’s so much more to come.”
The campaign runs nationwide across the UK, in TV, BVOD, radio and social from the 29th September to the 31st October, supported by media agency The 7 Stars.
This professional campaign titled 'Rewriting the narrative for midlife women' was published in United Kingdom in September, 2023. It was created for the brand: JD Williams, by ad agency: House 337. This Integrated medium campaign is related to the Retail Services industry and contains 1 media asset. It was submitted 4 days ago.
Credits
Brand: JD Williams
Head of Brand: Esme Stone
Brand Lead: Donna Scully
Agency: House 337
Executive Creative Director: Zara Ineson
Creative Director: Lou Canham
Art Director: Emma Jordan
Writer: Alex Holder
Strategy Director: Eleni Chalmers
Planners: Lottie Mayer
Senior Producer: Tash Dean
Assistant producer: Jasmine English
Account Management: Sarah Johnston, Rebecca Snaith, Hannah Thomas
Business Affaires: Julie Lagden, Jade Bailey
Media Agency: The 7 Stars; Suzanne Morgan, Libby Foster, Emily Docherty
Production Company: OB42
Director: Amy Becker-Burnett
Executive Producer: Sam Holmes
Producer: Lucy Bradley
Director of Photography: Natasha Duursma
Production Designer: Grace Becker-Burnett
Stylist: Aurelia Donaldson
Make Up Artist: Min Sandhu
Hair Stylist: Sharon Robinson
Manicurist: Ama Quashie
Editor: Scarlett Bovingdon @ Whitehouse Post
Head Of Production: Ella Sedgwick
Edit Producer: Annabel Bennett
Edit Assistant: Mae Deans
Post House: Coffee & TV
Executive Post Producer: Dionne Archibald
Post Producer: Dylan Bolister
Colourist: Lewis Crossfield
VFX Artist: Alfie Vaughn
Sound Design: Bark Soho
Sound producer: Carley Reynolds
Sound Engineer: Marcus Ffitch
Music: The Hogan
Stills Photographer: Jameela Elfaki @ Laird And Good Company
Stills Digi Op: Claudia Gschwend
Stills 1st Assistant: Lucy Rooney
Stills 2nd Assistant: Sasha Vanner
Production Manager: Ella Knight
Production Assistant: Jo Thompson
1st Assistant Director: Tom Wynborne
2nd Assistant Director: Joe Ramsden
Runner: Zoe Bradley
Runner: James Williams
Runner: Darnell Joseph
Focus Puller: Oliver Bingham
Clapper Loader: Asia Rose Kilgallon
Camera Trainee: Sofia W. Rasmussen
Camera Shadow: Matt Buxton Smith
Grip: Adrian Mccarthy
Video Playback: Robert Toft
DIT:: Matt Cole
Steadicam Operator: Matt Allsop
Sound Recordist: Lucy Pickering
Gaffer: Paul Allen
Best Boy / Stills Electrician: Jono Yates
Electrician: Adam Bell
Electrician: Michael Smit
Electrician: Alex Gibbons
Electrician: Dexter Lovely
Desk Op: Ed Riley
Rigger: Lee Doran
Rigger:Tom Biggerstaff
Art Assistant: Ellie Koslowsky
Art Assistant: Bella Harwood
Art Assistant: Rachel Billings
Home Economist: Matthew Ford
Home Economist Assistant: Stevie Taylor
Construction: George Bull
Construction: Sam Morris
Construction: Jed Newman
Construction: Aloaye Ayeni
Styling Assistant: Katy Cuthbert
Styling Assistant: Lila Vitos
Seamstress: Allison Ozeray
Hair Assistant: Coco Nettey
Hair Assistant: Sarah Sango
Makeup Assistant: Lizzie Checkley
Makeup Assistant: Tabna
Manicurist Assistant: Aliyah Johnson
Manicurist Assistant: Olivia Gane
Medic: Joanne Mclean
