Happy Birthday to the Queen of Pop

Today's post comes to you compliments of guest blogger and fellow modern feminist, Jesse, over at FashionLimbo.

I confess: I have been a Madonna fan since the age of five. I have all the albums, singles, calendars, posters and books. I troubled my parents and made my conservative aunts blush covering my walls with her Erotica pictures when I was only 10. I learnt about love, sex and life from her, and she remains my role model.

Madonna began with nothing. She is an icon of the 80s, the 90s, and she is still an idol today. She has sold millions of records, topped the charts more times than Elvis, received dozens of awards. She created her own record and production company, and has written books and a directed a film. Her latest album is a global hit, and her upcoming world tour is selling out as I write.
She is the ultimate businesswoman, has defended femininity and girl power worldwide, telling women to take control of their lives, live their dreams and ignore male-imposed principles. Yet, all the headlines are saying right now is that she is 50, young no more, and really: isn’t it time she stopped? And who does she think she is walking around in skimpy underwear for her latest video? And what about all the surgery she has had done?

Relationships and motherhood proved to be two more battle grounds of principles for our Queen of Pop. Madonna has not only been portrayed as a sperm shopper, but also recently as baby snatcher for falling in love with a Malawian boy at an orphanage. She is portrayed as an unfaithful wife because she keeps working, travelling abroad, networking and leaving her husband to do his own thing. Her latest offence? Turning 50 and releasing a raunchy album, daring to dance alongside young Justin Timberlake. The media is covering the milestone over and over again: just Google “Madonna turns 50” and you will see what I mean. It is everywhere.

My question is this: when Brad Pitt turns 50 (he is 45), will we all make the fuss we do today? Will we be debating whether he should start toning it down and covering up, will we question his ability to do his job?

Why is it that women have an expiry date to their career, their femininity or motherhood? Why is it that beauty products still use teenagers to sell anti-wrinkle products, and apart from Dove (and Jane Fonda), older female models have yet to enter the media and marketing landscape. We still live in a world that teaches us every day: “if you are a woman and wrinkled, cover up, because nobody wants to see it”.

The purpose of this post? To congratulate my idol on her beautifully successful existence. To tell women out there that we owe her a lot, that we still need her to remind this world of the need for change, and to publicly proclaim that she is the sexiest woman on this planet at 50, 55 or 65. This post is for all those women who are turning 50, or who are 60 and older and still feel sexy and refuse to slow down.

And last but not least: this one is for Madonna…For contributing to who I am, for opening the worlds’ eyes to erotica, female sexuality without guilt, music and artistic integrity, in the 80s, 90s, noughties and beyond.

Happy birthday Madonna.

News, views and a breath-taking video

The summer vacation is almost at an end and it's been a busy period for us, preparing for the months ahead.

There's much happening that I want to share with you in the coming weeks, not least of all our upcoming talk "Why women own 19 pairs of shoes (and other secrets revealed)" at the Brussels Geek Girl Dinner on August 20th.

I would also like to take this opportunity to introduce you to Courtney Davis, one of the newest members of Muse Communication, who'll be blogging here with me from now on.

I met Courtney in March this year, in my search for a person to strengthen our management team. I knew Courtney was the person I was looking for when I arranged to meet her in Ghent, and we both arrived wearing all black with red accessories and both ordered a glass dry white wine, which we finished while talking non-stop about life, universe and everything else over the next two hours. It's difficult for me to describe Courtney in a few words, suffice it to say that she is a very competent, switched-on woman and marketeer who brings invaluable knowledge and insight to the company. I leave it up to Courtney to explain the garlic, the barefoot hippy and the other parts here.

To wrap up for today there is this video, which won the short film award at Cannes and shows the power of getting the message just right. It will take your breath away...

Wanted: second-hand woman for sheer driving pleasure

Every time I look at this ad for BMW's selection of "Premium Used Cars", I just can't believe my eyes. (hat tip to Copyranter, where I found the ad)

HELLO? Is there anyone home at BMW Marketing...?

The questions that keep popping up (please do excuse the pun in this case) in my mind are:

WHO THE HELL SIGNED OFF ON THIS AT BMW?
a) Is this guy really in marketing?
b) How many of his brain cells were actively participating in helping him make the decision on this one?

WHO IS THE CREATIVE GOFER THAT DELIVERED THIS LITTLE PIECE OF MENTAL MASTURBATION?
Do they really pay him at BBDO Greece? And was there no-one more strategic to review this concept?

In my opinion this ad is the perfect example of "how stupid ads are made". The answer? One long chain of unbelievably short-sighted decisions made by people who really shouldn't be paid to be in marketing or advertising.

The last person to leave the BMW marketing team, please: switch off the lights.

What Rock Chicks can teach us

I'm back from two days at Rock Werchter, one of Europe's biggest summer festivals. I came back with more than a sore back, blistered feet and the feeling that a russian second world war tank has just driven over my body. I also came back with two of the most valuable lessons about why women buy into brands.

Lesson number one "BE REAL" came in the form of The Gossip - a US band lead by front singer Beth Ditto.
Beth, unapologetic, in-your-face and rauncheously female, played a rocking set to a crowd of thousands of women who clearly loved every single voluptuous inch of her. There were no diva allures about Beth. She jumped down to talk to the crowd in the middle of the set; climbed (rather ungraciously) back onto the podium, sang from the bottom of her heart, played on a fan's trumpet, gave it back to him and thanked him!
What did Beth give her fans that we as marketeers can learn from?
- What you see is what you get. No bullsh*t, no false promises, no promises she doesn't deliver on. Au contraire...she exceeded our expectations by delivering what we expected and more, and being respectful to her audience.

Lesson number two "SURPRISE US AND SHOW US YOU CARE" was delivered by Dutch Diva Anouk.
Anouk took a crowd of almost eighty thousand people by complete surprise when, in the middle of one of her biggest hits, her little 4 year old boy (wearing ear-mufflers and sporting a red plastic guitar) appeared shyly on the side of the stage. And what did she do? She stopped singing, and told her band to stop playing. She then walked over to her son, bent over and asked him if he wanted to play a song with her. Holding the mike to his guitar, she accompanied him, in the smallest, most fragile mother's voice, as he strummed halting, incoherent notes on his plastic red guitar. After almost 3 minutes of this (and a crowd going absolutely wild) she resumed her song. I don't think there was one single person in that whole crowd who minded that interruption one single bit. And it didn't end there. Throughout her performance, her three sons kept running across the stage, huddled in ear-muffs and warm fleece jackers. Every now and again, she stooped to pick up one of them, planted a quick kiss and resumed her set.
What a woman...Clearly she wanted her children with her while she was away from home. What she gave us though, without realizing, were 3 reasons to like her even more.

To Beth, and Anouk I dedicate this post. And thank them: for being real, for being so likably human, for wanting to connect, when they could have settled for giving a just another performance.

And in this lies the lesson all marketeers should heed: marketing is long past the point of being a song-and-a-dance performance. Heed your consumer...they want more. Actually, they want all of you. And that is where the future of successful marketing lies: forming real connections, respecting your consumer, being real and giving back. That is what consumers really buy in to.

On motherhood (again)

Although I'm not a Mom, I really appreciate this site "True Mom Confessions"

It's a fantastic community building site for moms to visit, especially in frustrating moments, of which, no doubt there are many.

Moms (and Moms-to-be) can anonymously share their worries, stresses and silly moments with like-minded women.

From a marketing-to-women perspective, I really like it because:
- I love the homepage visual (shown above). It shows a woman as more than just a mom
- I love the unspoken message of the site "You don't have to be a perfect Mom"
- The site puts moms in touch with each other by allowing them to share their stories. Support during difficult times, who wouldn't grab it?
- And they have a competition in which they offer the kind of gift any young mother would jump at: a relaxing spa treatment!

A great effort overall! Which makes me wonder: why has no major brand targeting moms spotted this site as a great initiative with loads of potential to link their customers to their brand...?

Sometimes it takes a man...

...to show us one of the greatest examples of connecting with women I have seen to date.

Words wouldn't do Dave's concept any justice. Just watch.

Click here and once you're on the site click "reflect/respect" at bottom right.

My Monday Memo (on a tuesday)

There's so much happening in the M2W arena at the moment, a quick between work update on some must-reads:

The second edition of the Muse Newsletter is due out this thursday. Subscribe now if you want to receive it!

Lady Geek - Discovered this a few weeks ago...a wonderful blog about women and technology! Short, quick, funny reads...Bookmark it!

Less is More
Talking of women and technology, check out this interesting report by Jitterbug.

Some topline findings:

Feature Overload is “Out”
o 73% of respondents prefer to pay only for what they believe they will actually use,
compared to only 27% who want all the bells and whistles
o 32% of cell phone users say their current cell phone service has more features than
they know what to do with
Personalized Services are “In”
o 71% said they would be interested in 24-hour access to a personal telephone
assistant who could give them tailored service
o 34% would prefer to have someone else set up their phone features and services for
them

Soon to be released book worth checking out: "Satisfied customers tell three friends, angry customers tell 3,000". More here
(Double or triple those figures - on both positive & negative sides - for women!)

And last but not least, an article on Essensis, the new "wonder" yoghurt by Danone (in Flemish). The product's claim: "feeds your skin from the inside" came across as unbelievable to me when I first heard it. Apparently I'm not the only one.
Time waits for no (wo)man. Gravity is taking hold. No way one yoghurt is gonna solve that. You can read the full article here.

Yummy Mummies RULE!

For the record: I don't have kids (yet) and I'm not pregnant.
But I simply must do a plug for HOTmilk - the lingerie brand from way, way down under in New Zealand that has come up with the most stunning line of maternity and nursing lingerie.

Classy, sexy, it empowers women and doesn't take itself too seriously! I love it! Kudoz to you ladies!

YES! To giving pregnant women and nursing mums a choice of flattering, sexy underwear!

YES! To the sexy, sultry, powerful promo photos!

YES! To reminding women that they can be beautiful and sexy while pregnant!

YES! To the "Men Only" section on the website and it's informal way of helping men understand how to buy lingerie for women.

YES! To standing up for what you believe in and having the guts to live your dream!

HOTmilk is available in Belgium in Ghent at Lingeriet. All other outlets world-wide can be found on the HOTmilk website.

You are beautiful - just the way you are.

I was gonna blog about women and technology today. BUT: Sex In The City goes into premiere in Belgium this week (oh God, I can't wait!!!), so the topic today will be the much asked question in the media lately (sigh...): "Can a woman be a Sex In the City fan AND a feminist?"

Speaking to women around me and judging by the sighs it induces, this question must rate as one of the silliest questions asked of many modern women - regardless of their age - today.

Why? Because it implies the following:

1. You can't be a feminist and love fashion or shoes.
2. You can't be a feminist and be attractive or dress sexy.
3. You can't be a feminist and have a Brazilian wax.
4. You can't be a feminist and be a single, flirty, vivacious woman.
5. You can't be a feminist and be a career girl.
5. And you certainly can't be a feminist and be a highly-sexed, bi-sexual woman like Samantha!

The problem with this question is that by its sheer composition, it is based on the definition of feminism as we know it from the sixties: grow all bodily hair, burn your bra, debase men and write lots of angry poetry.

But the feminism of today is no longer the feminism of the sixties.

Today's feminist can be a stay-at-home mother of 28, or the career girl of 47 without partner or kids. But she can just as well be an aid-worker in Burkina Faso or the editor of Vogue.

Today's feminist can even be a bi-sexual student, or a grand-mother of 88. And today's feminist can also be the career woman with a husband and 3 kids who wants it all.

Feminism today is all about standing tall, proudly looking the world in the eye and stating:

"I am who I am, and I won't make excuses for it."

Being a feminist today is about the freedom to choose.

It's about living, and letting live.

It's about the beauty of human diversity.

It's about being a woman, and being beautiful...Whoever you are, and just the way you are.

Don't pile on the puppies

We've been talking about the whole 'fuzzy-warm' issue in marketing to women a lot at the office lately.

There seems to be a widespread perception out there that if a brand wants to connect with female consumers, it's all and ONLY about being able to form an emotional bond with her. We call this the 'fuzzy-warm' syndrome and it makes our hair stand on end.

What frustrates us (and no doubt many, many other women out there) is the concept that a woman is ALL about emotions. (It's a little degrading, you know). Show us a puppy and we'll ohhhh and ahhhhhh over it and of course buy your product. Put the song "Unchained Melody" in your ad and you've got us - for the remainder of our consuming days. Show us a woman having fun, laughing with her girlfriends and we're right there, ready to pull out our over-flowing wallets! Do the warm and fuzzy on us and nothing else matters anymore.


Right.

The current hype surrounding the 'power' of the female consumer means there is great interest, albeit often misguided, in understanding women as consumers. We've all heard it - numerous times: connecting with female consumers emotionally is what it's all about.

I think this needs a little clarification.

Yes, an emotional connection with a brand is important to us. Yes, what Seth Godin said "women don't buy a brand, they join it" can be true.

HOWEVER:

We can only be great brand ambassadors IF many other criteria (and herein lies the crux of the matter!) are fulfilled too.

IF your product delivers what it promises

IF it helps solve the problem I want solved

IF price / quality makes sense to me

IF your service is outstanding - time and time again

IF you give us the information we want: where we want it, when we want it and in all the detail we want it

IF we sense you're being honest and care about more than just us and our money.

And yes, IF your marketing is inspiring and empowering, then we'll connect with your brand.
But don't underestimate us: this is no irrational relationship in which (to use a soppy song) "Love lifts us up where we belong", and one bad experience can still ruin the relationship forever.

Marketeers should remember that women's purchasing behavior is complex, and never based solely on an emotional connection.

As I've always said: Be Brave. Be Real. Show Value.