Cards of Change

I came across the initiative "Cards of Change" via Clo's blog. I simply LOVE the idea behind the Cards of Change concept ( Its mission is to collect as many business cards and stories of positive change of people who have recently been laid off and connect them with new opportunities from potential employers, business partners and people who make the effort to look on the bright side of life).

I liked it so much that I decided to upload my own business card too. Not because I've been laid off but because I wanted to show everyone who is being laid off that it is possible to make it out there on your own. And because I want to be a part of a positive, empowering initiative and to give a positive message during a difficult time.

No, it's not easy out there at the moment - for no-one. But there is a HUGE difference between difficult and impossible. And that's the message I wanted to share: it's not impossible!

This is just such a creative, empowering initiative (with great viral possibilities!). No doubt it won't be the last we will hear of it!

The Girl Effect

A friend of mine, who knows that I'm taking part in a rally through northern Africa to raise money for an organization that helps women to start their own businesses, sent me this video last night. It's by the Nike Foundation and is called "The Girl Effect".





Nike has made a lot of mistakes and done a lot of wrong (like most companies)...What's important is that they are doing something about it. They're making amends. Their leading by example. They're investing time, energy, resources and money. Every little bit helps, so let's give them credit for that.

In Brands We Trust (And the winners are....)

I couldn't help smiling at the results of the Readers Digest "Trusted Brand 2009" results for Belgium when I saw them today.

Have a look who's the leading in the "Banking/Building Society" category. Fortis. Admittedly, the field work for this survey was done in August 2008, so things have changed a tad since then.



When it comes to marketing-to-women it is interesting to note that Nivea (and not Dove!) is the big winner throughout Europe and the most trusted cosmetic brand amongst Belgian consumers. Nivea has been very actively working on promoting the brand and engaging with its prospective consumers - both male and female over the past few months. (they clearly understand that if you can first convince the woman, it is then much easier to get the men along too!). You can see some of the activities they've done in Belgium recently on my friend Caroline's social media blog here.



Although there is no overall winner there are a few brands that rise above the rest across multiple countries.

The most nominated brands across the common categories are:

􏰀 NOKIA - For the 9th consecutive year Nokia is the most “Trusted Brand” of mobile phone handset in every country – no
change since the study was first published in 2001.

􏰀 NIVEA - continues to be the brand of skin care that most people trust (winner in 16 out of 16 countries).

􏰀 VISA - Similarly there is no change to the line up of trusted brands in the category of credit card. In 14 out of 16 countries Visa retained the pole position.

􏰀 CANON - remains the trusted brand of camera in 13 countries.

􏰀 KELLOGG'S - is the trusted brand of breakfast cereal in 10 Western European countries and Nestlé predominates in 4/5 of the CEER countries + Portuga.


About the Trusted Brands Survey:
The "Trusted Brands" is an annual consumer survey, involving over 23,000 people in 16 European countries. The survey’s primary objective is to find out which brands Europeans trust the most in a range of consumer product categories.

The reports per country can be found here.

Co-creation: now that's a great idea!

Co-creation - the process during which a company involves an external group of people in (a part of) the innovation process of a product or service - gets its first public event!

Held on June 24th in The Netherlands, the first ever Co-creation event is under the auspice of RedesignMe - "the first platform where communities and companies collaborate on (new) products and services".

As marketeers, we all too often stay in our 'gilded corporate cages', instead of actively involving our clients, prospective clients or other relevant stakeholders in the development of products or services. While I worked at Barco Media & Entertainment as marketing manager, we did so on a few occasions (in 2004! imagine!) so I got to see the benefits of involving users of your product first-hand during the R&D process. Seeing the proactive participation of users, the free exchange of ideas, the 'free' advice and ultimately the results of these collaborations, I am a firm believer in the theory that a product developed with direct input from its consumer is a better one than the product developed in the vacuum of our labs.

Sins and Virtues at BGGD

I attended another great edition of Brussels Geek Girl Dinner last night!
Taking time out of our busy daily lives to meet up with friends & likeminded souls to talk, discuss and be inspired, BGGD should be a compulsary 'destress' moment for all modern girls!

The theme of this edition was "Sin" (and therefore by association also "Virtues") - topics close to my heart as they often come to play in the way we as women view ourselves.

Murielle Scherre of La Fille D'O spoke freely with the 100 attending ladies about sin, virtue and everything in between. As always, she pointed out that as women we should decide for ourselves whether the so-called sins really are sins, and the virtues really virtues before feeling guilty about too many things we think or do. She also pointed out that women should not put themselves in either of the two camps of "sinner" or "saint". Instead they should be comfortable with both facets - and more - within themselves. I couldn't agree more!

The theme of sin continued throughout the night with sponsorship by MariaBingo - an online gaming site, as well as more virtuous sins in the form of low-fat Belvita cookies (yummy-yummy).

With many of my female friends actively thinking about or making a living from things related to 'sin', I will blog more on the topic soon.....

Friday fun: Because I like to ride my bike in my bikini

Just came across this great blog and a post I could resist taking over for the Muse blog.

Female consumers: the cure for recession blues?

The past few months have been busy, to say the least. We're working on an exciting new project for a major international DIY brand, and we're in the midst of a PR campaign for Milner, not to mention other projects with which we're in full preparation. And between all the work, there are the presentations I'll be giving at VEPEC tomorrow night and JUMP on Thursday. I can confirm what this article in The Economist highlights: it seems to be a true marketing-to-women explosion out there.

It's funny that it took a recession to get business to start taking its female consumers more seriously. And its interesting to see who's seeing this as a 'quick fix' opportunity and who's really committed to their female consumers for the long run. Of course I have to mention Nike, who have done great work marketing to women for years, and again do so with the "Here I am" campaign, which features great ads with slogans such as "My butt is Big" and the "I have Thunder Thighs".





But then there's also McDonalds who's suddenly sponsoring New York Fashion Week. There's a major disconnect between brand perception and the PR tool (sponsoring a fashion week that showcases skeletal models...) in my opinion. Unfortunately for McDonalds, this effort goes against one of the fundamentals of smart marketing to women: be real. Or as one of Belgium's top female bloggers, Clo says: "being who you really are instead of trying to be something or someone you are not."


And then there's Porsche, which launched a 4x4 (as did Jeep with its Compass) designed 'for women'.
As the Economist article states, this constitutes "gender bending", which is not always to the benefit of the brand. Au contraire, mostly it will work against the brand. And I'd like to stress here that "gender bending" is NOT the same as smart marketing to women. Designing a product specifically for women is often not a good idea. Women never asked for a 4x4 "for women" (it comes across a little condescending to me...as if women can't drive 'normal' SUVs). What's the answer then, you may wonder? Porsche and Jeep should have involved women during the design & development process of their original SUVs. If manufacturers (of all kinds of products) involve women throughout the entire NPI process - from R&D through design to marketing, they will get a balanced mix of input, which will ultimate lead to a product that ALSO satisfies the needs of female consumers, and that's what smart marketing to women is all about.

Which leads us to the question: what's the future of smart marketing (to everyone)? This article presents an answer which at first may seem a little scary, but which also presents an enormous opportunity..

"I predict female consumers will take on an increasing role with brands and businesses-the next women's liberation movement when women will co-manage brands with the official brand manager, business owner or marketing director. This partnership will exist with brands that dare to let go and share the steering wheel with consumers."

A multitude of consumers who willingly and on their own initiative provide feedback, contribute ideas, give suggestions? That's like employing an entire new marketing department! One that has extensive experience with your product to boot! Wow! Now if that isn't food for thought for all marketers...!

Special offer: Attend Forum JUMP for just 50€!

The biggest event in Belgium dedicated to Women’s careers.
JUMP offers a wide range of tools to reinforce Women’s empowerment and position in the economy by making best use of all skills that they have to offer.

Join the event and a community of outstanding women and men, with whom you will live- out the potential you may not even have known you had. Learn how you can increase your organisation’s performance and above all how women in general can renew the economy. JUMP will give you all the confidence and energy boost to make things happen for you.

When? 23 April 2009 from 09:00 - 18:30
Where? Bozar, Brussels
The program? www.forumjump.eu

Muse Communication proudly presents the marketing-to-women workshop "Why women own 19 pairs of shoes" at JUMP!

The first 10 people to email me can attend the event for only 50€ instead of 350€!

Women win at money matters

A recent survey confirms what many have always suspected: women are better at handling money than men are.

The survey, conducted in December by Reuters, polled 4,500 women in 12 countries (Australia, Brazil, Bulgaria, Canada, France, Indonesia, Malaysia, Mexico, the Netherlands, South Africa, Britain, and the United States).

Extensive surveys such as this can help brands understand women's attitudes and behaviors toward money (banks are you taking note?), which in turn could help them tailor products & services to her needs and who knows: create a loyal, lifelong customer?

The survey finds that that women are less likely to get into debt and strive harder to become financially independent than men.
More than 40% of female respondents also use a part of their monthly income to pay off credit card debts. 70% also agree with the statement that having more than one credit card could lead to financial debt, which clearly highlights women's higher awareness of possibly creating debts without noticing.

And while nearly half of the women surveyed admit to being bigger spenders than men, they also believe they are more responsible when it comes to money matters than men are. (The survey also showed that just over half of all respondents of both genders said women are more responsible with money than men!)

What should financial institutions be doing?

1. RESEARCH. Banks & other financial institutions (insurance brokers, investment consultants) need to investigate the different attitudes and behavior drivers of both genders toward money matters. Not doing so may mean they are (unknowingly) creating frustrated, fickle customers, which is already clearly illustrated in the rather shocking statistic that 1 in 3 women change financial institutions after the death of their partner!
2. REFLECT. Review existing business models, organizational structures and product portfolios. Bet you all 3 are outdated and based on the rules of the "old economy". Start from the question: what does our customer want? (not: what can we offer our customer?)
3. ADAPT. Build flexible, nimble organizations that fit in with the emerging new world order and can respond to changing values and needs quickly and effectively. The days of banks dictating what can and can't be are over. Don't believe me? Watch your customer walk...

The survey may focus "only" on gender differences, but let it also present an opportunity for financial institutions to review the way in which they go forward in these changing times.

Segments, Shmegments

Audience segmentation. It's one of the "Big Five" I often (ok, always) need to clarify when speaking of marketing-to-women.
I always need to explain that traditional segmentation methods are very linear, not to mention based on very outdated stereotypes and definitions. Audience segments such as 28-35, A-B, 1-4 have become grossly outdated in their ability to correctly define an audience. And certainly women can no longer be pushed into such irrelevant categories.

And then I read this earlier today: "Women aren’t well behaved and they don’t obey when you tell them to stay in their little boxes." Ah, now that made me smile!

It's an excerpt from an article called "Segments, Shmegments" by the team of Just Ask A Woman.

The article goes on to say "If you say she is a Beauty Obsessive, is she allowed to be a shlump on Sundays? If she falls into the segment of being Financially Negligent and she pays her taxes on time will she get the boot? What about Jane, the overstressed working mother? Does she mess up the numbers when she has a relaxing day?

This is not to say that segmentation is misguided overall but I do wish that marketers would keep in mind that women can fall into multiple segments all at once and while that doesn’t make forecasting easier it is the truth. Personally I’d like to see segmentation that allows for more fluidity and flexibility."

As woman, consumer AND marketer, I've been experiencing the disconnect between traditional segmentation and the REAL consumer for years. Indeed: the female consumer is not a static entity that fits neatly into one specific box. As Jen illustrates so well in her article, we can put all the cutesy, creative labels we want on our female consumer, if we don't consider the fact that she is a multidimensional being that will exhibit traits of various 'categories' at different times, we won't understand her, or her thinking or her behavior well enough to reap the long-term benefits of our psycho analysis.

Signed,
A Beauty Obsessive (still in pyjamas), a Controlling Perfectionist (about to embark on a 3-week rally through Africa) and a Conflict Averse Creative (who just told the world's biggest agency exactly what she thought of them).