Beer's untapped potential with women.

There are numerous product categories in which the opportunity to target women is a playing field that lies wide open: automotive, wine and banking are but a few. Another category that presents enormous opportunities for marketeers: the beer market.

Women have always had a love-hate relationship with beer. Even though women's beer consumption is impacted greatly by local customs and culture and thus varies greatly from country to country, there are a few universal prejudices and myths that severely impact women's consumption of beer, regardless of the country they live in.

Women's top arguments against beer drinking, according to a study by brewer Molson Coors:
1. Women still view beer as a "manly" drink.
2. 42% of women believe advertising has to change to make beer more appealing.
3. 25% said they think they wouldn't like the taste.
4. Almost 50% believe they will put on weight if they drink beer.

These findings are not surprising if one keeps in mind that the beer industry is one which has traditionally focused on men's needs and wants when it comes to developing and marketing products. And the few beer brands that have dipped toes into the waters of marketing their products to women do so by "pink washing" their products: same product, same positioning, pink label.

Even in Belgium, arguably one of the world's leading beer-drinking countries, women still feel left out in the cold when it comes to main-stream beers. (Here, they've developed - specially for us girls - beers made from cherries or raspberries). The danger of this approach however, is twofold: women feel patronized and men feel alienated. No-one wins. And when it comes to mainstream 'blond' beers - everyday, easy-to-drink beers, they're still marketed to appeal to men. Slogans for the biggest selling brands are a case in point: "Jupiler - men know why" or "Men, mates, Maes" will alienate female beer drinkers.

Kirsty McCready, who is assisting brewer Molson Coors in reaching female consumers hits the nail on the head: "We're not going to reshape the industry by simply launching beer products aimed at women," says McCready. "We need to look at the bigger picture and encompass the whole beer-drinking experience."

McCready highlights 3 key strategies to increase women's beer consumption:
1. Create innovations to change the taste of beer. (Think wheat beer spiced with coriander and orange peel served with a slice of orange).
2. Create "new ways (and new moments!) to drink beer" (think beer cocktails).
3. Launch myth-busting campaigns that speak to women in an appealing way about their prejudices surrounding beer.

Another great tactic brewer Purity Brewing Co employs to appeal to women? Use a beer-loving female celebrity to front the brand! Some creative thinking can extrapolate the idea into some great activities!

Women are ready to call themselves 'beer drinkers' as much as they identify themselves as enjoyers of wine. The question is: are beer brewers ready to acknowledge this opportunity and make the necessary decisions and investments to go after this opportunity successfully?

Read full article here.

The female economy according to Harvard Business Review

There's a very interesting article circulating amongst M2W experts out there. It was published by Harvard Business Review recently and it shares some shockingly concrete facts about women as a market.

"As a market, women represent a bigger opportunity than China and India combined. So why are companies doing such a poor job of serving them?"

Read that again: a bigger opportunity than China (1.3 billion) and India (1.17 billion) COMBINED.

And yet, as the article says: so many companies still think of women as a "niche" market. And those that don't - the ones that sell all the female products such as lipsticks, dresses and shoes - still mostly do a poor job of it.

You can read the full article here.

Marketing to women: getting it wrong.

It is still amazing to see how many brands get it wrong in their effort to attract female consumers. I've blogged about Philip's USB-stick necklace before, and now Dell is creating a storm with the launch of their site aimed at women, called "Della".

I'm not sure which consultancy helped Dell develop the strategy for this project (not to mention the look & feel or content of the site), but marketing-to-women wasn't one of their strengths. One of the comments on the "Tech tips" page says it all:

"Does anyone else find that these so called "tech tips" are incredibly simplistic? ... This is a load of fluff that only serves to provide insight into how Dell perceives my demographic. Essentially, we women will buy anything if it comes in pink and fits in our purse. Come on Dell! Treat us like intelligent consumers and not like trained monkeys."

Here are my suggestions to Dell in order to reach their female consumer effectively:

1. Marketing to women doesn't mean marketing to all women.
Before you start, make sure you understand who the women are that buy your product. Who are they? What are their purchase motivators? How does your product integrate in their lives?

2. Gender exclusivity doesn't work.
Women don't demand a separate, overtly female-focused website (that speaks to them in a condescending manner!). Like any consumer, they want ease-of-use, relevant information and respect.

3. Don't stereotype.
And certainly don't 'dumb-down' your message because you think women won't understand. "5 Ways to use a laptop" is an insulting way to speak to any customer, let alone the over-simplified tips that are offered in this section. There's more to women than planning a vacation or going shopping.

My advice? Take the site offline and start all over again. There's no saving this sinking ship.

And as Lydia Sung says: Now if you'll excuse me, I need to give my Asus Eee PC a well-deserved hug.

Automotive marketing to women

Here's an interesting statistic: it takes men an average of 13 weeks to buy a new car. It takes women on average 18,5 weeks. This longer decision-making cycle highlights the fact that women have a more complex decision-making process that has her gather more information and incorporates many more selection criteria than men do. USA research shows that women today influence more than 85% of all auto, tire and service buying purchases, and yet 74% of those surveyed feel misunderstood by automotive and tire marketers. One wonders why most automotive brands still don't make a bigger effort to understand and woo their female customers.

Show me her car and I will tell you who she is.
In a recent article on Tire Review, Insight Farms shared some interesting research about how women use and feel about their cars. "Women ‘wear’ their cars. The exterior is the face we show others. The interior is our ‘authentic self.’ The front seat is our workspace. The back seat is the kids area and garbage bag. The trunk is ‘where things go to die.’"

Other sound bites on marketing to women:
• Women are looking for substance – you have to stand for something. Seventy-eight percent of women say leading companies are driven by values.

• "Edgy," "excess," "too much fun" and "living life large" are being replaced by "giving back." Women want to know what you stand for.

• Instead of asking "do I want it?" she's asking "do I need it?" In the current climate, women are hoping for the best but preparing for the worst. Women right now are looking for value, but that doesn't necessarily mean they are looking for cheap.

• A woman's buying process is longer. Good enough isn't good enough – she's looking for the perfect answer.

• She is more expensive to acquire, but cheaper to keep. Because she's already invested more time in her decision, she's more confident in that decision. There's a higher psychological cost if she walks away.

• If she complains and you handle the complaint and satisfy her, she's even MORE likely to recommend you than if she had a good experience. Make it easy for her to complain. She is trying to communicate with you and solve the problem with you.

Good to know: women share a negative experience with a brand or product with an average of 23 people. A positive experience is shared with an average of 9 people (vs only 3 for men!).

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.

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...!

December Newsletter Out Today!

We've put together our best newsletter yet - a compilation of the best and the worst (and the funniest) in the world of marketing to women. Chock full of videos, insight and inspiration, we hope you enjoy this review of 2008.

As always, we would love to hear your feedback. Agree? Disagree? Have a different campaign to suggest?

Don't forget - to sign up, email us at newsletter@musecommunication.com! Enjoy.

No Sex Please, We're Women.

I was recently asked by De Morgen's weekend supplement WAX, to write an opinion piece on the use of gender stereotypes and nudity in advertising. I called the article "No sex please, we're women".


No Sex please, we’re women.

I’m a woman and I don’t like sex. I want everything around me to be nice, perfect and clean and I want it to be completely politically correct. And above all: no sex, please.

That at least, is the way I understood women to want things after reading a press statement by the European Parliament’s women’s rights commission stating that all stereotypes in advertising should be outlawed and a few days later being confronted with a recent study by KU Leuven about the effects of nudity in advertising.

It’s interesting to see how our lawmakers and ad-makers alike still grabble with what it is that women want.

European lawmakers, under the watchful eye of Ms Svensson, on the one hand, call for a ban of all gender stereotypes in advertising. A woman cleaning the kitchen, a man polishing his car. Svensson wants us to realize that these images play up (or down) to stereotypes about the role of men and women - and in doing so undermine equality between the sexes. I agree with Svensson when she says that "gender stereotyping in advertising straitjackets women, men, girls and boys by restricting them to predetermined and artificial roles that are often degrading, humiliating and dumbed down for both sexes".

Boys should be allowed to play dress-up with their dolls without Dad having a heart attack. Girls should be allowed to come home with a blue eye after a scrap in the schoolyard without Mom becoming hysterical about the reputation of her little girl. Women should be able to admit to enjoying one-night stands, and men should be allowed to cry during Sex in the City.

While I agree with Svensson that stereotypes can help confine people to boxes they don’t fit into, I don’t support her solution to the issue. The recommendation that governments police the advertising industry by creating regulatory bodies to monitor ads and introduce a “zero-tolerance” policy against stereotyping and degrading imagery fills me with a faint sense of George Orwellian dread. I wonder how the concepts ‘stereotypes’ and ‘degrading’ will be defined for me, and by whom.

What if the government doesn’t like the ad for Opium perfume featuring a stunningly naked size 42 Sophie Dahl in a pose suggesting masturbation? Provocative? Yes. Degrading? No. And will they disapprove of the legendary Diet Coke commercial featuring a bare-chested male construction worker? This ad too plays perfectly to a gender stereotype – but it worked oh so tantalizingly well...




Having grown up in South Africa during the apartheid infested eighties, it may be my fear of an overbearing authority speaking, but the question of who will decide what is acceptable or not, and whether these definitions will change with the government of the day, keep me awake. Government-sponsored media control not only affects freedom of speech, it also strips us of our personal responsibility as individuals to help effect change. That is much worse for society than stereotyping a woman fawning ecstatically over her whiter-than-white washing.

The problem with the acceptability of stereotypes lies in this: many stereotypes are in part based on reality. Is a stay-at-home mom a stereotype or a reality? Is a young, muscular construction worker a reality or a perpetuated reality? Distinguishing between reality and what is perpetuated as reality is a very grey area I would rather not have policed by the government du jour.

Which brings me to that other famous grey area in advertising: nudity. A recent study researched the impact of nudity on economic behavior and found that – surprise, surprise: nudity works. Well, at least it does for men. When it came to the way it affects women’s behavior, answers became a lot more vague. From “…een belangrijke groep vrouwen is ook gevoelig voor beelden van schaars geklede mannen” to “…[vrouwen] zijn even goed opwindbaar, en zullen wellicht ook veranderingen in hun economisch gedrag vertonen, maar dat zal eerder gebeuren in situaties waar de seksuele prikkel via de tastzin wordt geleverd in plaasts van via het oog.”

I’m still trying to understand these findings. Which women exactly fit into this “belangrijke groep vrouwen”? And if, as the study says, women are sensitive to images of scantily clad men, then what about me liking the Opium ad featuring a squirming Ms Dahl?

…And God forbid we consider the implications of women being more affected by a sexual impulse delivered through touch. I’m just not ready for a sensual fondle by the sales assistant at the local Zara!

But seriously: does nudity in advertising affect women? Yes, it does. I know the stereotype says that women don’t like sex or that women are not affected by nudity, but the reality is: we do and we are! We like our Diet Coke Man as much as we like our naked Sophie Dahl. But for us, nudity for nudity’s sake doesn’t work. It must add value to the message. If it sells us an empowering emotion, if it makes us giggle, if it holds up an inspiring, sensual mirror, if it conveys unabandoned freedom or playful eroticism, then yes, we are affected.

So instead of heading down the slippery slope of government-sponsored media censorship or silently allowing misperceptions about women to persist, here’s my recommendation: let’s support Ms Svensson’s suggestion that the advertising industry instead give prizes to companies who do the most to break down what it sees as gender 'straitjackets'. But let’s also take up our own responsibility as individuals and speak up about what we will and won’t accept, what we like or don’t like.

Do I like degrading images of women? No, I don’t. But I like the fact that some government could be deciding for me what is acceptable and what not much less.
Shouldn’t we as women and consumers be wielding our own conscience and using our wallets to show the advertising industry and big business what we do and don’t like, what we will and will not tolerate? For although it is a government’s task to draw global boundaries, it remains our individual responsibility to stand up and count in shaping positive and constructive images that accurately reflect our society.

Fantastic Lingerie Marketing

Have you seen the new Playtex campaign? What a wonderful example of marketing lingerie to women in an appropriate, fun way! Every woman can relate to this!

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.

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.

BE your audience.

Yesterday, a journalist who will be interviewing me next week on the topic of marketing to women sent me some questions, one of which really got me thinking.

This was it: "Do you think there need to be more female marketers?"

My answer to this question (Yes!) is the easy part. The difficult part may be the "why?"... but let me explain:

As women think, behave and consume differently than men do, so do female marketers approach marketing a little differently than their male counterparts.

Men, both in life and in business, tend to think in linear, hierarchical terms: "give me the facts / what are the numbers / show me the stats". Same goes for male marketeers.

Overlay this very linear approach to marketing with the female consumers' complex, non-linear, web-based thinking (and consuming) patterns, and things don't quite match up, do they?

Now, I am in no way saying that products for women can only be marketed to by women. I am saying that a product for women marketed ONLY by men is inherently lacking. Exclusion of either gender is never a good idea. To market a product well to either gender, women need to be included in the process (it seems like very common sense, not?). Men and women have many similarities but also differences. To honor the variety in gender, a marketing campaign that includes every perspective will strengthen the outcome.

Female marketers, by the sheer fact that they are, well...female, will approach marketing a little differently - the way they approach life: as a holistically, interconnected, "we notice the itsy-bitsy stuff you're not even mentioning too" kind of way. And to dispell the "warm-fuzzy feeling" this sentence may have wrongly instilled in some readers, remember that women also LOVE details and information. Yes, as female marketers we like the statistics and facts and numbers as much as the guys do, but for us these are not all defining in our marketing approach. We will often follow a gut-feeling or react on something we sense but which is not confirmed in the statistics, because we just know - the way women do - that it holds an important element of truth.

So yes, yes, absolutely: we need more women marketers. Women think differently than men do, so they must be marketed to differently than men. Who better to understand the audience, to relate to the market than someone who is part of it? While I am sure that most of the men who came up the sometimes brilliant, mostly creative campaigns for a variety of tampons (see my earlier post on the topic), I think women were able to more accurately relay which ones worked and which ones were cringe inducing. Sometimes its only a gut reaction, an undefined feeling, a hint, a nuance... but sometimes that is all it takes at the point of purchase for a women to decide to buy or to keep on walking.

Cardinal rule- know your audience. And when you can, when its possible, BE your audience.

About brands, soulmates and online trends

As the week picks up speed on this busy monday morning, I'm picking up on many interesting developments via my Google feed reader. Much is happening in the world-wide marketing (and marketing-to-women) realm that is worth sharing:

I know I keep blogging about social media, but that's because I cannot emphasise the importance of social media enough as part of smart marketing to women campaigns.
An interesting podcast I found on PodTech that details the impact of social media on corporate marketing and PR functions and the latest trends in social media strategy and implementation.

Dating through brands? Now here's a very interesting concept from a marketeers' point of view:
BRAND-MATES is a site where people select as many or as little of the brands that are near and dear to their heart and then they can have some fun searching and connecting to other "like-branded people" to date, find a soul-mate, or maybe just find a friend.
Imagine the data and insights one can collect with this site!

Here's a title that made me stop in my tracks this morning:
"By 2012 women will outnumber men online by more than 8 million!"
Again, these are US statistics, but I think it is safe to assume the same trend will make itself felt here in Europe over the coming years too. Interesting in the excerpt below is the fact that 'women's community' was the most visited and fastest growing internet category! Marketeers, take note!

Author Kaira Sturdivant Rouda on why women are taking over the internet, so to speak:
"The important thing to realize is that women are natural networkers. We’ve been the community builders in the real world since the beginning of time. Think of the most important charities in your community. Most likely they were created by, and continue to be championed by, women. Now, there’s the web. “Women’s community” was the most visited and fastest growing internet category according to ComScore Media Metrix. Women are building community online as never before. And, they are using it for business. Social networking makes business more personal and intuitive. The formally defined lines in society are falling away - and finally, work and family can become more blended."

Weekly marketing-to-women wrap-up

Pyjamas and painkillers are good for something (don't ask..two words: wisdom teeth) -they allow you to get down and read through all the sites and blogs that one only manages to skim across during a normal working week.

This week's wrap-up of the most interesting articles on marketing, marketing-to-women and all matters related. Well worth a read!

"How Customers Think" - Neuromarketing article

Hypnosis brings groups into focus - want to know what people really think about your brand? Bring in the hypnotist! Interesting article in Brandweek

"Who do you trust?" Men and Women answer that differently.
A study found that men tended to trust people who were part of a group with them. Women, on the other hand, were more likely to trust strangers who shared some personal connection, such as a friend of a friend.
Not a new article but still very interesting - on ScienceDaily

Research report: Dove's "Beyond stereotypes - rebuilding the foundation of beauty beliefs"

"Men, you're outnumbered online" eMarketer article

Advertiser vs Consumer

Branding in whispers

Earlier this week, I was exchanging mails with Diana van Hoeve (a fellow marketeer) about marketing to women and, amongst others Dove's "Campaign for real beauty". We were discussing my post "Dove - a not so ethical brand" and how I thought that Dove was just paying lip service to the idea of smart marketing to women. I also told Diana that I truely believed in honest marketing, which at first sight may be a contradiction in terms, but which is in my opinion really the future of marketing.

Well, I am very proud to report that THE one and only Faith Popcorn - trendwatcher and marketing-to-women pioneer, also referred to Dove's somewhat 'superficial' efforts in marketing to women. Faith did an interview with AdWeek, in which she speaks about the fact that brands that trumpet their benefits are hopelessly out of tune with consumers who are sick and tired of marketing's noise. In this interview, Faith explains why she advises brands such as Target, GE, McDonald's, Tylenol and Nabisco to build their strategies around whispers and honesty rather than hype and shouts.

Faith goes on to say "Consumers also think companies lie about the ingredients in their products, and they are sick of brands yelling at us. They are tired of being hyped all the time. While the phenomenon hits all ages, it is stronger in women, affecting 65 percent of them compared to 56 percent of men, according to our research."

Here is an excerpt from the interview that explains 'branding in whispers':

Please explain what you mean by branding in whispers?
It is not boasting how great your products are, but showing how your brand can help people. It could be through services your company offers, or doing things for your community or the manner in which you sell your products. During the holidays when there were all these long lines and crowds, Apple's message basically was: "Here are these things and they really work." That's a whisper. When a store delivers something to your house or a bank gives you a ride to the local branch, those are whispers. When Mini gives people all these ways to buy their cars, the company is whispering to its audience.

Which big brands could whisper better?
Procter & Gamble's Tide could whisper by supporting the women who use it; it could put something back into the female community by helping battered women or doing things for families. People would respect the P&G brand more. Nike's marketing involves lots of talk but not [much] substance. What does Nike do to help people? For instance, they could own and improve the paths that people run on. Dove also needs to put something back. They have made the point about the beauty world treating women like they are fat and making them feel like shit, but let's get beyond the feel-good talk by supporting people and being a part of their lives. Tylenol wanted to reach young people; so a few years back we helped them design a program that addressed the pain in sports, such as skateboarding. The brand went to events at skateboard parks and had a Web site called ouch.com that celebrated the pain in young peoples' favorite sports. But Tylenol didn't talk about it in their TV ads and they didn't put skateboarders in their commercials. It was a whisper.

What advice do you give strategists and marketing leaders facing this change?
If you are sitting at your desk for more than 10 hours a week, you are really screwing up. Get up from your desk and the Internet and go out in the world, see what is out there and learn what people are feeling. Then you will be able to grasp these changes faster. Otherwise, you will miss the signals. We ask companies, "Don't you see the train coming? Don't you see the training coming?"

It's always nice to have your personal thoughts or opinions confirmed by recognized industry authorities. So Dove: until you get REAL, your fancy campaign is just that: a campaign. Stop testing on animals. Give something back to society. Live your brand ethos. Then maybe I'll like you again.

You can read the full article here.

Marketing to women by Philips: You win some, you loose some

Philips Electronics recently announced that it is launching a campaign to appeal more to women by making their electronics more fashionable and elegant.

Now there's good news and bad news.

The good news is the 'Design Collection' - a series of home entertainment products such as TVs and audio systems that "will make a statement about personal style". Looking at the few pics I could find, we're talking ultra-slim, sleek products that indeed will appeal to the style-conscious - whether you're a man or a woman.

Now for the bad news:
If its up to Philips, we (women) will soon be wearing (wait for it...) heart-shaped Swarovski pendants that hold USB drives. According to Philips, the "Active Crystal range combines high fashion design with the best in technology, creating a fusion of fashion and function". Sure. I'm totally up for wearing my USB stick around my neck all day.

A woman's verdict? The journalist who wrote this piece, asked is wife if she would like one for Valentine's Day. Her hillarious response says it all: "I'll stab you".

Heart-shaped Swarovski crystal USB drive case closed.