We in the Western world have a bad case of youth myopia. Because marketing as a discipline came of age about the same time the Baby Boomers did, a lot of our marketing thinking is rooted in how to market to young people. As an extension, we market to people as though they wish to be young. Any woman above 50 is invisible to most marketers (Or worse. Some marketers insist on addressing these women as "mature").
Evidence shows that Americans are getting over their youth obsession, though. The Boomers have grown up. According to the results of a new Adweek Media/Harris poll, "Given the choice, most Americans would rather be richer and thinner than smarter and younger."
But as marketers, we've let ourselves fall behind this trend. Stuck in the stereotypes of a bygone day, we're letting our outdated language and imagery get in the way of our biggest opportunity - the Prime Time Woman.
Okay, I love the U by Kotex campaign - I think Kotex does an awesome job of confronting the conventions of tampon/ maxi pad ads, and I think women get a kick out of its sly self-mockery. In my opinion, the campaign is really well-aligned with the way women actually do react to those conventional ads, which is "Yeah, right."
But Kotex has taken the concept of marketing to women's periods to the next (and I would say crazy) level. Elaine Wong of Brandweek describes their new campaign in her article, "Kotex Push Targets 'Period Panties'" writing,
Kotex is targeting a secondary effect of periods-drab panty collections-with a promotion called "Kotex Project Makeunder" that aims to take such assortments from "drab to fab."...[Kotex] encourages women to submit videos detailing how their lingerie drawers became so dull.
If you read the full article, you find that the dubious winners of this contest get to have celebrities rifle through their unmentionables and receive a complete "Makeunder" of their lingerie. However free-stylin' today's young women may be, I just can't see them wanting to write about their panty problems, and I was quoted in the article saying pretty much that:
Marti Barletta, CEO of The TrendSight Group, said Kotex's overall strategy is a smart one, but she's not sure the current effort will work. "It's really smart to recognize that young women and men these days just aren't anywhere near as ‘mortifiable' as previous generations were about feminine hygiene," she wrote in an e-mail. But, to "lay my lingerie drawer open for criticism" by fashion experts and to win a prize based on that? "Are you kidding me?" she asked.
I have a lot of respect for the work that Kimberley Clark has done with the Kotex TV campaign above, and they've done some terrific stuff with Kleenex. They make an effort to really understand their consumers, and it would be unlike them to do something as out on a limb as I perceive this to be.
So I think this is nuts. But maybe that's just me...
We've reached the fourth aspect of a Woman's Decision, her communication keys. For review, here is the GenderTrends Star that demonstrates how women make decisions.
Communication has been a thread throughout all of the star points, but I focus on it individually because communication is inseparable from marketing to women. Using these keys will unlock what women seek from products and services - The Perfect Answer.
Women's Communication Keys | Men's Communication Keys |
Full Context "Complete article" - As we know, women stress the importance of context and richness of detail. Her stories start with background and build to the main point. | Key Points "Headlines" - Men believe in starting with the main point and only supplying detail if asked. |
Rapport Talk Build connections - To win over women, you need to have conversations with them that creates a connection with her and her circle. | Report Talk Establish status - Men, on the other hand, use conversation as a way to establish or defend individual status. They don't focus on the personal. |
Connect Through Affinity (Link) Women connect through affinity with others and establish links that highlight similarities. They focus on empathy- so your marketing should as well. | Connect Through Competition (Rank) Men connect through competition- the friendlier the group of men, the more good-natured taunting and challenging you will find. |
Stories and Personal Details Women's social currency consists of stories and personal details. They trade them, save them and value them. (Surely, this gives you marketers some ideas!) | Facts and Features Men's social currency relies on facts and features. I believe this is why sports scores and statistics are so popular with men, eh? They are becoming rich in social currency. |
This week, I want to share something a bit longer than usual with you. My most recent newsletter is all about my trip to the Marketing to Women in the Middle East conference in Dubai. I think you will really enjoy it- Dubai and M2W in the Middle East are such fascinating topics.
I've included in the newsletter:
- A summary of the conference by AMEinfo
- My travel diary, Surprised and Delighted by Dubai
- An interview at the conference with Inside Business
- My photo journal of Dubai
Read the newsletter: Marketing to Women in Dubai
I've always advocated that companies pay attention to their corporate halo when marketing to women. Women care about causes and issues, and they vote with their wallets. A Cone Holiday Trend Tracker poll found that 77% of women were likely to consider a company's reputation for supporting causes when purchasing gifts. In addition, 65% of female shoppers said they planned to purchase a product in which a percentage of the price is donated to a cause.
Corporate halo is the sum of a company's acts of social responsibility and community citizenship for the benefit of the whole community. Last week, The Chicago Tribune featured a story about Dress for Success, an organization that provides clothing and career counseling to unemployed women. Wal-Mart, in a very smart move, is backing Dress for Success. I was asked to comment for the article and was quoted saying:
"Wal-Mart's decision to support the office likely will win points with women, said Marti Barletta, president of Winnetka-based TrendSight Group and an expert on marketing to women. When choosing where to shop, women are more likely to favor retailers that benefit a cause they support, she said. Indeed, since the Wall Street scandals of the recession, women, even more than men, are favoring companies they respect, she said."
Wal-Mart is taking their community citizenship role seriously in other arenas as well - the company "intends to develop charitable partnerships worth $20 million in Chicago focusing on hunger, education and job training as part of its campaign to win political support to build more stores within the city's limits."
Certainly, more companies could learn from Wal-Mart when it comes to marketing to women.
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