What does it mean to be inclusive of women when marketing? - InsightsCaffeine(#9)

It might be surprising to learn that the roots of International Women's Day date back to New York City at the turn of the previous century (1909)--a city of liberal ideas, immigrants and reformative directives. And yet the idea did not thrive there, or anywhere in the Western world. In fact, it only survived because it was adopted by socialist and communist countries before finally being recognized by the United Nations some 70 years later. One could be forgiven for drawing a simplistic conclusion that only in societies which, for political and economic reasons at least, were content to treat everyone as an "equal member of society" could such an idea take hold and flourish. By 1950, 47% of women in Russia worked (down from a peak of 54% at the end of WWII); in China it was nearly 70% of women; and in the US less than 30%. Incidentally, that figure is not expected to break the 50% barrier before 2050, and still might not even then. In Western countries, competition is the maxim no matter what the industry (with marketing and advertising being the most public face of it) which has led to a specific way of doing things. Namely, a male-way.

In Why She Buys (2011), Bridget Brennan dives into the evolution of the female gender in modern society and how this has impacted various industries and marketers (men) behind them. While the book title would suggest this to be a good read for salespeople (most remain salesmen of course), the implications are far more wide-reaching than learning how to include women in an organization's innovation and commercial thinking, or indeed learning how not to actively exclude them (making things Pink is not a strategy, after all).

3 KEY TAKEAWAYS:

1) YOU NEED TO BE GLOBALLY AWARE IF YOU REALLY CARE. I have spent my professional lifetime trying to understand "humans". That means, most days, I essentially play the role of investigative anthropologist--like Margaret Mead, another fellow New Yorker--as I try to understand my subjects' past influences and current motivations to identify future actions. And yet many organisations with research budgets that could wipe-out third-world-debt seem to be looking in all the wrong places, and asking irrelevant questions to the wrong people. So if you want to know how to market better to women, you need to know what's been happening to them:

1. More and more women are working. With women constituting 20-100% of direct purchases (and/or are responsible for influencing just as many), you need to understand everything from what they do and think every day, to who else is in their life (i.e. whose life might they also be managing from partners to family members). Only then can you discover, design and market the right products and services that they need across the spectrum of requirements and desires.
2. More and more women are getting married later. This is not an "American" or "European" thing... this is truly global, even in more culturally conservative Asian, African and South American countries. Implications? More purchases are being made for herself, for longer. And as she works more and is promoted more, she can also afford more.
3. Whether biology or conscious choice, more women are having fewer children. The "Little Emperor" effect that resulted from China's 1-child policy in 1979 has become a global phenomenon. Fewer children per household means more attention, more stuff, and more money spent on higher quality experiences for the little princes(ses) of the new world. Not only that, but these entitled little princes(ses) are becoming savvy mini-consumers themselves as they heavily influence their power-mums in everything from toy and fashion 'necessities' to transport choices and holiday destinations. You know there's something wrong when a parent is seriously listening to their kid's opinion about why the latest Mercedes-Benz is better than its Land Rover counterpart. But hey, if you only have one kid to raise, you can spend the never-gonna-happen second kid's university tuition money on some better wheels with build-in-to-the-headrest TV-screens.
4. Divorces are alive and proliferating. Chile became the last country in the Western Hemisphere to legalize divorce (in 2004) so they're probably behind the curve of everyone else. But everyone else is thriving in the post-divorce world order including in traditionally strict cultures like those found in Asia, and emotional/religious cultures like those of Southern Europe. In other words, women are re-finding their independence, and spending accordingly. Ms. Brennan even goes so far as to suggest that certain industries should capitalize on this, especially travel and hospitality who should think about sponsoring divorce showers while the beauty industry could focus on makeovers...
5. More women are living longer with more money to spend. Women outlive men and by no small margin in some countries. With all that extra and unallocated income, they should be prime targets for valuable services and innovative products. In this case, Ms. Brennan is echoing what a few of us have seen for years which is the general need for marketers to look at the 50+ segment of the population across genders as they are outspending us poor Millennials by as much as 5 to 1 in some cases. But "geriatric marketing" will be the focus of a future review!

2) WATCH YOUR ATTITUDE, DUDE. Any good marketing company worth its P/E-ratio should be able to stop reading here and armed with these (not so secret) trends be able to go away and refresh its relationship with its consumers--the majority of whom are most likely women whether directly (purchasers) or indirectly (influencers). Alas, it's not so simple. With the majority of industries still dominated by men and male-thinking, inevitably the innovations built and the messages communicated are done in a male-way... to a female audience. Without entering the neuropsychology of it all, let's just say that trying to sell a "family car", to a mum, when it's called Yukon, Expedition, Hummer, Ram... with an advert showing a driver going through a dark and creepy tunnel and a deep booming voiceover talking about how this car is "CPR for the Dead"... won't give most potential female buyers the right signals that this car is for them (or for their family). While this doesn't mean an extreme pivot to the other end (calling all car models after flowers or variations of the word unicorn), perhaps asking a woman's opinion of the whole "strategy" might give you some sorely missed insights? Oh, and spray-painting a Yukon pink won't work either, unless it's meant to be on the set of MTV Cribs.

Mastercard's focus on its female users, however, is a best-in-class example of uncovering a real, gender-specific insight and executing it in a non-stereotypical, gender-inclusive and engaging way.

In case you didn't get the point, Mastercard understands how women shop: it's not (always) rational or linear or planned. It is aspirational but still down-to-earth. And it's meant to be a fun experience throughout. Needless to say, it was the work of female creative lead at McCann Erickson, Joyce King Thomas (a residing New Yorker).

3) STOP SELLING SPECS, STUPID. I hate user manuals--mostly because they're a waste of paper as some supply chain manager thought it easier to print one "global" handbook for consumers with 15 languages included even though for the majority of shoppers only one language (ergo 1 page) will be directly relevant to them--that of the one country they actually live in. But on top of that, most manuals are also irrelevant as they focus on all the wrong things. And this is exactly how many businesses continue to sell products/services to consumers. This would be fine if the majority of buyers were men who, simplistically, just need to know the price and a few "detailed features" to make a purchase (Hey, my next car will definitely be bought based on the 0-60 speed/time claim,... yeah, definitely). But as the majority of buyers, or assisted-buying purchases, are made by women then it is necessary to understand what they are looking for beyond the shades of exoskeletons, battery life, and 12-hour response times. In a nutshell...

• the person selling the product/service is as important as (or more than) the product/service itself--if they're shabby, clumsy, inarticulate, or even offensive, you could be selling the cure for cancer and it probably won't make a difference
• the product is rarely bought for pure, individual use or appreciation--she's factoring in partners, children, friends... what do they want and need and how will this purchase help them or be interpreted by them?
• the product needs to communicate its usefulness, not it's features--forget cubic feet, litres and meters and talk about saving them from a cold storm, helping them live their childhood dream, calming down their kids
• help her refine her choices (which is something I think men would appreciate as well). No one really likes to be faced with a 3-meter high, 3-meter wide wall of options. Listen to her (& his) needs and cut down the choice to an actionable couple of options.

It's all about putting things in perspective

In a world still dominated by men (slightly less now thanks to Kamala and other pioneers), it is necessary to have an explicitly and pronounced female viewpoint being heard. But what we should really take away from Why She Buys is not a manual for how to better serve female shoppers. Instead, it should be an invigorating reminder to all companies that they should treat their consumers and shoppers with respect and with a real dedication to understanding them. Not this "consumer is boss" lip-service that is so often seen but never really carried out, or if carried out is somehow warped in order to tick an internal box for some CSR report. If companies and their communication partners can refocus on the people they claim they wish to serve, then there would be no need for "gender-specific" strategies, as all strategies would be for all (human-based) lifeforms.

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