Marketing to Women Online

New Blog, New Book

For those of you who are wondering where I've gone, I have a new blog - www.grokdotcom.com/women.   From now on, that's where you'll find me.

I also have a new book coming out with my good pal and fellow marketing to women expert, Michele Miller:

The Soccer Mom Myth - Today's Female Consumer - Who She Really Is, Why She Really buys.

You can pick up your copy at Amazon.

WARNING:  This is not your typical dry business book.  It contains politically incorrect views, some unladylike language, and tequila stories.

We're pulling back the curtains for a realistic look at what women want.

You might be surprised what you find out.

In The Soccer Mom Myth you'll find answers to questions like:

• Who is the real female consumer?
• How do you discover her motivation for buying?
• Does a woman process advertising messages differently than a man?
• How do you market to women without alienating men?
• How can you tap into the incredible power of the Internet to market to women?
• Why can't you market to all women the same way?
• Why did Michele almost punch out a granite counter-top sales person?
• Why does Holly spend her holidays in the bathroom?

Find out more at www.thesoccermommyth.com.   If you want to see some really bad dancing, be sure to check out the video on the home page.

See you over at my new marketing to women online blog.

Flip It - Girls Fight Back Against Bad Ads

Poor Heidi.

For months I've been squirming like a 3-year-old...

"Can I talk about it yet?"

"Can I talk about it yet?"

"Can I talk about it yet?"

She finally gave me the OK.    What have I been so anxious to spread the word about?  "Flip It."   Flip It is a series of videos where girls talk about specific ads and why they don't relate to those ads.   Ad Age is even talking about it.

Flip It is the brain child of Heidi Dangelmaier and the team at 3iying.  I've been really intrigued by 3iying and some of their innovative approaches to marketing to girls 15-25.  So how did Flip It come about?

Going Green - Can Little Old Me Really Make A Difference?

I'm all for the whole "green" movement.  I love nature and the environment.  I love supporting companies who really care about these things.  I love everything the whole movement stands for.   

But at the end of the day - (in my case likely a 12-hour work day) can I, one lone person, really have any effect?   I have zero spare time.  The name of my game is - "make it convenient" more than it is "make it green."  I care, really I do.  But Is there really anything one person can do?  I'd like to help....but.....

The greatest challenge to the green movement isn't that people don't care.  It's inertia.  People have other priorities.  So what can you do?  Tie in "being green" with things that ARE a priority for people.

That's why I love the Big Green Purse website.  They make this stuff real on a personal level.  Do moms care about buying toys that are NOT made in China?  Oh yeah.  Do women care about lipstick that has unsafe products in it?   You bet.   

Want to get people to take action?  Talk about something specific that's a priority for them.

Want to get companies involved?  Check out Mary Hunt's post about what Wal Mart is doing to get not only their company, but their employees involved.

Here's the kicker - companies that create more green or "sustainable products" are more successful than other companies.   

Can I save the earth?  Probably not.  Can I buy a different tube of lipstick?  THAT I can handle.

How Women In the Workplace Buy

Deloitte and Touche is training their people on how to treat female clients.   They have arrived at the conclusion that female clients may have different needs than male clients.

So what are they doing to try to reach out to their female clients?   Find out in this Grokdotcom post. 

Would You Buy a Bra From This Man?

We had quite a conversation around the office about this video from Zafu.com.  The question was - will women find this funny or offensive?   

Take a look at the video and the reader comments on Grokdotcom. 

Moms - Do You Belive Mattel's CEO?

If you know moms, you know the number one rule with moms:

#1 Rule:  "Don't mess with my kids."

To say Mattel has a huge problem on its hands with their recent product recalls would be an understatement.   But I believe the true measure of a company is how they handle a crisis.  Mattel went the tried and true way of the "personal message from the CEO."

But from the response I've gotten on my Grokdotcom post, the "personal CEO message" may actually have done more harm than good. 

Watch the video and judge for yourself.   And be sure to read the comments. 

JC Penney - Do You Like This Ad?

This TV ad from JC Penney showed up as the number two favorite in IAG's Top 10 Most-Liked New TV Ads. 

I haven't found a whole lot of advertising aimed at teen-aged girls to be effective.  (more big news on that coming soon)   But this ad made it on to my radar screen as having potential.

I'm a little older than the girls they are targeting, but I'm curious - what do you think?  Thumbs up or thumbs down?

This Is Why We Love Guys

I write so much about women that I thought today I'd take a break and write about guys.

There were two things today that reminded me there are just some things only guys can come up with.  You just have to love 'em.

One was this video in Advertising Age where Ad Age staffers Jonah Bloom and Ken Wheaton try to destruct an "indestructible" ad promoting the new Stone Cold Steve Austin film.

it was Maxim's claim that the ad couldn't be destroyed that caught our attention. Appearing in "The Tough Issue," which hits newsstands Sept. 20, the ad is supposedly printed on special tough-guy paper and can't be torn or ripped by mere mortals.

Well, here at Adages we weren't about to let such a claim go untested. So Ad Age Editor Jonah Bloom and I pitted manhood and dignity against a magazine ad. The results were entirely predictable.

Predictable or not - it's a great little video of man pitted against paper. 

The second example of stuff only guys could come up with comes in the form of a short film called Fast Crapper.  It is a film about, well, fast crappers.

An outhouse race takes place in Conconully, Washington every January. People build out-houses, put them on skis and push them down the road in midwinter. One person rides inside and two push. Then buckets are placed over the pushers head. There aren't many rules. Just a toilet seat, paper and somebody on the pot. Anything can happen. Set ready. Set. Go

Now, I'm not sure if the idea for the outhouse races came from a guy or a girl, but I guarantee you, the person who said "Wait!  Let's put a bucked over the pusher's head!  That'll really be cool!" - I guarantee that was a guy.

So thanks guys for, well, being guys.  You rock.

Marketing Jewelry to Women

Why do so many jewelry ads feature some pouty-faced model who looks, well, pouty?   If she's wearing a gorgeous, expensive piece of jewelry, why does she look so unhappy?   

They never smile, these jewelry models.    I struggle to understand just what emotion they are trying to convey.   They seem to share the same problem so many fashion models share - the inability to express an emotion on their face other than looking distant, haughty, or just plain bored.

Why does this matter?   When it comes to marketing jewelry, women want to know -  what does wearing that jewelry communicate about them?   

Every piece of jewelry tells a story.   Read more in my Grokdotcom.com post Marketing Jewelry to Women. 

Financial Ads Don't Speak To Women

94% of women feel financial ads aren't targeted toward them.   

94%.

Read 'em and weep financial services companies.   

A recent study by Oxygen (as reported by Advertising Age) found 94% of women felt financial ads weren't targeted toward them.   83% said they couldn't relate to the scenarios depicted in the ads.

You think?  Really?   That ad with the older gentleman with the salt and pepper hair sitting in his living room with a live bull next to him wasn't a scenario you could relate to?   You didn't think that ad was speaking to you?

That ad with the guy standing by his grill bitching about his broker didn't speak to you?

Emotional footage of male golfers celebrating competitive victories? Not working for you? 

Using a stern-faced Law and Order actor as spokesman didn't scream to you that this was the right company for you?  Really?

The study, "Girls Just Wanna Have Funds," was headed by the network's VP-research, Karen Ramspacher.