Marketing to Women Online

All Girl Marketing Agency

When you think of most 15 year old girls, you probably have pictures of somewhat immature but fun loving girls whose only interest is fashion, boys, and the latest gossip about who dumped who.   You probably picture them barely managing an allowance or working some part-time job in McDonalds or a mall boutique.   

You probably wouldn’t picture them living in NYC, with more talent and marketing know-how than advertising professionals three times their age, helping to run a hot up-and-coming marketing agency working with huge brands like Unilever, Playtex and Jones New York. 

But it’s true. Yup – 15 year old girls.   Sound crazy?  You won’t think so after you read about my conversation with Heidi Dangelmaier, founder of 3iying, an all girl marketing agency.

3iying specializes in marketing and design strategies for girls 15-25.

It takes a lot to impress me in the brains department, but Heidi is just scary smart.   She is a self described “girly scientist” who was the only female robotics student in the Princeton PHD program.  She went from the world of science, to the world of video games, to the world of marketing.   She is an inventor, and has used her scientific background and innovative imagination to create a company that can consistently come up with new, relevant ideas that resonate with their target audience.

You see – 3iying specializes in marketing to girls from 15-25.   The women who make up the company are 15-25 themselves.  After talking with Heidi I think there are four reasons for the company’s success:

Share Your Secret

It was another one of those - Stop - Tilt your head - Stare - Scratch your head - moments.

I was watching a TV commercial for Secret.  One sister confesses to the other sister that she told their parents about her first sexual encounter.   I must admit, it got my attention.  But not in a good way.  My reaction was, initially - ewww.    My next reaction was - what putz.  If my sister did that to me I'd never tell her anything ever again.   What kind of loser tells their parents and breaks a bond with her sister over what was a very private and personal moment?    Yikes.

So, I did some more investigating and discovered this was a series of commercials for Secret deodorant.  The premise is getting women to share their secrets.   The website, shareyoursecret.com uses this verbiage to explain the premise:

Look into the souls of strong women, whose candid secrets reflect their character - flaws, frailties, intelligence, nerve and wit.

Are you strong enough to share your secret?

Here's the problem, almost all the commercials I saw involve ratting out someone.  Now, Secret can call it "strong" to do that, but I call it "wimpy and spineless".   

You see - to me, a secret, if it is shared with you, is something to be guarded, protected, and not shared with anyone else   Sharing a secret means letting someone into your mind, heart and soul.  If someone is brave enough to share something, the receiver of this knowledge should protect it with her life.   

The other problem is, secrets are often shameful.  Does sharing it make you stronger?  Maybe sharing it with someone you love, but sharing it on a TV commercial to promote a deodorant?????

I do like the style of the commercials.  I think the director, Oscar winning Jessica Yu, has a unique perspective and a way of making real people look natural and engaging.  But it's the basic premise that simply does not resonate with me.

How about you?   Do you like the "Share your secret" campaign?  Sound off!

How Young Women Feel About Marketing

OK - I'm going to step in it again.  It's all Mary Schmidt's fault.  I was reading a Business Week article she wrote about in her blog.   It got me all riled up - so here I go.

Imagine what would happen if I, being a 40 something woman (barely 40 something) went up to an 18 year old guy and started lecturing him on what young men want, like, and find appealing in advertising.  What if I told him everything he said about how he felt about advertising was bull and that I had a superior knowledge of what 18-24 year old guys like than he did.

That would be absolutely laughable.   So why is the reverse so often true?

Take this Business Week article written by a team of young women - from 3iying - a new marketing company that targets, AND has campaigns created by 15-25 year old women.  So, this group of women writes about their feelings about whether sex sells to them and their peers.   They talk about a group of ads that "don't speak" to them.  Ads that actually repel rather than attract them.   But go read the comments - some of the male commenters feel that these women don't know what they're talking about and don't recognize a successful ad campaign when they see one. 

Is it just me?   These young women did a great job of communicating their thoughts and feelings.  Why this intense need to attack them??   

Go read the article, because it's very insightful.  but be sure to read through all the comments.   Especially towards the end - there are some really great ideas on what it is that makes a brand successful - is it always the advertising??    Ah...but that's a whole other post.

Oxygen Study on Women and Technology

Marketing technology to women - It's a hot topic.  But what exactly is "technology"?  What falls into that category?  I took a look at my own life to see what "technology" I use on a regular basis.

Cell phones - I have two of them (believe it or not, I got a second phone in an attempt to simplify my life)   One is a Blackberry with Internet access and email capability.  My second is a plain flip phone with texting capability.   I email, phone and text from my cell phones.  (but don't see the value or have the desire to use a picture phone)

I have a laptop that goes everywhere with me and I use every day.  I read blogs, but have not set up to receive any RSS feeds.

I actually decided to go without the GPS nav system in my new car, but have decided that was a mistake, as I have needed it almost 5 times since deciding I didn't need it.  I am seriously considering buying a personal GPS system.   

I have a video iPod.   

Yet I do not play video games, or own a plasma TV, or have bluetooth in my car.   

So - am I tech savvy?  maybe, maybe not.  Am I technology challenged?   maybe, maybe not.   

I bring this up because of a new survey done by Oxygen, the women's media network, on how women use technology. (hint - it's not by making devices pink) The study is called "Girls Gone Wired" and has some pretty interesting results - like 79% of women feel comfortable using tech - and that's just the beginning of the interesting stats.....

Advertisers Addictions

Oh no.   I’m standing in a clothing boutique when I happen to glance over and see they have a penny candy section.  I immediately start to sweat.    What if….they have them.  What if I glance over and see the tell-tail red shape.   Uh oh…..I’m in trouble. They do have them….lots of them.    I feel myself starting to lose control.   

They say when you get in a situation like this to remove yourself from it, walk away, call a friend for support, call your sponsor.  Unfortunately, I don’t have a sponsor.   You see, I am addicted to….Swedish Fish.    As of yet, I have not found a Swedish Fish Anonymous support group, so I’ve been battling this addiction on my own.

….without much success.

Usually I buy them in the big bags, but in the case of this store, they were individually wrapped.   I guess the idea is people only buy one or two at a time.   

I picked up 37.    (feeling somewhat guilty I did leave a handful in the box)

How do you know you’re addicted to something?   You have uncontrollable cravings.  You increase the amount of intake with diminishing returns.

The feeling from Madison Avenue is – advertisers are addicted to certain types of advertising mediums.  One such medium is television.   Advertisers keep buying it up despite increasing prices and diminishing returns.   

Ad Age reported that McKinsey & Co. has a new report that finds that by 2010, traditional TV advertising will be one-third as effective as it was in 1990. McKinsey is estimating "a 15% decrease in buying power driving by cost-per-thousand rate increases; a 23% decline in ads viewed due to switching off; a 9% loss of attention to ads due to increased multitasking and a 37% decrease in message impact due to saturation."