Marketing to Women Online

New Book Focuses on Gender, Design and Marketing

Have you ever tried to have an objective discussion about design?   Do you find the conversation involves terms like "good design" "bad design" professional design" "unprofessional design"  "I like version 2"  "I prefer version C." 

Is it possible to take a subjective discussion of design and make it objective?

Do our personal preferences sway our choice of what constitutes a "good design?" 

And do men and women have different design preferences?

The answer to all of the above, apparently, is "yes." 

You can learn all about it in a new book by Gloria Moss - Gender, Design and Marketing:  How Gender Drives our Perception of Design and Marketing.

Tom Jordan was recently lamenting the lack of research into marketing to women.  Tom, meet Gloria.  Gloria, meet Tom.

Gender, Design and Marketing is based on research, research, and even more research.  it's actually the only complaint some may have about the book - there's so much research it can be a little academic sounding, but the information is so worth the read.   (Gloria Moss is a Senior Lecturer at Bucks New University and Visiting Professor at the Ecole Superieure de Gestion (ESG), Paris.)

And I understand and applaud Gloria Moss' thoroughness.  She's putting forth some game changing information that's going to ruffle some feathers.

Re-Render The Gender - Book Review

I just finished Re-Render The Gender - Why the vast majority of advertising is not connecting with women - and what we can do about it. 

First, let's go ahead and deal with the elephant in the room.

The author, Thomas Jordan, Chairman and Chief Creative Officer of Hoffman York, is a man.

When asked if you should hire a man or woman to run your marketing to women efforts, I always say, "Hire the best marketer/creative director/web designer you can afford."  Bad creative people "go with their gut," aka, they create advertising that they like.  Good creative people do their homework to truly understand what their target audience likes.  

Thomas falls into the second group.  

Plus, one of the things I like best about the book - it is written from a guy's point of view. Thomas Jordan isn't afraid to take on his male peers. 

Key insights and learnings from Re-Render The Gender