Marketing to Women Online

Using Boob Jokes to Sell - Dining Room Furniture?

I kid you not.

La Difference is a contemporary furniture store in Richmond, VA.   Their advertising has always been stylish and fun.   But I really have to scratch my head about their latest campaign selling dining room furniture promoting it as "the perfect set."

If La Diff is targeting men, they may get the fellas' attention with this ad, but I suspect the only "perfect set" the guys will be desiring won't include matching chairs.   That's the problem with using sex to sell to men.  It may get their attention, but they often don't remember the product.

If La Diff is targeting women, well, my only conclusion is they aren't targeting women.   Which is too bad since women buy 80 percent of all furniture sold, according to the American Furniture Manufacturers Association (AFMA).

If La Diff is trying to create "buzz", (and I suspect this is probably closest to the truth) well, they've got me talking about the ad.  But  I'm talking about it because I won't be shopping at La Dif anymore, which is sad because I've always loved that store.  

BlogHer '09 - How NOT to Market to Moms

Let me start this by saying almost every brand/advertiser/sponsor at BlogHer '09 did an outstanding job of connecting with the women at the conference.

But there was one brand that stumbled - Nikon. At their invitation only event, they turned away moms who brought their babies.   The reason was apparently that the restaurant where the event was being held had a 'No babies" policy.

This is a classic case of "the devil is in the details."

Circuit City Commercial Creeped Me Out

I'm going to put this in context for you.  I was watching a crime drama. (No I can't remember which one.  It's impossible to watch prime time TV without running into one).    Then I see this Circuit City commercial.

When you watch this by itself, it may not seem that bad.  But I have to tell you, when I saw it inserted into a crime drama, my first thought was, "This must be one of those promos for parents to warn their kids about the dangers of Internet sexual predators."

Now, maybe I've been watching too many "To Catch a Predator" re-runs.   So I probably over-reacted.   It's not insinuating this guy is trying to lure an unsuspecting teen girl into a sex tryst. 

It's a much more positive message. 

It's insinuating this guy is having some sort of extra-marital affair.  

Sony Bravia - Marketing to Women?

Sony has some interesting ideas when it comes to marketing their Sony Bravia flat screen TV to women.    They have focused on the one thing that really matters to women when buying a TV - shoes.

Yup, that's right - shoes.   Because we know, when it comes to women's deepest desires and motivators, it's all about shoes.   When it comes to technology, what women really care about is.....shoes.    Want her to buy your television set?   Lure her in with.....shoes.   

Think I'm kidding?   check out this landing page.   There is a video that shows a man and a woman looking at a Sony Bravia in a store window - the video stops mid-stream and you get to pick the ending - you must choose "men" or "women" to see your gender specified ending

Women and Word of Mouth - Good and Bad

I attended the Women's Internet Marketing Summit this weekend put on by the Women's ECommerce Association International.    There was lots of great stuff, but by far the highlight was the heated discussion about ethics in blogging.   The "Harnessing the Blogosphere" panel featured several top women bloggers. 

The key question was - is it ok to get paid to blog and what do you need to disclose. 

the overwhelming response was - keep it authentic and true.  If you absolutely must do a blog that is paid for by an advertiser - you must be incredible explicit and offer full disclosure.

One of the panelists writes a blog that is sponsored by an advertiser.  She gets paid to write the blog.  But she is very specific and up front about her relationship with the advertiser.   

I still sensed some squirming.    This is a subject these women are really really passionate about.   Authenticity and transparency in blogging is something many bloggers, including myself, hold sacred.   I'll just say, from the panel discussion, it's a really really sensitive subject.

Women and Word of Mouth - Bad

payperpost.com is a website that pays people to blog.   More specifically - they pay you to write about their advertisers' products.   

Here's what they say on their site:

Get Paid for Blogging. You've been writing about Web sites, products, services and companies you love for years and you have yet to benefit from all the sales and traffic you have helped generate. That's about to change. With PayPerPost advertisers are willing to pay you for your opinion on various topics.

But what if you have a negative opinion?    Will they pay you for that?  In an Ad Age article about payperpost.com - they say this:

a "Postie" (PayPerPost's term for its 6,000 bloggers) can't criticize the product, in this case. The tone required by the opp is neutral.

Payperpost.com is working on "disclosure" issues - but - I don't know about you, but this whole thing creeps me out. 

       

Do Women Respond to Sexual Ads?

Warning!  This post includes honest discussions of sex and porn.   If these topics make you squeamish, stop reading now.

OK - for those of you brave enough to continue, here we go.

We've certainly seen how different genders react differently to advertising messages.  What women want and are attracted to can be different from what men want and are attracted to. This is not true in every case, but depending on the subject matter, the differences can be striking.

Sex is one such subject matter.   I've written before about studies on how men and women react differently to sex in advertising.

Now there is another study with similar results.  Do fashion magazine ads that ooze with pictures of sexy seductive women work?  Especially magazines ads aimed almost 100% at women? 

A research team at the University of Florida in Gainesville studied this question.  They conducted a study where 100 college aged women rated photos of attractive women.   the participants rated their emotional reactions to the pictures.   

The results were quite interesting.

Women and Ringtones

So I'm like, all excited.   I've been sick to death of the ringtone on my cell phone and went online to find a new "hip" ringtone I could download.   I quickly learned the difference between a "ringtone" which sounds like a really bad karaoke version of the song, and "realtone" which sounds like you're listening to the song on a radio.

I'm debating between Sean Paul and Shakira, but finally go with Cherish Do It To It.  I can't wait for my first phone call when my phone will get down with it's bad self and start crooning:

Bounce wit it drop wit it

Lean wit it rock wit it

Snap wit it

All  my ladies pop yo back wit it

Do it to it do it to it

You know the world be rockin to it

Everything goes great til I realize my particular phone model can't download the song.  And it gets worse from there.  After much searching and visiting some message boards, I realize my bare bones phone basically can't download any decent ringtones.

Now I'm pissed.    Due to the Verizon Wireless LG VX3300 phone I got only a few months ago, I am now stuck in permanent bad ring tone detention.   Every time my phone rings in a restaurant I will be reminded of my tragically unhip status and have to settle for the crappy table near the kitchen since the Maitre D will give one listen and know I am not worthy of dining with the fashionable and beautiful.   

I will be walking down the street and when my phone rings everyone under 40 will point at me and laugh because instead of "bounce wit it drop wit it" I will have the equivalent of polka music emanating from my phone. 

Verizon Wireless - I have a real beef with you.   Why didn't you tell me when I bought this phone that it would not support customized "realtones".   I would have gladly paid more to buy a phone that did. 

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!

Dodge - Gay Bashing??

I’ve talked a lot about the importance of authenticity.  Companies today must walk the walk.  Consumers – both advocates and protagonists – are watching what you do as well as what you say.  You want to create a brand?  Everything you say and do must reinforce that brand image.

So – along comes Dodge’s new commercial for their Caliber model now known as "silly little fairy" though officially known as "Too Tough".   Many are crying out that the commercial is homophobic at best and pure gay bashing at worst.   Bob Garfield lends his thoughts on the matter in this AD Age article.

Faggot. Queer. Fairy. These are synonyms, epithets one and all disparaging gays -- or, more often, heterosexual men deemed insufficiently masculine. Let's call that Fact No. 1.

Macho brand
Fact No. 2: Dodge is marketing its new Caliber subcompact as a tough little car, as opposed to sissy little Civics, Corollas and the like. This comports with Dodge's long-cultivated macho image, as exemplified by the grunting, Aerosmith heavy-metal music tag punctuating every spot.

Fact No. 3 is that one of the introductory commercials from BBDO, Detroit, features the juxtaposition of a burly tough guy and his Doberman with a sweater-draped girlie man who is walking four little lap dogs. Fact No. 4 is that the only line of dialogue in the commercial is the burly dude exclaiming, "Silly little fairy!"

And Fact No. 5 -- the genuinely astonishing fact -- is that Daimler Chrysler asserts that none of the above is meant to invoke a sexual insult.

Now – do I like the commercial?  No.  I don’t find it funny or even remotely amusing.   But does it convey the message Dodge wants to convey?   I think it does.   If you’re a manly man, full of testosterone, wanting to drive something ugly and solid as opposed to cute and effeminate, if you want to feel secure in that manhood and convey to the rest of the world what a manly man you are – this car is for you.   No one will ever mistake you for a sissy or a fairy queer guy. 

You could take it even further - why don’t you add those fake truck balls you see hanging from the back of trucks just to prove your point.   “I have balls and everything I do is going to prove to you I have balls even if I have to hang fake ones from the back of my car.”

My problem with Dodge is – they are denying that this is the message. 

Online Ad Placement

I just ran across the news story about the New York Post Online running an ad for a dating service right next to the story of the sexual assault and murder of graduate student Imette St. Guillen.  The ad featured a girl who looked eerily similar to St. Guillen looking seductively into the camera with the tagline "Get Soaked By Love".

Wow - someone fell asleep at the wheel there.  I know these ads are randomly placed, but doesn't anyone double check these things?

I've written before about online ad placement - specifically the dangers of running your ads in the news section of a website.  I know, I know.....the traffic numbers are really impressive.   And depending on the product you're selling - that placement can be very effective. 

If you're selling a product like a home security system, software that protects your computer, a credit card with special ant-theft features, financial services designed to help you through the market's ups and downs........the news section is perfect.  If someone is reading the news stories and upset or stressed - they're in the perfect frame of mind for your product.

But be especially cautious if the product you're selling is being marketed to women.