Marketing to Women Online

It's Not Orange, It's Papaya

It’s not something you hear too often….two big burly guys talking about nail polish color.  “What’s the problem with Desert Flower – it’s a wonderful creative color name.” 

“How do I know if it will match my Sunset Rose lipstick? At least with the word ‘Rose” I have some idea of what color it is.  What if Desert Flower turns out to be more brown than red?   Am I gonna look stupid with brown lipstick when I have red toenails?”

I can’t tell you what pleasure I got from the strange looks from passers by as they caught whiffs of this bizarre conversation between two macho guys.  The best part was….I instigated the whole thing.   

It all started innocently enough.  I was talking with these two web tech guys and relaying a story about my pedicure adventures.   I had just gotten back from a spa and was fretting over my nail color choice.   You see, I’m missing a gene – the gene that most women get that allows them to choose flattering nail polish colors.  It’s nowhere to be found in my DNA.  No matter how hard I try – I almost always choose the wrong color.

Bluefly Takes It All Off

If you were throwing a fancy party and couldn’t find anything you wanted to wear in your closet, the best solution would be simply to walk downstairs into your party naked – right?   

That seems to be the premise behind Bluefly’s new ad campaign.  Bluefly is an online store for fashionable clothes and accessories.  But it appears they’re trying to change their image from “discount” to “hip.”    They’ve launched a new national ad campaign where they attempt to answer the question “why do women shop?”

The website features two ads – one seems to imply if you can’t find anything fashion-worthy in your closet, your next best choice is to go to the party naked.  The other ad features a wife who catches her husband lying to her (cheating) about being with another woman.   This ad seems to be implying – if you’re wearing fashionable clothes, you’ll enjoy kicking your cheating husband in the balls even more.   

While I must admit the second resonates a tad more with me –  I’m wondering how women feel about this ad campaign.  And what does it say when two of the prime outlets for your target demo, Oxygen and Lifetime, refuse to even run your ads?

Stereotypes and Sushi

I get very enthusiastic about my sushi.  While at a recent “all you can eat” sushi outing with my sister and some friends, we ordered up a storm and as soon as my plate of caterpillar roll, yellow tail and scallion roll and Toro sashimi arrived, I dove in.   A few minutes later, I came up for air lifting my head from my empty plate and remarked about the poor size of the portions.

As I looked around the table, everyone else still had half to ¾ of a plate full of food.   The friend to my left commented on the soy sauce dribbling from my chin and the pieces of rice sticking to my cheek.   My sister pronounced I was not allowed to eat sushi in a dating situation.

What does all this have to do with stereotyping?  Everything.   The owners of the sushi restaurant eyed me on this “all you can eat” sushi night and figured I was the person they’d make money on.  Being a woman and somewhat small in stature, they were much happier to see me than a large man, figuring I would eat a roll or two and be done.  They were sorely mistaken.   

Sony TV Targeted at Women

The best thing about writing a blog about marketing to women online is the never ending amount of material worth commenting on (or laughing at when appropriate).  This time it’s electronic powerhouse Sony.   I’m once again in the awkward position of wanting to congratulate them on waking up and smelling the Channel number 5 and realizing women are key purchasers and influencers of electronic equipment – in this case, televisions – or to be more specific, the Sony Bravia flat screen TV.  So I’m going to give Sony a big high five.   

But before you start strutting your stuff Sony – there are a few things you might want to look at here – specifically in your marketing to women online efforts.

First what the heck is Bravia (Best  Resolution Audio Video Integrated Architecture)? 

Reuters has this to say:

Sony pitches flat TV to women. 

Sony departs from the well-worn model of gadget marketing in ads for its new flat screen television, seeking to hook women consumers with the product's slim lines as much as with its large display.

Powerhouse Female Demographic

There's a lot to get excited about in marketing to women online - but there's one segment of the women's market I'm especially excited about.  Is it single moms?  Is it Gen Y?   Nope - it's women 50-80. 

I see some of you scratching your heads - 50 to 80?   Are they even online?   And aren't they retired and going to early bird specials and saving every penny they have?   NO - these women are active, they're online and not only do they control massive amounts of money - they're spending it.

Don't believe me?  Listen to the leader in marketing to women Marti Barletta in her article Targeting a Powerhouse Female Demographic:  Older Women.  Why Mass Mutual's New Web Strategy Hits the Mark.

Why are marketers obsessed with youth when women between 50 and 70 are the golden bulls-eye of target marketing? This group is more educated, active and affluent than any preceding generation of women. Yet many marketers choose to ignore this economic powerhouse.

Is Buzz Marketing Illegal?

Perfect timing – just as I was wondering aloud about the ethics of product placement, out comes an article about the ethics of word of mouth marketing.  The Adage headline is “Is Buzz Marketing Illegal?”

As marketers more frequently look to recruit consumers brand agents to spread goodwill for brands, industry attorneys view buzz marketing as a likely area of regulatory involvement, especially around the issue of compensating people to participate in buzz programs when they fail to disclose their connections to marketers and agencies. While there is no legal precedent specific to word-of-mouth marketing, there are Federal Trade Commission guidelines for ads that are likely to apply.

“If the motivation for [an endorser] is to profit from his or her endorsement, that connection probably needs to be disclosed,” said Douglas Wood, chairman of advertising and marketing law at Reed Smith. “But since disclosure undermines the value of buzz marketing, advertisers are in a Catch-22.

Catch 22 is right.  Sometimes marketers walk the fine line between wanting to get results, and wanting to do things right.   

Does Product Placement Work?

Does product placement work?   If so, why?  If not, why not? And is it ethical?  I’d really like to know the answers to these questions.  So would many advertisers.   If I see a movie character sipping Starbucks coffee – will I go out and buy a Venti skim cappuccino?   If I see James Bond driving a BMW – will I go out and buy a Z3?  If I see a Survivor contestant pouring Mountain Dew down his gullet, will I be inclined to do the same?

Here are some reasons why product placement works:

• You can’t Tivo it out.  It’s ingrained in the actual entertainment.
• It’s not interruptive.  Viewers aren’t annoyed at being interrupted by an advertising message and having to wait to get back to what they really want – the TV show or movie.   
• It’s almost like a celebrity endorsement – if these famous people (or characters) are using the product, they must like it.
• It’s subliminal, so the filters in our brain that normally weed out advertising messages don’t step in to block the message.  It sneaks into our subconscious.

Here are some reasons why product placement doesn’t work: