Marketing to Women Online

Women and Blogging

Whenever the old brain needs a little jump start, something to crank up the wheels, get my beagle running off down an interesting trail, I read Andrea Learned. 

She has a great post about how women blog and how it's similar to how they shop online.  She has some really interesting insight.  One section really got my beagle arrroooooing.   She talks about which blogs women seem to frequent.

Which ones really feel like many-way conversations and not monologues of the blogger?  Which ones work to include lots of different voices and welcome the gamut of comments?  Which ones offer up fresh ideas and creative solutions to the problems the reader faces? 

I guarantee you, find blogs that do all of the above and you'll find lots of female readers.  I also believe this is the secret to success not only for successful blogs, but for successful brands. 

What else do you need to have to make sure your blog connects with female readers?  Passion.   I'm a big Tom Peters fan largely because of the passion in his writing.  Once again - that's also a must for a successful brand.   

Check out Andrea's post on why Nascar has been so successful in recruiting female fans. 

Heck....just set aside aside a few minutes and read the whole blog.  Great stuff.

Male Communication Style

It was a fascinating example of male communication style.  We were in a restaurant and one guy was commenting on the fact that the specialty dish, a two pound lobster and 41 ounce steak, was specified as being a “dinner for two.”      

“Who says?”  he commented.  “Why can’t it be a dinner for one?”

At this point the guy at the other end of the table got a grin on his face and said “Tell you what, you eat the whole thing….I’ll buy dinner.”   

This got the other guys feathers ruffled.  “You think I can’t eat all that?  I guarantee you I can eat all that.”

“Yeah, but you wouldn’t be able to make it to work the next day.”

“Sure I could – I’d be recovered by like, 10 am.  Trust me, this is a bet you’ll lose.”

Now – had this been a conversation between two college frat guys – it wouldn’t be that unusual – but this was a conversation between two high powered, successful businessmen – we’re talking CEO types for multi-million dollar companies.   I do believe it was their way of bonding and establishing status.

The strangest part of the whole thing is, I think it worked – I think my boss actually gained credibility in the eye of the client because he could consume two pounds of lobster and 41 ounces of meat in one sitting and not be in the bathroom for the next two days.   

Pink Baseball Bats

I thought it was really interesting that no less than 3 people asked me what I thought of MLB players using pink bats on Mother's Day.  I suspect because if my aversion to pink when used in association with marketing to women, they thought I'd really be up in arms about these "pink bats."   

But actually - I love it.   If this were a girls softball team and someone suggested pink bats - that I probably wouldn't go for.   But in this case - the pink is in reference to breast cancer.   Pink is the "brand" color associated with breast cancer - so it makes strategic sense to use pink.

Many of the players ordering the pink bats had the names of their mothers or other family members who had breast cancer engraved on their bats.   

AND after the games, the pink bats are going to be auctioned off to raise money for breast cancer.   Good sound strategy.   Good for breast cancer awareness and fund raising, and also, I think, good for Major League Baseball.  I've read some touching stories from players who have a personal connection with breast cancer.   

And I have to tell you - I watched a few games today just to see macho baseball players with the pink bats.  Talk about a great photo op.  It takes a strong man to swing a pink bat and I was glad to see so many on the field.

So - there you have it - I really don't have anything against the color pink as long as it is a sound strategy to use it, not just - well it's aimed at women so let's make it pink - go as pink as you want.

And Happy Mother's Day to all you great moms out there.  You rock.

Seniors Online

   You really should meet my Aunt Judy.

She is in her 8^th decade on earth.  To look at her on paper, or even in person, you’d probably see a stereotypical older person.  She’s a widow, lives in the conservative mid-west.  She plays bridge with her friends, is active in her church, lives for her grandkids.

But don’t be fooled.

We were sitting around the dinner table and my mother was saying how there are different Goddesses for different times, and our particular time was now all about the Goddess “Lady Liberty”.  Judy raised her eyebrows and deadpanned, “You mean it’s not Paris Hilton?”

Judy is not a techno-geek, but once again, don’t be fooled.  She has a computer at home she’s on almost every day.   Cell phones?  Hers is nicer than mine.  (and I’ve got a pretty nice cell phone)

I bring this up because I just finished reading Ageless Marketing by David Wolfe.  It’s all about marketing to seniors.   Though apparently what to call this older market is a hot debate – seniors, 50 plus, mature, adult – hint – what marketers think they want to be called is not how this audience prefers to refer to themselves.

David calls this group – the new customer majority.   It’s a great term because it does not carry any of the negative stereotypes of terms like “seniors” or “50 plus”.     And it also happens to be true.

By 2010, spending by people 45 and older will be a trillion dollars greater than spending by people between the ages of 18 and 39 – $2.6 trillion compared to $1.6 trillion.

Why Women Buy Jewelry

Leave it to Tom Peters to get the mental juices flowing.  I found a recent post he did about why women buy jewelry.   He’s got some interesting anecdotes and insight.   

It got me thinking more about the Right Hand Ring campaign.   Here’s some sample copy from the campaign.

Your left hand says red and thinks roses.  Your right hand sees red and thinks wine.  Your left hand says “I love you.”  Your right hand says “I love me, too.”

Your left hand believes in shining armor.  Your right hand thinks knights are for fairy tales.

A diamond is forever.  Forever.  Timeless.  Forever unique. Forever a force of nature.  Forever all the things that make you a woman.

Your left hand says you’re taken.  Your right hand says you can take over.  Your left hand celebrates the day you were married.  Your right hand celebrates the day you were born.

This is just a sample – but the message seems to be aimed at the “really strong woman who does not need a man to buy her jewelry.”    Now, I do like some of the copy.   But I just wonder, what is the reason why a woman buys diamond jewelry for herself? 

Soccer Moms with Tattoos

It was quite a sight – dozens of girls the oldest being maybe 16, the youngest 6 – all lined up chatting, laughing, anxiously awaiting their turn – to get a tattoo. 

Now, granted, it was a theme park and the tattoos were not permanent.   But the reason this image stuck with me was because of a conversation I’d had the day before with an online retailer at the Shop.org conference.   We were discussing soccer mom stereotypes and she threw out a figure of the number of “soccer moms” who have tattoos.   The figure was large enough to truly astound me.

So I did some research. In a recent Harris Poll –

• 36% of 25-29 year olds have a tattoo
• 28% of 30-39 year olds have a tattoo
• The numbers are equally split between men and women

By my calculations, that means there are an awful lot of ‘soccer moms’ out there with tattoos. 

Here’s another interesting figure from the survey – 34% of tattooed adults feel sexier than before getting their tattoos.

Here’s one soccer mom’s story about how she changed her mind from finding tattoos offensive, to getting one herself, and how it affected her life.