Marketing to Women Online

Male vs. Female Humor

What do you find funny?  What makes you laugh out loud?  What is it that makes something funny?  And do men and women respond to different types of humor?

It matters in life, but it also matters in marketing.  Humor is a very powerful tool in marketing.  When done right - it is engaging and influential.  When done wrong - it can not only fail to engage, it maybe even have the opposite effect, causing your perspective customer to disengage with your message.

Humor in advertising appeals to both sexes, but it is especially powerful with women.   

Marketers looking to target women might try putting more humor in their ads.

So say preliminary findings in a yearlong study prepared by Oxygen Media and Grey Global Group's MediaCom. The study focuses on women and humor. Initial findings were released today.

The article talks about the different types of humor women respond to. 

Want a first hand look at what women find funny?   Go check out Kiki Melendez and her Hot Tamales Live show November 30th - December 2nd in NYC.

I saw the show earlier this year and it is snort out your drink funny.    But what was most interesting is - I noticed that some of the humor that had the women howling seemed to miss the mark with some of the men.   Why was that?   Here are some ideas...

"You've got to change your evil ways.....baby"

But I don't want to change my evil ways.

That's what was going through my head as I listened to a fabulous cover band last night.  As they were singing the famous Santana tune, I couldn't help but flashback to a TV commercial for Las Vegas.  It featured a group of women sitting around a pool.   One remarks that what looks like a simple cell phone actually takes pictures and video and she's been recording the group's activity all night.

The frozen look of her fellow travelers is priceless.    You can just see the panic "ohmigod - she has recorded proof of what we did last night?"   The spot ends with the woman's incriminating evidence-filled cell phone following her into the pool.

This commercial is incredibly effective because it uses an extremely powerful tool for marketing to women - it only shows you the tip of the iceberg, but makes you mentally fill in the rest.   It's a technique Roy Williams calls Franking.   

Here's why this technique is so powerful and so perfect for marketing to women....

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

Customer Behavior- What vs.Why

I talked previously about the debate as to whether it is best to use "gut instinct" or rely on customer data when creating a marketing campaign.

You know I'm not a fan of trusting a creative director's "gut".    But is the answer then to rely solely on customer data?   No.

Every time you turn around, there is a new company or technology or analysis system that can give you ever more data on what your customers are doing on your website.

While retailers can't seem to get enough of this data, there is a problem.   They are having a really tough time turning this data into actionable insight they can use to actually increase conversion.   

While they know what their customers are doing, they don't know why.   

So how do you get to the "why"?    Find out in this Grokdotcom article.   

Should You Rely on Data or Your Gut

Does great creative come from data or from instinct?    Let me clarify that what I mean by "great creative" is "creative that gets results".    

Every once in a while a marketing campaign comes along that really connects with the audience and causes an increase in sales.  We'd all like to create these kinds of marketing campaigns.

So - if you really want to rise above the clutter and create a smash campaign - should you focus on data?  or should you say to heck with the data and trust your gut?

In a recent Ad Age Article - David Jones, CEO of Global Agency Euro gave his answer to this questions:

Taking a "swipe at the research and pre-testing industry," Mr. Jones exhorted listeners to stop asking permission. Drawing on a "truth" from British comedian Vic Reeves that "96.2% of all statistics are made up," Mr. Jones -- also a Brit -- argued that some of the most well-liked ads aren't based on research or focus-group results. Instead they rely on a creative director's gut instinct of what consumers will like.

Here's where I start to get itchy all over.   Do you really want to rely on one creative director's gut instinct of what consumers will like?   Really??

What happens when the creative director is a 30 something guy who's been charged with creating a campaign for 50 something women?   What if it's a 50 something guy who's been charged with creating a campaign for teenage girls?    What if it's a guy who's never had kids charged with marketing to moms?   

To be fair here - what if it was a 40 something woman charged with creating a campaign for 18 year old guys?    (could happen, but probably far less likely than the scenarios above)

Before you get all huffy with me - I am not saying you must be a member of the target audience in order to create a campaign that resonates with them.