Marketing to Women Online

How to Move Beyond Female Stereotypes In Your Ads

Why do so many marketing to women efforts fail?  One word....

Stereotypes.

When you stereotype the people in your ads, you end up with commercials that don't engage your target audience.

Which is why I find it amazing that SO many commercials stereotype women. 

Go beyond stereotypes

I read an awesome article in Ad Week - The Courage to Advertise Without Female Stereotypes:  How Brands LIke Huggies, Tide and Target Go Beyond the Cliches.

The article points out how many women feel advertisers don't understand them or their lives.

2013 Athena Film Festival - Where Is the Female James Bond?

Imagine sitting down for a couple of hours of TV viewing, and every commercial stars positive, non-stereotypical women (aka women outside of the home, in a role other than mother and NOT doing yoga). The shows feature women as the heroes of their own stories.  Time after time a woman comes in and saves the day.  The women are brave, smart, and funny, and while they may look great, they aren't there simply as sexy background to boost the egos of men.  

You walk away from the experience feeling euphoric, relaxed, confident, and valued.  Commercial after commercial, show after show, you think, "Wow, I'd love to be just like that character (her)."

This happens in the real world, like, never.  

Marketing to Women Best Super Bowl Commercials 2013

So if there was a drinking game where you had to take a sip for every guy featured in a Super Bowl commercial, you would have been plastered.  If you had to take a sip for every woman featured, especially a woman in the lead, (and not just a sexy distraction) you would have been pretty darn sober.

Except for the beautiful glorious exception of half-time.  Beyonce rocked the house!  I actually think even the band members were all women.  

That said, what were the Marketing to Women best Super Bowl commercials of 2013?