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What Others Realize about Marketing to Women This ‘Women’s Thing’ is …unmistakably, in
my opinion…Economic Opportunity No. 1. Women no longer follow fashion;
fashion—and retailers—will have to start following women: the clothing of the
1990s begin to bear the stamp of female designers—comfortable, simple,
elegant.
Too often a
“glass wall” separates the manufacturer, marketer and salesperson from the
woman customer. They can see her, but they can’t quite reach her…Women will
make the difference between profitability and demise for many companies.
Women are the
world’s most powerful consumers…Women have a very different set of priorities,
preferences and attitudes… You can address these differences in your marketing
to great advantage, or you can ignore them. If you put on blinders, you’re
going to be blindsided by your competition, and your share will suffer
accordingly.
Whether their
efforts involve retraining sales staff or redesigning products, companies that
pay attention to the female consumer could hit the mother lode. The blend trend, pioneered largely by
Generation X women, has become more apparent as women in this generational
cohort vie for their financial independence, obtaining degrees in higher
education, landing highly-skilled jobs and getting married later in
life—ultimately making Gen X women increasing more self-reliant.
It is a
truism that effective marketing and advertising must be built on an
understanding of the consumer.…There is strong evidence that women want to be
recognized as individuals in their own right, aside from their personal or
family roles….Marketers tend to generalize about women consumers as being
married, the reality is that not all women are wives….It is particularly
important for marketers communicating with women to base their strategies and
communications on the attitudes and perceptions of the consumers themselves to
avoid the danger of stereotyping or alienating valuable prospects.
Forward-thinking companies are embracing the shift in the marketplace and the
incredible buying power of women.
Women not
only buy more products than men, they also indirectly influence more
purchases. In fact, women are either directly or indirectly involved in nearly
90% of consumer electronic purchases.
Women shop
differently from the way men do: Females research more extensively and are
less likely to be influenced by ads. Today’s woman is the chief purchasing
agent of the family and marketers have to recognize that….Marketers warn that
retailers and manufacturers assume that marketing to women is as easy as
changing the color of a product to pink. If you’re serious about reaching the
female consumer, you have to care about her and get to know what she desires.
It’s critical you understand the female consumer’s needs and dissatisfactions,
and come up with ideas and solutions.
Women control
almost $4 trillion in annual consumer spending, buy two of every three cars,
take 50 percent of all business trips and control half of all the personal
wealth in country.
Men and women
are different—in the way we look and think, in the way we talk and behave, in
the way we use computers and grills, in our TV preferences, in our favorite
vacation spots, and even in our food choices…For many women the relationship
and customer service are more important than the product or price.
A woman’s
sense of self is defined through her feelings and the quality of her
relationships…To score points with women, practice listening and asking
questions.
In the last
three decades, men’s median income has barely budged (up just 0.6%)—while
women’s has soared 63 percent.
In dual
income families, 30 percent of working women out-earn their husbands.
The number of
women earning $100,000 or more has tripled in the last 10 years.
41 percent of
the 3.3 million Americans reporting incomes of $500,000 or more are women.
By listening
to their customers, Jockey was able to become the most popular brand of
women’s underwear in the nation in just five years. By making a quality
product for women, Jockey increased their bottom line tremendously by
marketing to 100 percent of the population rather than just 50%.
Smart
companies know capitalizing on women’s talents creates competitive advantages.
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