When Pink Repels Men: Marketing “Womens’ Products” to Men
Are more men buying female-targeted skincare and beauty products and treatments? Apparently so – but these guys must be bold enough to brave the department store make-up counter or the night cream aisle at the grocery store – a very female realm. So, what’s a guy to do? Head online and stay under the radar (have his wife or girlfriend buy it for him).
There’s an interesting discussion of this in today’s RetailWire. Because men do still feel they have to hide this sort of purchase, I think this is a trend that may be slow to build (mainly because it will be hard to verify). Here are two excerpts from my comment on that discussion:
In doing research into how traditionally male-dominated industries
market to women, I am also exploring how traditionally female-oriented
industries (beauty/apparel, for one) tend to unnecessarily alienate a
lot of male prospects by, well…being too “pink” in their approach.
So–yes–men want nice haircuts and are willing to pay, but it may be
too “girly” to admit it or be seen in a salon.
My thought–that women may now be a lot more comfortable entering a
man’s consumer realm than vice versa–especially since marketers in the more obvious womens’ categories (hair, makeup, skincare) have
perhaps gone the superficial route to reaching women (by overly
“feminizing” an approach rather than simply striving to serve higher
standards).
***
In the meantime, pink and cartoon illustrations of hip women continue to be the trend for marketing women-specific products, though Today Sponge calls its color scheme “wine and fuchsia.” I’m not so sure about that – but I do appreciate the site’s attempt to get women telling their stories and interacting with the brand and one another about the issue of contraception. Check out the New York Times article by Jane L. Levere (reg. required) for more.
