Marketing to Women from the Shadows
I’ve been writing about a gender trap recently – in that lots of brands are still approaching the women’s market at the extreme of the gender pendulum (in an overly “girly” manner) when they don’t need to. One way to demonstrate this is to talk about brands that are marketing to women (m2w) from the shadows, as it were.
Such brands have taken in what is known about women and how they buy, they have connected with the women in their markets and they have integrated a lot of typically”women-friendly” elements into their strategies. The one thing shadow m2w brands haven’t done is made their women-specific research and focus a big public relations push. The great result? That women and men are both responding. (If men don’t realize it is “for women” they just might buy it too…)
A ha!
Shadow m2w brands are “working it” without talking about it, and women – and men, are happy to buy their products or use their services because they feel well tended to. A few examples:
1) ING Financial. I am a fairly new customer of theirs and have been astounded. In fact, it was word-of-mouth from a female friend that got me hooked. My friend went on and on about their service, how easy the site was, how easy it was to transfer other accounts, how easy it was to get a person on the phone when you needed help and how NICE that person always seemed to be. The site is not pink, and the brand has made no “to-do” about serving women, but all the clues are there. Women with investment education and service needs were core to their consumer research.
2) Method brand household cleaning products. Of course, cleaning products tend to be considered very much “for women,” as women still seem to be doing the majority of household chores. However, Method made the idea of cleaning more hip and more gender-neutral, by focusing on design and environmental issues in a big way. No one could say that Method goes out of its way to market to women, but they hit the nail on the head and do not alienate men in the process, by making cleaning solutions less “yuck,” and more… intriguing/fun.
3) American Express. Their “Are You A Cardmember?” television and print campaign has featured Ellen Degeneres, Robert Deniro and most recently Tina Fey. While there is no “for women” about it, the storytelling about celebrity lives turns them into real people with whom prospective card members might be able to find common ground (Tina’s office is messy and her toddler is throwing food on an important paper – for example). “If that person whose life is like mine has an AmEx card, maybe I should to?” This is a tried and true way of connecting with women, especially, but – look in the shadows and it has also been very effective with men, I’m guessing.
I could go on and on, but instead I’ll challenge you to look deeply into those brands or ad campaigns that really seem to connect with your life. They likely did a lot of research with women in order to reach you – whether you are a man or a woman.
That’s marketing to women in the shadows. Give it a try.
