Sustainability Dismantles Marketing to Women Brick Wall
I recently had a conversation with a fellow longtime marketing to women professional on the state of the field. Frustration ruled. After ten years or so of beating the drum LOUDLY, along with so many other experts/consultants, we both felt like the marketing to women awareness/pursuit still had not delivered the expected and necessary dramatic shift in business practice. Today, women-focused approaches remain much too gender-stereotyped or “pink” (even though I tried my best to let people know why NOT to think that way!)
For hopeful examples (we thought at the time) – we could refer to Dove’s efforts and the more recently noted Frito-Lay social media success with women-focused snack products. And, to be sure, we’ve certainly seen a lot more obviously women-centered car ads, and both Lowe’s and Home Depot have gained ground by way of their more women-inspired efforts. But, all that does not a paradigm shift.
In my years studying gender issues in consumer and organizational behavior, I have come to believe the word “women” may be the elephant in the room. No matter how much is learned about how a woman’s brain works, how women buy differently, or what influences their brand loyalty, those involved in executive decision-making are still mainly men. No judgment. Just fact. And, the term “women” may be too loaded for an open dialogue on how to reach them more effectively. Any brilliant marketing strategy or business innovation idea that comes after speaking that word seems to just lose its luster. It’s as if the thinking were:
- Well, yes, we’ll put the women on our staff “on” the women’s market topic. They can report in occasionally, and we can say our company is marketing to women.
- Women are a whole new, scary thing to study. Since I don’t even understand my wife, I need to stay out of it altogether, or risk looking like a fool.
- There’s a conference session on women’s brands or reaching women? No thank you. It will be a bunch of opinionated women telling us what we’ve been doing all wrong.
- Women are just a trend. If we stick our heads in the sand for a few more years (a.k.a. until I retire), we won’t have to venture into unknown territory. Sure our brands may suffer, but I’ll manage to leave looking good.
I am not a social psychologist, but my.. how I’d love to pick the brain of one! Of course, I don’t believe this is a conscious or overt behavior at all! In my experience, men and women do just fine interacting and communicating in their daily and work lives (for the most part). However, the “sexy,” gender polarizing research findings about how men and women are so amazingly different (heavily influenced by media depictions) make it seem like our culture has no hope of ever getting along or getting anything done together.
I don’t buy it. But, I think I may have found a way past the elephant in our “marketing to women” path, toward true business and marketing innovation that finally brings that critical shift in thinking to pass. And, it’s called sustainability. No gender about it.
What I mean is this: all the fascinating information and helpful insights now available about the women’s market can be discussed, addressed and put to use for gender-neutral, sustainability-related business pursuits. Imagine focusing on communication, decision-making or lifestyles/values, with no need to throw the gender label around? While marketing for the majority of products or services need not be “gendered,” as such, I do believe there ARE clues to serving the toughest customer by looking at the ways women go about buying – which is a different thing.
What those of us in sustainability want to do is just that – to reach those people who are thinking in more connected terms, who see the above, beyond and around – 0r holistic – perspective of their buying and living decisions. Am I right? We want to reach people for whom raising healthy kids is key, and seeing their neighbors well-employed and safe is also crucial. We want to reach those humans who give a tad more thought to their cleaning products and energy use, for instance, and who are motivated to influence others to consider doing the same.
Where ever-resistant businesses have had to be whacked over the head to pay attention to the women’s market, they definitely (and collectively) seem more eager to learn and engage with the emerging sustainably-minded consumer. Even though she may well be one, that sustainably thinking person doesn’t have the “woman” label. This helps business and marketing professionals have more productive conversations.
When we focus in on sustainability, the gender makeup of our core market doesn’t change, but we see it through a more meaningful lens. So tell the elephant to leave the room, dismantle that darned brick wall, and watch marketing to women wisdom result in business practices that serve today’s motivated and word-spreading sustainably-minded consumer.
