It was coffee-break time at London's Paddington Hilton hotel, where around 200 conference delegates - mainly glamorously dressed businesswomen - were indulging in mini chocolate muffins, fruit smoothies and free shoulder massages as they networked or rang the office on their mobiles. The organisers
of the Rethink Pink! - Marketing to Women seminar had judged their audience well. Described as the UK's first conference to look specifically at marketing to women, Rethink Pink! emphasised both the importance of understanding women as consumers and challenged the way companies currently market to them. And the general consensus was that, unfortunately for marketers, most advertising is still way off the mark when it comes to targeting that other 'pink pound', the female consumer. A recent UK survey found 91% of women feel advertisers do not understand them. This was despite the fact that over a fifth more advertising is aimed at women rather than men. It seems advertising simply does not reflect the lives of women in the mid-Noughties.Post feminism and post girl power, today's woman is equally comfortable with being girly and feminine one minute, and strong and confident the next. Her natural home is, of course, Sex And The City. Women, such as those at the conference, are no longer afraid to be women. So why, as Carrie Bradshaw herself might ask, are advertisers still afraid to speak to them as women, rather than as crude stereotypes? And how should marketers be targeting female consumers?Advertising still presents women in two extremes, says Emma Laney, head of UK Pulse, which forecasts trends at McCann Erickson. Both examples can be seen in Nicole Kidman's Stepford Wives' character - a powerful career woman who becomes a subservient model wife after losing her job. "On the one extreme we have a vision of total androgyny, on the other we have a lamentation we are still light years away from a situation where men and women share life's tasks freely and equally."Laney feels a truer representation of women today lies somewhere between this all-or-nothing view. "It's about combining the best of femininity with the advantages that feminism has opened up in the world."This attitude represents a cultural sea change, she says. "Weddings and pregnancy are back with a vengeance. There's also a resurgence of brands that revel in their femininity." Even traditionally androgynous brands, like Levis, now sell cushions and have overhauled their industrial-looking flagship stores in Paris and London with feminine styling. Jan Adcock, group publishing director of Cosmopolitan Group, emphasises that feminine-style marketing should still avoid cliches. "We don't all drive pink cars, like kittens or want to stamp all over men with four-inch heels. And, sometimes, I don't think I'm worth it."Be feminine - but not for the sake of it, that is, just because you want a female consumer. Find out what her values are and communicate to her with real product confidence."Marketing to women is "the hot topic", says Michele Miller, a partner at US consultancy Wizard of Ads. Miller agrees the trend of feminisation is a powerful one. Companies are moving from competition to collaboration, and brands and products are becoming friendlier - from UK internet bank Smile's approachable image to the curvaceous, colourful and user-friendly design of iMacs and iPods.But the idea of targeting women is, of course, nothing new, Miller points out. One editor of Advertising Age, Nathan Fowler, noticed females bought the bulk of household products and implored advertisers to target them. That was in 1891. So why is it "the hot topic" now? Like Laney, Miller also points to a cultural shift, as society enters a phase where, in conjunction with the changes brought about by feminism, women have become empowered by technology such as the internet, education and wealth. Women have a far greater influence over purchasing power, whether in the home or at work, than ever before. In the US, 83% of all consumer purchases are bought or influenced by women, as are 94% of home furnishings, 91% of new homes, 89% of new bank accounts, 80% of DIY products and 60% of cars. Women own 53% of all US stocks and shares while female babyboomers control US$7 trillion of American wealth. In the past three decades, the number of American women has doubled to 60 million. In the UK, around one million firms are owned by women. In addition to increased purchasing power and feminism, the female brain is the third factor that completes what Miller calls "the perfect storm" for best targeting women. The differences between men and women's brains have now been scientifically proven, she says, and marketers should use these in their communications to the different sexes. With four times as many connections between their analytical left brain and their creative right brain, women are not only better at multi-tasking but have better peripheral vision. They are literally better at reading 'the bigger picture', while men are more adept at reading the small print. Women empathise better with others - reading faces better and tapping into emotions. Miller cites a test where males and females were asked to read a passage from a John Grisham thriller. In both sexes, reading the text fired up the analytical side of the brain, but the women's right brains also lit up, showing they took their own experiences into the reading, made connections with characters and showed empathy. This is a valuable lesson for marketers wanting to target women successfully, says Miller. "Are you building a relationship with your customers or are you simply working the room? Ask women to join your brand." Ensure your product is associated with good things in your customers' minds. This leads to 'reward behaviour', when your product is the first brand they think of. US house-paint brand, Dutch Boy, did exactly this when it launched a paint container that was easy to open, and tripled its revenue in a year. The 'twist and pour' ad campaign used simple - rather than flowery - language and used bright colours, rather than being overtly girly. Crucially, Dutch Boy also recognised that its target market had plenty of money, but were short on time. The new breed of female customer, the professional consumer or 'prosumer', places huge importance on saving time, says Dr Glenda Stone, chief executive of Aurora - an organisation that helps companies identify where women want to work, spend and invest. The professional woman is not only well-educated and independent, she's very shrewd, says Stone. "She's highly aware of what constitutes quality, and values her own worth and time very strongly. This woman researches and compares, and makes decisions all day long - from the bedroom to the boardroom. But once she knows what she wants she makes her decision fast." Wireless organiser Blackberry is one brand that has understood this, ensuring it has huge appeal as a time saver, while also realising the importance of after-sales service. "Unlike when men buy gadgets, women want to know they will have that support. They look at the whole service cycle when making their decision."The female prosumer market is huge and highly lucrative, but, on the whole, it's still untapped and misunderstood, says Stone. "The number of women starting their own business is phenomenal. They need to buy broadband, computers and bank loans. So who is going to get the share of this burgeoning market?"The companies who successfully target the female prosumer, Stone says, will "convey respect for women, and appeal to their intelligence, earthiness and various life roles and situations". She adds: "Take time to understand women and do not assume they are all one homogenous group."Jonathan Mildenhall, managing director for TBWA London says marketers have been slow to pick up on the fact that women have multi-faceted roles in life. In the '70s, for example, ads for Charlie perfume portrayed an independent woman, while campaigns for Diet Coke in the '90s showed women as sexual predators. Now, women's lives are much more complex: today, there is no big picture. Often the reality confounds expectations. Women are doing better than men at school and university, but not at work. Women are adopting male behaviour, but not necessarily in the home. They are getting older, but acting younger. And despite the fact that women are becoming increasingly important decision-makers, advertisers remain too afraid to address them. "Advertisers are worried about offending women so instead they go for bland advertising." When they do make an attempt at humour, Mildenhall says, it's that old chestnut, "men are a hopeless waste of space. That reflects a small spectrum of what women find funny and it's becoming increasingly grating." Advertising has been hamstrung by these limited stereotypes and it's time for them to bust out. Women, he says, are comfortable making jokes about themselves among friends - so laughing with women can work just as well in ad campaigns. Girls don't always have to be nice. And, Mildenhall argues - citing TBWA's world-famous 'Hello Boys' campaign for Wonderbra - sex does sell to women. Other forms of the media, he says - such as tv's Sex And The City and Smack The Pony and film's Eyes Wide Shut (the first mainstream movie to show a woman, Nicole Kidman again, on the loo) - are edgy in these ways. "Advertising falls into the trap of seeming prissy and unreal." The answer, he says, may lie in using other forms of media to target women in less conventional ways. Nike Women, for example, targeted gym users with adverts posted on lockers and in toilets. "Stop treating women as special-needs customers. It's time to be concerned about what excites women, not what upsets their delicate constitutions. There's plenty to engage and entertain women across all media, except perhaps, the commercial breaks."He believes that when women are deliberately targeted it often goes badly wrong. "Women consider many specifically targeted ads to be patronising, embarrassing and irrelevant. Smart brands realise women don't like ads targeted at them."After all, only 15% of women identify themselves by their gender, says UK Pulse's Laney. "Attitude supersedes gender. Tightly defined attitudinal typologies and targeting are far more important and meaningful than gender groupings." Cosmopolitan Group's Jan Adcock agrees. The Cosmo reader, she says, is not set apart by her sex or even her age. "It's her outlook and attitude. You've got to define your target. "If you're just going to target women - well, good luck." Mars Versus VenusAre men and women that different? Putting the nature versus nurture debate aside, countless studies in fields as diverse as anthropology, biochemistry and socio-linguistics have found numerous gender-related differences, says Wendy Gordon, chief executive of UK research and strategy consultancy Acacia Avenue.Girls learn to speak earlier than boys, and so develop their perceptive skills better, says Gordon. Because of this, women tend to use implicit communication - concentrating on 'how' rather than 'what'. They find it easier to read others' body language and emotional signals and use autobiographical details to better relate to other people. "They are programmed to take in the bigger picture and ensure they empathise with others. Men, on the other hand, are more detached and systematic."In advertising, women are likely to feel more comfortable with emotional feelings but need rational communication for it to be credible - in order to justify a purchase to themselves as well as to others.Marketers might wish to take account of gender when their product is only for one of the sexes, or if their strategy is to increase more customers from a certain sex.The differences between women and men are not black and white, Gordon emphasises, adding that emotions are just as important for men when making a decision as they are for women. "We're talking about tendencies and statistics. Ultimately, men and women are far more similar than different."Rachel Helyer Donaldson is a London-based freelance journalist. In a past life she was a Marketing Magazine staff writer. Email: rachelhd@mac.com
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