We could, and do, have endless conversations on the differences between men and women and the implications this has in the communications industry.

So we invited female marketing consultancy, All About Eve, to share its wisdom into the female mind.

Over the course of 2010 we’ll be featuring regular posts from Eve’s Principal, Linda McGregor. Linda has joined us in the past to talk about The Fundamental Four when communicating to females – you can watch her video interviews here.

Q. You’ve named this series Don’t think pink, what are you referring to?

A. Basically, Don’t think pink refers to getting it wrong when trying to tailor marketing to female audiences. A lot of the problems we see come from outdated thinking - use of established stereotypes, outdated assumptions and information. All good intentions - but insufficient thinking or expertise into the female mind.

Linda McGregor,
Principal,
All About Eve

The combination of all these things tends to result in clumsy or over obvious campaigns that come across as a patronising pat on the head for many women.

Here are a couple of examples to demonstrate both ends of the scale.

Pink Cabs
Many women feel less than safe getting into taxis alone late at night, especially with male drivers.

Pink Cabs addressed the issue simply and obviously with female only taxi drivers and with the cabs being easy to spot by being bright pink! Great understanding of a need and even greater positive use of a stereotype female colour.

Dodge La Femme
In the 50s, automotive manufacturers identified women as a new target market and wanted a car to meet their needs.

Even when we account for its age, the Dodge La Femme campaign demonstrated a lack of real knowledge about what women wanted from a car - other than the assumption that it would be about looks - flower patterns and pink. Its withdrawal from the market due to low sales only a few years later says everything about its failure to appeal.

Q. So what’s the answer?

A. We like to say think link, not pink! By that we mean think, first of how to connect (link) with her as a purchaser of your brand when constructing the offer and message. Then, and only then, address the fact that she’s female, by ensuring you use a form of communication that talks to her in and on her terms.

Three pointers:

1. Demonstrate genuine and real understanding of her world, through empathy and ideas
   Women spend their lives outwardly focused on how they interact with others. They expect a brand to behave the same way when it communicates – focus on her, then on itself. The other way around is selling AT her, instead of first bonding by proving it really gets her wants and needs.

   Dove’s Real Beauty campaign is a classic example, it tapped into females need for recognition that women come in all shapes, sizes and looks and are not all supermodels.

2. Perform to her needs and wants
   Remember that needs are rooted in reality thus easier for her to put a value against. Wants however, are all about dreams and often highly emotional, resulting in a different decision making process. One comparison would be the purchase of most grocery products versus the purchase of a pair of Jimmy Choo shoes.
3. It’s not just the brand offer, but also how it’s said, when and where
   We often see good messages let down by poor execution. Sensitivity to context is as natural to women as breathing, so they unwittingly demand the same when you’re marketing to them. Due to her brain construct, she joins the brand dots across message, consistency of talk and action, time, mood and words.

Q. So where to from here?

A. I’ll leave you with one thought to get your mind ready for the coming months. Think about marketing to women as a real relationship. It will help you better assess the reality of your campaign and its likely success.

In some of the topics coming up: women and sex; women and humour; why she’ll always want more; relationships vs. transactions; differences between the sister generations and more. Any other burning topics you’d like covered? Just hit the comment button below and let us know.

Until next time!

Thanks to: Linda McGregor, All About Eve
Posted by: Carmen Campbell