andHow To Reach Women

Fortune 500 Board Diversity Directly Linked to Business Success

Catalyst, a non-profit advisory group working toward inclusivity in business, released the results of a study where it looked at the relationship between women's representation in corporate-officer positions and board-of-director positions in the U.S. Fortune 500 companies. The results leave no doubt that including women in the boardroom has a direct effect on business performance. As reported in Canada's Financial Post some of their findings include:

On average, companies with the highest representation of women in corporate-officer positions financially outperformed those with the lowest representation. In fact, return on equity was 35.1% higher. Total return to shareholders was 34% higher

The numbers jumped for women serving as directors on Fortune 500 boards. On average, return on equity was 53% higher for those boards with a high representation of women than those with the least women; return on sales was 42% higher; and return on invested capital was 66% higher

So in these don't-say-the-R-word times, when shareholders are clamoring for solutions, perhaps one smart step would be to reach out to a couple of female board members. The numbers certainly add up.
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Is "Boomer" The New B-Word?

Ann Taylor has decided that now isn't the time to pursue a special store offering for style-starved Boomer women, citing sluggish sales of Chico's and Talbot's as the reason behind their decision to shelve the new concept they'd planned to launch this fall to serve a market they once called "significantly underserved." Certainly focusing in on improving sales of their core Ann Taylor and Loft brands is a smart move, but the assumption that because Chico's and Talbot's are experiencing slower sales means the boomer women's market isn't viable is not sound thinking. Perhaps sales are slowing because the merchandise has become predictable and doesn't hold the same appeal it did a few years back. When you see Madonna, almost 50, staring out at you from the cover of Vanity Fair in a skimpy bodysuit the idea of the Chico's "garanimals for grandmas" (bash my anonymous friend for this phrase, not me) mix-and-match outfits doesn't quite hit the mark. Not that all boomer women want to dress like Madonna, clearly, but some style and sophisticated sex appeal would be welcome. Come on, we know there is a retailer out there ready to serve this disposable-income-bearing, savvy market with stylish apparel and stellar service. Hint- just don't say you're a "boomer women's store" - then the markets, and the public might actually give you a shot.

Have You Watched A Ford Ad Lately?

There is something about marketing that companies can learn from Ford. Yes, I typed that right - Ford, the US automaker who has been bleeding money for years now. But I'm not talking about running a business - yet. What I am referring to is their new marketing campaign, "Ford. Drive One," which leverages three key lessons in marketing to women extremely well - and not at the expense of alienating men.

1) The campaign is centered around the consumer, featuring multiple spots addressing 4 specific needs: Quality, Green, Safety, Smart (or technology)

2) Employees deliver the messages - not actors or scion Bill Ford (remember how bad those were?) - who work in the areas featured and can tell of the benefits in their own words, connecting the consumers to the real people behind the products vs. some faceless, out-of-touch corporation.

3) The nods to women's needs are there, but they are subtle and contextual. For example, the Quality spot features Elizabeth Baron, a virtual reality and advanced visualisation technical expert at the company, talking about the Ford Fusion and how her work allows them to experience the vehicle how the consumer sees it. As she speaks a young man wearing goggles reaches for a virtual rear view mirror. "Now try it as a small female," Baron instructs. "Different, huh?" she says. Then the action moves on, but the point is made - we're thinking about ALL drivers. And it wasn't about the vehicle color or room for kids or any of the other typical women/mom areas. Pure functionality. Nice.

Not a surprise that this smarter approach to marketing comes with the hire of former Toyota marketing veteran James Farley as Ford CMO. The spots even directly reference Toyota, stating that Ford now matches them in quality. If their product can live up to the campaign, we may see a turnaround yet. Read more about the campaign here.

Wii Fit Tries To Get Moms To See Weight Loss As A Game

Nintendo, known for its hip marketing image and lightening-fast, testosterone laden games has decided to reach out to women with a new weight loss “game” - Wii Fit -in a manner completely out of touch with the heart of the brand. Targeted to "moms" and "women who want to lose weight," its a sort of balance board that hooks into the existing system (that you either already own or plan to buy) and allows you to do yoga, aerobics (yes, aerobics) and other fitness activities while measuring your progress on a big TV screen – whenever you can wrestle the Wii away from your kids. Go to the website and its like looking at a cheery family ad circa 1977 (the dad in the first screen shot is particularly hilarious) with music that I would never have imagined I would hear on a Nintendo site, or anywhere outside a supermarket. Contrast these wholesome, if outdated, images with the ad campaign featured in this Wall Street Journal article, which is centered around a hottie Lindsay Lohan look-alike. Um, excuse me, who exactly is the target audience here and what is the message? Even the Wii guys would have no idea what to do in this Brady-Bunch-Meets-TMZ-It-Girl world. When the brand struggles with its message, you can bet the consumer will too. The worst part is how unthought out and slapped together it appears. The copy on the website even says "name not final" in parenthesis after the balance board description. Maybe they'd accept "payment not final" from those women willing to give it a go...

Looking for Women Online? You Must Want Porn

At least that is what Google Adsense, or Nosense in this case, concluded. A hilarious posting on Women's Voices For Change highlights what happened when Google's Adsense service kicked in on their site and immediately started directing users to sites where they could conduct discreet affairs with other marrieds, meet a host of international beauties and more...

Come on people! Technology is great but don't imagine that computers will be replacing good old common sense anytime soon...now if we could only develop an algorithm for that...

Are women 25-54 your target audience? Take this test:

Go to a public place - say a grocery store or a mall. Find a 25-year-old woman, maybe in the Food Court. Everyone's gotta eat. Then find a 54-year-old woman. If the Food Court runs dry there's always Nordstrom. Everyone ends up there eventually. Now, take said 25-year-old and 54-year-old, find a restaurant - casual but not overly nice - not the Food Court - and get a table toward the back, where its quieter and you can get to know each other. Resist the urge to stimulate conversation. Let the women take the lead and see how far the discussion gets without the phrases "my mother" or "my daughter" coming up.

Now, go to a race, perhaps a 10K or half-marathon. Review the age group list and find a 25-year-old and a 54-year-old (women, naturally). Head to the refreshments post-race and cop a squat on a patch of grass. Ask how they feel about running and try to get a word in edgewise.

Is this an exaggeration? Of Course. Slightly. The point - thinking about women in broad demographic terms, like 18-49 or 25-54, is just so, well, old media. We know so much more now - about life stages and psychographics and personas - and the Internet has allowed us to target those on such a fine level that it is surprising to see a company, especially one as savvy as Yahoo!, launch a new site targeting 25-54 year-old women, called Shine, as if they were developing a TV show or magazine and didn't have the power of the medium they helped define at their disposal.

Go figure.

The Soccer Mom Myth: Michele Miller & Holly Buchanan Talk About Getting Real In Marketing To Women

One of the advantages to business blogging is the opportunity to check out new business books before they hit the market. Michele Miller and Holly Buchanan, fellow M2W experts, sent me an advance copy of their newly released book, "The Soccer Mom Myth," to review. As long-time readers know, we consider mothers the most stereotyped market in the world today and the concept of Soccer Moms was one of the first and worst violations.

After reading the book, I sent Holly and Michele a few questions to further illuminate their perspective.

aH: There have been several books published on marketing to women over the last several years - why write this now? What did you think had not been, or was not being, covered?

H:There are a couple of really good books on marketing to women out there. But what we focus on is - not only how women are similar, but how they are different. Not all women think alike. We wanted to show marketers how, even women that look exactly the same on paper, may have very different needs, questions, motivations and buying processes.

We also wanted to focus on marketing to women online. The internet is quickly becoming the single best place to market to women. We wanted to to show marketers how to tap into this powerful medium.

M:Our mission for this book was to give readers some "nuts-and-bolts" ideas of exactly what they can do to improve their business. Knowing it's important to market to women and reading about theory is one thing - actually applying that knowledge is another. It was our mission to have every reader walk away with an idea they can try.

aH: In the section on personas, you give an example of a cruise ship company with four different female personas to appeal to and go on to describe how each of them might see a different start page that matches their buying style - can you explain a bit further about how the company would do that?

H: Make sure that on your home page, or landing page (where the personas first land on your site) that you answer or link to the answer to each persona's biggest question. If one persona just wants to buy your product, have a big button that lets them go directly to a "buy now" product page. If another persona's biggest question is "why are you my best choice?" provide a link to a page that talks about your competitive advantages. If another persona cares most about who you are and what your company values are - provide a link to your About Us page, and if the final persona wants to know details about your product and how it works - you might provide a link to a product demonstration. The key is - you don't try to force them into a set pathway -you let them choose whichever link is answering their most important question.

M: If we're talking about brochure copy or a website, a business needs to make sure they're answering ALL of the questions their potential customers might have. Some women might want to know what kinds of special events are happening on ship; other women need to find out exactly what amenities come with each cabin. For some women, it's very important to know they'll have enough "alone" time on ship - are there designated "quiet zones?" Each woman has a different reason for traveling, so the company has to spend quality time thinking about everything they offer.

aH: What market segments do you think have the furthest to go in getting it right with women and why?

H:Some traditionally male dominated industries still have a ways to go, but I've been really pleased to see a lot of positive marketing to women efforts in the consumer electronics industry, home improvement, and auto dealerships, just to name a few. The single biggest problem is that all marketers need to get rid of stereotypes and do the extra work to really understand the changing needs of their audiences.

Even industries that have made great strides can blow it if they aren't consistent across all of their efforts. If the car dealership is targeting women, and does a great job with their ads, but the woman comes in and sees all male management, and the sales person asks if anyone else will be involved in the purchase, like her husband or boyfriend, all of your good work in marketing will go out the window. The entire culture needs to change, not just your advertising.

M:I, too, have been pleased to see strides in the consumer electronics industry; financial planners seem to be getting it, too. The sad thing is that in EVERY industry, there are only one or two shining examples of companies doing it right. We're still only at the beginning of the marketing-to-women era - it will take years before momentum is really gained.

aH:We're clearly in a challenging economic time when budgets are being scrutinized and ROI is more important than ever. If you had to advise brands on just one aspect of marketing to women to invest in, which would it be and why? In other words what's the one thing you think every brand MUST do to sell to women?

H:Well, I'm a little prejudiced, but I truly believe you must have an online presence. Whether that is a website, or a blog, or creating an email campaign, or posting a video on You Tube. There are now more women on the Internet than men. Women are turning to the Internet as a trusted source to get information on all sorts of products. Something like 70% of all purchases (onilne and offline) start online. So if you want to get on her radar screen, you better have an Internet presence.

You also mention ROI - the great thing about the Internet is - you can measure it! You can track and see exactly what customers are doing, where they are clicking, and how many or buying from you, or signing up for your newsletter, or downloading your white paper. There are so many opportunities for testing and optimization to get the most from your Internet marketing. It's really an exciting time for marketers.

M: I couldn't agree more! For women, the Internet is a godsend, and it doesn't have to be difficult to give her an extraordinary experience with you online. You also have an exponentially increased chance at maintaining her loyalty if your website really kicks some butt. :-)

To learn more of Michele and Holly's pearls of wisdom, you need to grab a copy for yourself. We found the persona development section and strategies for blog and website creation particularly user-friendly and actionable.

Wowowow: New Women's Site Better Connected Than Facebook?

Today's New York Times reported the upcoming launch of Women on the Web - or Wowow.com - founded by a group of 5 "media live-wires' including entertainment columnist Liz Smith, 60 Minutes reporter Lesley Stahl and former Simon & Schuster president, Joni Evans. Women's Voices For Change, also a project of Smith's, has been getting some positive attention for a lively presentation of issues relevant to women not of the Gen Y set (and not looking to impersonate them either). One of the reasons this group, who did not grow up sending text messages or creating MySpace profiles, started the initiative was due to the lack of content they found interesting or compelling online. Joan Juliet Buck, a contributing editor to Vogue and consulting editor to the new site, described long-standing women's community iVillage as "like Macy's or something." Apparently these women are looking for more. Regarding why the group came together in the first place the NY Times reported:

Ms. Evans was struck by what she considered a dearth of online content provocative enough to hook sharp, driven women like herself. Weary of shopping and travel sites, she reached out to a klatch of women friends who are as blond as Jayne Mansfield and better connected than the most determined Facebook users.

That phrase - better connected - stuck out. Think about it: while many Facebook and MySpace users have scores of "Friends" who they know virtually nothing about, these women are far more likely to keep their contacts to the tried and trusted, and therefore have far more credibility and influence if and when they choose to talk positively or negatively about a brand.

Time will tell if this community takes off or tanks but rest assured that there is a significant and growing number of smart, savvy women who are tired of being marketing after-thoughts and are willing - even if choosing and registering a domain name takes hours longer than their younger counterparts - to do for themselves.

If you visit the site pre-launch (this Saturday, 3/8) take the time to answer their question of the day: If you could choose any women in the world, living or dead, which four faces would you put on Mount Rushmore?

"Big Green Purse" Gives Women (And Men) Practical Advice To Smarter Eco-Friendly Shopping

One of the most challenging aspects of our country's new green consciousness is that it can be impossible sometimes to determine if what you're buying is really doing more good than harm. For example, did you know that "hypoallergenic," a word many cosmetic companies use to assure women their products are gentle, has, in fact, nothing to do with allergens and no regulations at all as to its meaning? Or that a company can claim its chickens are free-range if they let them out of their cages for just five minutes a day? Or that plastic shopping bags are easier on the environment than paper (though the best solution is, of course, to bring your own)? Diane MacEachern's new book "Big Green Purse" was written on the premise that as the people responsible for 85% of all consumer purchases, women are ideally suited to influence the direction of our planet, simply by voting with our pocketbooks. Here are a few reasons to pick it up:

*Practical, easy-to-understand, guides on which certifications mean something, and which ones are totally bogus
*Advice by spend category (food, gas/cars, cosmetics, household cleansers, etc.) on how to, cost-effectively, shop for green alternatives
*Contact information for companies in a range of consumer categories so you can let them know that responsible business practices matter
*Web addresses for tons of companies Ms. MacEachern has vetted and determined to be eco-friendly, from coffee to wine to household cleansers to home decor and gardening supplies

This is a great guide to have in any household, and something marketers should become familiar with to ensure their brand doesn't inadvertently stray into greenwashing. Best of all, this isn't green for the wealthy, Ms. MacEachern is very conscious of the realities of limited time and money in the majority of U.S. households and offers smart tips for going green on a budget.

Victoria's Secret To Back Off Sexy

In an analyst call reported on by the Wall Street Journal, Victoria's Secret CEO, Sharon Turney, announced that she felt the company had strayed too far from their original message of "ultra-feminine" by over-leveraging the success of their youth-oriented Pink brand to shift all their brands to appeal to a younger (and ever younger - my words, not hers) demographic of girls who aspire to be SEXY, SEXY, SEXY. Victoria's Secret, once a purveyor of elegance and sophistication, became what one friend coined Victoria's Shout Out, and the pulsating music combined with the clusters of fourteen year-olds rummaging through tables of brightly colored padded bras and glittery thongs drove most adult women to shop elsewhere. We've had a few years of this in-your-face sexuality, beginning with Britney's belly button and punctuated by her over-documented uncovered nether-regions. Add to that a series of scandals of young actresses whose nude photos meant for one or more crushes ended up on TMZ, risque Maxim photo spreads, Girls Gone Wild videos, and a push-up bra just doesn't seem all that over the top (bad pun intended) anymore. It's becoming ever more clear that no matter how SEXY a girl might look all dolled up in her skivvies on MySpace, there's another one, and another one and another one, who's body looks just as good and who's willing to display more of it. At a certain point, it actually becomes a little boring (which may be why Victoria's Secret's sales dropped 8% in Q4). Even Playboy is promoting a Miss Playboy Mobile contest where they are asking entrants to only post clothed photos.

This is all indicative of a larger trend that will continue to build as election time nears and likely long afterward - the idea of substance and nuance over proclamations and narcissism. Now that's sexy.