Marti shares a marketing to women case study of Best Buy’s experiment with women-friendly store formats– and how the results were stunning. This video excerpt is from her marketing to women keynote speech to Kodak.
Watch the video: Best Buy’s Switch to a Woman-Focused Store Format
OK, financial services providers, here’s a tough fact: 70% of widows walk. That means she doesn’t feel any loyalty for the financial advisor her husband chose. And this is a big problem for you. The average age of widowhood for women is 60 years old– and she’s going to live 20 years beyond that. Keep those wealthy widow clients!
Watch the video: Don’t Let the Wealthy Widows Get Away!
Attention, CEOs, CMOs, COOs and everyone in the C-suite!
BREAKING: Here are three executive summary news flashes you need to know before developing your next strategic initiative.
Women are not a “niche,” so get your marketing to women initiatives out of the specialty markets group.
Sometimes, ya gotta laugh. Time and time again, I’m invited to speak at a major corporation by the executive heading up a business group called something like Specialty Markets, Minority Markets or Emerging Markets. This group has responsibility for marketing to various niches– and women. All I can say is, “Wait a minute! You’re supposed to motivate 51% of the population and you have, what, 4% of the corporate marketing budget?”
The competition is catching on to marketing to women.
I can’t explain why it has taken so long for American business to recognize and act on the tidal wave that is the women’s market. But it’s a secret no longer. Companies from Nike to Nabisco and from Wachovia to Wyndham, companies like General Motors, Volvo, Harley Davidson and Jiffy Lube as well as Charles Schwab, Citigroup, Kimpton Hotels, MinuteClinic, Lowe’s and The Home Depot are all seeking their industry’s lead in the women’s market.
Paradoxically, there’s still room to leap ahead. That’s because many pioneers entered this new territory cautiously and tentatively. For whatever reason, their hearts aren’t truly in the marketing to women game, and that means good news for you. Their reticence means that you can benefit from what they’ve learned– and leapfrog to the front.
If you dip your toe in the water, what makes you think you’ll get splashy results?
Unlocking a gigantic new consumer segment warrants at least– at least!– as much commitment as launching a new product line. There are companies that spend millions to market a line extension without blinking an eye; others invest billions to open undeveloped global markets without a backward glance. Why? Because it’s an “obvious” opportunity. How is it that the same companies can decide that the women’s market warrants merely a test launch in a single market to “see how it does?”
My question isn’t rhetorical, or even emotional. Factually, only 5% of directors are women, including feature films, television, documentaries, music videos and commercials. A group of directors and other industry professionals are highlighting this issue with their group 5% WTF! Watch their clever animation to understand the problems this inequality worsens:
Juliana Lukasik, Principal/Director of Large Films, has a solution to achieve a higher representation of women in director roles:
“As a Commercial Director I am appalled at how few women directors there are in advertising as well as all other aspects of filmmaking. But hey, I direct commercials so it is especially disturbing that while 85% of the time it is a women making the final decision on purchasing a product, about 95% of the time that advertisement is brought to her by a man in the lead creative role.
“The goal: EVERY time a woman directs, she should have an aspiring female director on set with her. It makes a huge difference.”
I met Juliana at M2W 2016 this year and was very impressed by her efforts. As women professionals, let’s take this mentorship challenge! Women make 85% of purchasing decisions and have real economic power, but when we only see the world through men’s eyes, we’re missing half the picture.
Many Boomer women find themselves single in midlife, either by choice or by chance. As of the 2010 U.S. Census, 39% of women aged 50-74 were single.
Before you go feeling sorry for these single Boomer women, you should know that most of them are not leading the stereotypical sad, lonely life you might imagine. These women are PrimeTime Women and are smashing the myths of “old maids” and “little old ladies.” They are enjoying their autonomy while growing their social networks through clubs, communities and interest groups. They finally have time to cultivate the interests they may not have during their youth – and are discovering new activities.
Single Boomer women in the United States are becoming an economic force in their own right. Savvy marketers need to keep in mind that they are the sole decision-makers in a substantial percentage of 50+ households.
Three industries in particular need to step up their game- housing, real estate and financial services. Already, single women own almost twice as many homes as single men. I’m sure you can think of ways to enhance your offerings and marketing to single Boomer women (if you haven’t already?).
Baby Boomers have accumulated more wealth and have more spending power than any other cohort in history (and we know that women make up the majority of that spending!). At almost one-quarter of the US population, the 50+ crowd accounts for more than 40% of spending each year, and they control 50% of discretionary spending.
Let’s add that up for the full impact. 50+ Boomers are buying $2 trillion worth of goods and services each year.
So how does that break out across spending categories? Compared to consumers 25-35, Boomers aged 55-64 are spending:
Do you see your company’s niche somewhere on that list? What’s your approach to marketing to Boomers? Companies would do well to develop marketing plans and strategies for Boomers, specifically Boomer women.