Thursday Edition

dispatches from the new world of work

A Gem of an Assertion

I had a fantastic time in Orlando addressing the American Gem Society. (I have an open love affair with small businesses and business owners—I like their nerve, among other things.) To my surprise—and delight—the "marketing to women" issue loomed large.

The conventional industry wisdom is that a large fraction of jewelry is bought by men for women; moreover women would prefer their jewelry to be bought for them by men. (My characterization is slightly—ever so slightly—exaggerated.) However, as I probed, expressing some disbelief (I've heard the same sort of story elsewhere—e.g., financial advice, a woman feels better with a male advisor), some intriguing alternate hypotheses emerged—championed by the relatively small share of female jewelry store owners in attendance.

This was my favorite, from a powerful female business owner (I paraphrase, of course): "Yes, Tom, it's doubtless true that a lot of jewelry is bought by men for women. But there's a clear reason: That jewelry is bought for the stores by men. That is, men [male store owners] instinctively buy for their stores the sort of jewelry that other men would buy for women—hence the end result is as reported, male consumers buying jewelry for women. In my store it's a case of a woman—me—buying jewelry that I think other women would buy for themselves! In fact, the large majority of my customers are women making significant purchases for themselves."

Nice! (Made my day.) (And so it goes in a jillion markets, not just jewelry—what I call "the untested 'oh she prefers it that way' hypothesis.")

Tom Peters posted this on 05/01/06.

Comments

Shop 'til you drop DNA - ... alas SOS Yin spending us into major debtor nation status ... bling bling.

Posted by Sean at May 1, 2006 1:08 PM

I would only buy Annie jewelry if she had told me exactly what she wants - why the hell do we second guess something that is so important to a woman?

I don't know why we don't get this. Similarly I suspect Annie is unlikely to buy me a new pitching wedge or driver without asking me :-)

There really is nothing complicated about all this and why we do not understand 'custom answers for customers' - regardelsss of gender - is way beyound my simple brain. I sincerely hope I would never be so arrogant to assume I know what Annie wants without asking her.

Behind Tom's posting I assume is a theory of assumptions FOR females BY males and hisotory shows that is true. I hope we are living in a more enlightened time now. Relating this to management and leadership I weouod love to hear excpereinces of males/female bosses - I have had both and there have been good bad and indifferent among all regardless of gender. The bosses I have respected most left me with memories of what they did rather than their gender.

Posted by Trevor at May 2, 2006 6:18 AM

Trevor,

As a guy 'in touch with my feminine side' I have always tended to recruit women onto my teams. Male 'wisdom' says women are hard to manage because they are emotional and 'if you need to discipline them they will cry' etc.

Well, aside from the fact that the whole male response to women bosses seems to be akin to Dr Johnson's on the sight of a dog, preaching - in my experience it is men who are more difficult to manage - they invariably feel that it is they who should be in your shoes, and therefore they are more inclined (if they have ambition) to be devious and sensitive to any perceived slight or loss of position.

Women on the other hand are much more open about their ambition, and almost NEVER are after your job. They'll work with you to find a 'win-win' career trajectory.

Women bosses though - well... in my experience, once men are the boss they seem to worry more about THEIR boss than about you. While women seem to divide into those that are comfortable in their shoes and therefore are great to work for, or those who, based on their whole experience of working in a male-led world, develop a paranoia-cum-controlfreakery that is hell to be on the wrong end of.

Either way, it's men's fault though!

Posted by Stephen Spencer at May 3, 2006 4:30 AM

Here's a very interesting tidbit.

A friend told me that Wal-Mart was responsible for something like 25% of all jewelry sales in the US. I'm not sure if that's true...but it was enough to spark an observational field trip.

We went to the jewelry department, and I saw the most incredible re-frame I've ever seen.

In the jewelry case was a small plaque that said (I'm going from memory...but this is close):

"The left hand is for expressions of love...and the RIGHT hand is for SELF-EXPRESSION. So women of the world EXPRESS YOURSELF!"

Then, Cleverly, a sign that said "Right Hand Ring Collection."

Very interesting that you say most jewelry is bought FOR women, and very interesting that Wal-Mart is trying to re-frame that belief by first acknowledging it...addressing the internal dialogue in a woman's head as she browses the rings - wishing her man might buy her something like that.

Almost saying "That's true...your man should buy you jewelry...but only for your LEFT hand. Your right hand is all YOU. So go ahead...express yourself."

Brilliant.

Posted by Dean Jackson at May 3, 2006 8:10 AM

Dean, don't give WalMart all the credit! They are participating in the Right Hand Ring Campaign that JWT launched for the Diamond Trading Co. (ADiamondIsForever.com) in Fall 2003.

Posted by Robin Zaleski at May 3, 2006 9:41 AM

I recently left a position running marketing for one of the top global brands in the jewelry industry.

One of the most fascinating pieces of research that I saw repeatedly was that over 90% of all jewelry purchases are influenced by a woman - either the recipient or a friend / relative of theirs. 65-75% of the purchases are made by the man, but very few are made without consulting a woman at some point in the purchase process.

Ask around - do you know any guys that feel confident making a jewelry purchase without speaking to a woman about it first???

Posted by SportsScoop at May 3, 2006 10:04 AM

Robin, Thanks for the rest of the story. I'd love to find out more about the campaign...do you have any links or more info?

Posted by Dean Jackson at May 3, 2006 10:37 AM