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Can Only Women Excel In Marketing to Women?

There's a false assumption that floats freely around that marketing to women "space"—that marketing to women must be handled by women. That may well keep a lot of more traditionally male-oriented industries or brands (or men in those companies) from taking the leap, and learning more about the ways women buy. Why should they bother if marketing to women is a woman's thing? But, like I said, that is a false assumption. And recent media discussions of leadership and gender made me see some marketing team implications as well.

As Getting to 50/50 co-author Sharon Meers put it in a "Room for Debate" post on the New York Times blog:

So here's the real question: How to make the positive qualities we see in female managers more common in men—and more useful to all? A new report from Catalyst shows how companies win when we escape the idea that men and women are so different and work harder to get on the same page—so that men and women bring out the best in each other sharing the same C-suite.

The same goes for building teams or finding leaders with regard to marketing to women. What you are looking for are those qualities women tend to have that make them "transformational leaders." According to Gary N. Powell who also contributed his thoughts to that NYT blog post:

Transformational leadership includes charisma (communicating the purpose and importance of a mission and serving as a role model), inspirational motivation (exuding optimism and excitement about the mission's attainability), intellectual stimulation (encouraging others to think out of the box), and individualized consideration (focusing on the development and mentoring of subordinates as individuals).

Are any of those things gender-specific? No. Men, indeed, have the potential to have charisma, exude optimism, be able to encourage others and be interested in mentorship programs. It just may mean training the right side of their brains into action a bit more (as per Daniel Pink in A Whole New Mind). Of course—there is the "vice versa" too—that women who lack some of the more typically male qualities of leadership can get the training or learn from colleagues, as well.

In marketing, smart people with years of experience in the field (and there are many) can see what works and why. If we leave gender out of the label for what the positive qualities are, we may more likely get men and women on the same page, and on the way to the same productivity levels with regard to their understanding of the women's market.

So, no. It is not only women who can excel in marketing to women. Instead, those women may be where you go first to guide/educate others in the qualities that lead toward a better understanding of how women buy. Just like marketers should be guided and inspired by the women they serve (as in transparent marketing), so too should people in marketing be guided and inspired by the women who more naturally understand today's marketplace. That's how women and men working together will bring out the very best in their team's marketing abilities.

Andrea Learned posted this on 08/05/09.

Comments

Andrea,

Thank you. Anything is possible when people communicate effectively and possess some skill of empathy (and marketing). However, with regard to women specific items, I believe those should remain entirely in the women's arena. I'd sure hate to see TP trying to market a bra or Victoria Secret during one of his biz trips. We're already well aware of his OCD tendencies with cleanliness :).

In the same breath, I'm not going to ask a female coworker which doctor is most preferred for a vasectomy. Some of the marketing tools should remain gender-to-gender specific, while others more general to the public should be pursued by both genders, perhaps collaboratively. I enjoy shopping with my wife because it helps me to understand how she makes decisions when purchasing. I find that many of the same items appeal to both of us, especially at Williams-Sonoma!

Posted by The Joker at August 5, 2009 5:06 PM

Andrea - you seem to be struggling with this & it really is so easy. TrueLove WorldWide shows this instructional video to all of our lovely lady new hires as a very special welcome:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DI6WA-2CgyE

Posted by TrueLove at August 5, 2009 6:55 PM

Don't jump on me for falling for stereotypes, but
aren't there a lot of men who make it big designing women's fashions?

Posted by zorro at August 5, 2009 7:12 PM

I'm not sure I accept the fact as a man I have nothing to bring to the debate either interms of my personal qualities or those stereo typical ones that I am being painted with in the sub text of this post.

Usually know for my brevity, this is another post along the lines of a pencil is technology to provoke a response? Seems sad in such a high quality blog?

Happy to respond, but I am not sure its getting to the audience you want to influence?

Posted by patrick at August 6, 2009 3:22 AM

TrueLove loving motivational clip for lady lovely new hires:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jQVynua5tHo

Posted by TrueLove at August 6, 2009 7:08 AM

LOL, TrueLove. But you could have at least gone with the original. I mean, really? Can you say fabulous?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HId2jQBEbYY&feature=related

Cyrus does a nice job, but the background singers really suck.

Lauper's fabulous all around! She has style and heart. Good band and background singers, too!

Speaking of fabulous, TrueLove, your comment as Zorro above was not lost. True! There are many fabulous males who design clothes for women and do so very well, making a pretty good living. In fact, most great clothing designers are male.

A friend, Jay Manuel, of America's Top Model (he began as an opera singer, believe it or not, and he has a lovely voice and immaculate artistic sensibilities, having studied art, architecture and music), can attest to this. But we really don't need Jay do we? We see/have seen the likes of Armani, Yves St. Laurent, Gautier, Versace, Kenneth Cole, Mizrahi, Hilfiger, etc., etc., etc.,

Many fashion designers obviously have sensibilities that are most likened to women. My beautiful 21 year old nephew has such sensibilities and is in California designing beautiful clothes for women. His sensibilities for designing women's clothes are impeccable. But everything he does, including singing, photography, dancing, writing, and painting tends to be. He has always had a discerning eye and such sensibilities since he was a young boy.

The point with the list of designers is that the sex of the designer means nothing in this case, but the style and care for which he designs everything. Of course, many of these men, whether gay or straight, have women besides them throughout the whole process giving advice. I've been in fashion shows and among fashion designers and they are typically surrounded by women.

Posted by Judith Ellis at August 6, 2009 8:33 AM

On other thing on Cyndi Lauper: When she came out with this song in 1983 she seems to be marketing to women, essentially saying that girls want to have fun as boys do when "the working day is done." While marketing to women the message of freedom, she is also making points to boys: "Some boys take a beautiful girl and hide her away from the rest of the world. I want to be the one to walk in the sun. Oh girls they want to have fun. Oh girls just want to have fun."

Lauper even addresses dads. Such a call may not have been made to a son: "The phone rings in the middle of the night my father yells what you gonna do with your life. Oh daddy dear you know you're still number one. But girls they want to have fun. Oh girls just want to have." The song written in 1979 by Robert Hazard with a male bent was changed with Lauper to a kind of feminist anthem. The playfulness of the song may make some able to accept it. Marketing is a mix of message and appeal.

Girls Just Want to Have Fun is a great song! song!

By the way, the 16 year old Cyrus misses the message of the song. Good singer, but not great! The amazing thing about Michael Jackson was that even at 10 such messages were never lost. Check this out. It's amazing for its pathos, passion and vocal perfection: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xk1asX_sHRk&feature=related

Posted by Judith Ellis at August 6, 2009 9:41 AM

"Men, indeed, have the potential to have charisma, exude optimism, be able to encourage others and be interested in mentorship programs." So kind. More please.

Posted by RobCH at August 6, 2009 10:41 AM

over night delivery viagra My brothers ARE very charismatic, incredibly optimistic, quite empathetic, great counselors, and superb mentors. The POTENTIAL is that they can be forever better still. My mother was their greatest influence.

Posted by Judith Ellis at August 6, 2009 11:52 AM

Why do women hate to buy cars? My last experience with a male auto salesperson was SO bad ("You obviously don't understand any of this guy stuff, so let ME tell you what to buy and how to pay for it") that I fled the dealership. I ended up buying the car from a female salesperson at another dealership, not because she was female, but because she treated me as an intelligent and well-informed consumer.

When you consider that, in most auto purchases, women are either the sole buyer or have veto power over the decision, it seems unutterably stupid to me to treat them like idiots. (Then again, I don't understand this guy stuff.)

Posted by Paula at August 6, 2009 5:15 PM

Zorro, UKLove, TrueLove - Is that you? :-) The story falls flat.

Posted by Judith Ellis at August 6, 2009 5:29 PM

What about a study that ignores everything except results. Which managers get the best results? Maybe some were cited and I missed them, but all I see are characteristics that make good managers. Who cares? Who actually gets the best results is what we should be looking at.

Posted by zorro at August 8, 2009 11:31 AM

Andrea, I do not think that effectively marketing to women can only be achieved by women. But it can't be done by men who refuse to observe, learn, and listen to opinions that may often differ tremendously than those associated with the stereotypes they've been indoctrinated in their entire lives. Folks can argue all day about the studies that show men and women mentally process things in different ways, but all the evidence I've seen indicates they do, and there's nothing inherently wrong with that. In fact, it's probably one of the greatest blessings bestowed upon humankind. In the long run, whether you're male or female, marketing to women as a group involves studying and understanding those differences.

Maybe things have changed (at least somewhat) and the social/psychological boundaries between male and female marketing professionals are become much fuzzier -- and the boundaries between male and female consumers likewise. I'm not saying this IS the case, I am only wondering COULD it be so? If it is so, then it begs the question of whether markets and industries are correcting themselves somewhat, forcing the boundaries and distinctions to disappear like the Berlin Wall?

viagra united kingdom Posted by Dan Gunter at August 10, 2009 7:53 PM