Marketers Learn about Women’s Purchasing Power

Today marks the first day of the 2010 Marketing2Women conference in Chicago.  I’m on hand to hear marketing execs from GM, Kodak, Mary Kay, MasterCard, P&G, Aetna and others talk about the purchasing power of women and the importance of building relationships with women in a way that they understand and appreciate.

Smart brands and marketers understand this is not an option, as women control or influence 85% of consumer purchasing in almost every single product category — from automobiles to electronics to pharmaceuticals and everything in between. Yet, despite their dominant role in our consumer economy, women repeatedly say that marketers don’t understand them.

Read my thoughts on a female consumer behavior panel I attended at the conference and how it illustrates just how mighty the purchasing power of women is.