consumer purchasing

COVID-19 Has Changed Everything, Including Consumer Behavior

COVID-19 is changing consumer behavior across all industries. Some of those changes are easy to see, and others were easy to predict. Who could miss the worldwide shortage of toilet paper that we’re still experiencing, even today? We probably could have predicted the increase in online shopping and stockpiling our pantries as well.

We don’t know yet how permanent these changes will be, though we can take a few hints from history. For instance, smart gyms and telehealth services were already on the rise before the pandemic. Continued popularity with consumers once life returns to “normal” isn’t hard to foresee. More

Health and Wellness Marketing Strategies for Wearable Technology

Today’s consumers aren’t just eating healthier; they’re also exercising more and focusing on total wellness rather than just weight loss and fitness. One of the ways these consumers maintain their healthy and active lifestyles is through the use of wearable technology.

Most are familiar with the biggest names in wearable tech, including Fitbit, Apple Watch, Garmin, Polar, Misfit, and Jawbone. But those aren’t the only options out there. In fact, wearable technology offers a wide variety of options and benefits, including sleep tracking, emergency response and location, posture correction, and even fertility. More

4 Industries That Should Be Marketing to Baby Boomers

It’s not an overstatement to say that today’s marketers are almost unanimously focused on Millennials. Sure, Millennials are the largest living generation, but Boomers have greater spending power, controlling nearly 70% of all disposable income and spending $3.2 trillion each year. With that much spending at stake, it makes economic sense to aggressively be marketing to Baby Boomers.

That’s especially true with Boomer women, who will control two-thirds of all consumer wealth over the next decade, with estimates ranging from $12 to $40 trillion. More

Consumer Marketing Tips to Reach Generation Z

Is your consumer marketing capturing the attention of the younger consumers known as Generation Z?

Chances are, your old ways aren’t going to work, because this generation is unlike others that have come before them. More

Marketing to Women: How to Get It Right

Marketing to Women According to The Economist, “The growing economic power of women is one of the most important trends of our time.”

Key growth drivers, such as delaying marriage and children as well as rising literacy rates, indicate the average U.S. woman’s salary will rise above the average U.S. man’s by the year 2028.

Women currently control $7 trillion in U.S. spending. And during the next decade, they will control two-thirds of the country’s overall consumer wealth. More

7 Trends Expected to Impact Food and Beverage Marketing in 2018

The food and beverage industry is no stranger to the power (and longevity) of some trends (avocado toast anyone?). But we’ve also seen trends fizzle and fade quickly.

Today’s consumers want their foods to do more than just fill their bellies. They want to know more about their food, and they want healthy food to be easier to find.

The trends uncovered by a variety of sources, show that these things will have significant impact on food and beverage marketing in 2018. More

The Purchasing Power of Women

An infographic by Marketing Zeus shows the power of the female consumer. Sources include Girlpower Marketing.

Bic Pens For Women Have Some Laughing

Bic Attempts to Market to Women

Here we go again. Bic is taking quite a hit for its “Bic Cristal For Her” pens. Shocking that a company of this magnitude doesn’t understand how to market to women. With women influencing 85% of all consumer purchase decisions, why is it that marketers won’t take the time to truly understand this important audience, and put the time into building authentic relationships with them?

The Public Reacts to Bic’s “Cristal For Her” Pens

Women (and men) have been mocking the pens on Amazon.com and Twitter. Below are just a few examples:

“Oh my goodness – where have these been all my life? My hands are tiny, delicate and perfectly formed. I have to admit that they’re more suited to activities such as petit point and kitten stroking than writing; in short, they are nothing like a man’s fat, hairy mitt. Up until now I’ve spent countless hours sobbing that there was no writing implement designed especially for ME. I haven’t actually tried one of these BIC beauties yet as they’re just so adorable all I want to go is gaze at them and lick the pink one from time to time.”

“We’re all joking about this, naturally (a woman using a pen – ridiculous!), but this could have serious implications. What’s next, ladies attending universities? Pens to encourage literacy in the lower orders? The modern world is a mad place indeed.”

“I allowed my wife to write the grocery list with one of my pens. Shortly thereafter she went out and bought a bunch of flannel shirts, cut the sleeves off and grew a mullet. While she was writing her feminist manifesto, I secretly switched out the man pen with a BiC For Her. She’s now back to baking apple pies, vacuuming in heels, and popping bennies in order to keep her girlish figure… like a proper American gal.”

“I had my man read me the packaging details because it was so beautiful I just HAD to know what was inside. I discovered that it contained something I did not ever believe possible. A pen. For me! Now I just need some pastel coloured books so I can learn to read and I’ll be able to use them to write by myself. At last! Thank you, thank you bic. My womb is throbbing at the very thought of holding such a thing! My husband says before long I’ll be able to write my very own shopping lists and cake recipes.”

“Someone has answered my gentle prayers and FINALLY designed a pen that I can use all month long! I use it when I’m swimming, riding a horse, walking on the beach and doing yoga. It’s comfortable, leak-proof, non-slip and it makes me feel so feminine and pretty! …

And here’s a great blog post from LikeARollingStone featured on Huffington Post:

Bic Boss: Jenkins, get in here!

Jenkins: Yes sir.

Bic Boss: I’m thinking we need to go after the female market.

Jenkins: Excuse me?

Bic Boss: Women consumers, man! Women do most of the buying in this country so we need pens just for women.

Jenkins: What’s wrong with our regular pens?

Bic Boss: Aren’t you listening? Women want womanly things — pink and purple and flowery and… I don’t know… what are you doing?

Jenkins: Just writing this all down — pink, purple, flowery. Ooooh, diamonds. Women like diamonds.

Bic Boss: That’s good. Work diamonds in there somehow. Only not real diamonds. Just make them diamondy.

Jenkins: Diamondy, right. Anything else?

Bic Boss: Let me think. What does my wife like? Hmmm, cleaning. She loves to clean. No, that doesn’t help. Uh, she’s reading some book about gray shades. Make sure one of the pens writes in gray.

Jenkins: Shade of gray, got it. Should the other pens write in pink?

Bic Boss: Good grief no. We don’t want to be condescending.

Reaching women more effectively can require some extra effort by marketers – but in the long run it is so worth it.

Insights for Marketing to Women

Marketing to Women Insights

Marketing to Women: Helpful Insights

By now we all know that women are the primary consumers in the U.S. today, making over 85 percent of the consumer purchase decisions and influencing over 95 percent of total goods and services purchased. Women’s consumer and business spending is fast approaching $8 trillion – more than the economy of Japan. When marketing to women, businesses need to keep the following in mind:

There is no “women’s market” — there’s your women’s market.

Marketers should not segment women strictly by age. Whether a woman is 28, 39, or 52, she’ll respond more to marketing messages that address her life stage, not her biological age. Unlike previous generations, today’s women are experiencing life in a less linear fashion; women are having babies in their 40s, starting new careers in their 50s, and re-entering the dating scene in their 60s. Marketers need to clearly understand the differentiation in marketing to the different life stages of women, and tailor their messages accordingly.

Pink is not a marketing strategy.

Today’s women are not looking for a watered-down version of a male offering that has been feminized with clichéd colors. Instead, they’re looking for solid information, ease of use, stellar customer service, and brands that are looking to build real relationships with them based on their interests, personal identities and problems that they need to solve.

Instead of relying on outdated assumptions and stereotypes, marketers must do the hard work to be relevant to women consumers – taking the time to learn what motivates them to order to present their brands in a meaningful way. A woman’s b.s. meter is always on – she knows when she’s being addressed in an authentic way…and when she’s not.

Recognize that women think different than men.

All human brains start as female brains, until the male brain is flooded with testosterone. But there they part paths. A woman’s brain has four times as many connections between the left and right hemispheres as a man’s. All of those signals hurtle down the superhighway into her right brain – the home of emotional memory, intuition and experience. A woman not only reads – she attaches feelings to what she’s reading. A woman’s heart is in her brain – tell her a story that is filled with emotion, and explain why your brand is relevant to her.

Sounds simple, but many businesses develop and market products without ever asking their female customers what is most important to them and why. Companies such as Best Buy and Volvo have made gaining women’s input a key part of their marketing process, leading to product improvements that both men and women appreciate, along with marketing messages that resonate with both.

Don’t buy into a woman’s “Half Truth.”

A Half Truth is what a woman is willing to admit, while the Whole Truth is what she really believes, does and buys. For example:

“I am happy with my looks.” (Half Truth)

“If given a choice, I’d like to look better than I do.” (Whole Truth)

A woman’s half-truth can cost marketers billions of wasted dollars not just in concept development and market research, but in the marketplace where it really hurts. Marketers need to take the time to really understand the women they’re talking to – what motivates them and what makes them tick.

Marketing to Women: Not a Niche

Women Are Not a Niche Market

When will marketers finally get it? Recently I was speaking to a professional group and was introduced as a specialist in the marketing to women “niche.” I almost choked. Once again, my specialty has been referred to as niche. Really?

Women influence 85 percent of all consumer purchases, and represent over $7 trillion in purchasing power. This is a niche market?

Yes, our team has managed public relations and marketing programs for food and baby products, but we’ve also represented men’s grooming products, motorcycle and automotive manufacturers, fast food, an airline, a real estate firm, gaming, and a major university. Why? Because eventually it all comes back to women. Women who, yes, are often moms – but who frequently have responsibility for making major business decisions as well. Like buying computer servers. And health insurance. And financial services.

According to Tom Peters, one of the world’s top marketing gurus, women are the top marketing opportunity for the foreseeable future.

Women Hold Purchasing Power

For years, women have been recognized as the chief purchasing officers for their households, and they still are the primary decision makers for household goods. But women also drive the big-ticket expenditures for themselves, their families, and their businesses. For example, women drive the purchases of:

91 percent of new homes
66 percent of computers
92 percent of vacations
65 percent of new cars
89 percent of bank accounts
93 percent of food

All this influence at the same time that 91 percent of these women feel that advertisers don’t understand them.

59 percent of women feel misunderstood by food marketers
66 percent feel misunderstood by healthcare marketers
74 percent feel misunderstood by investment marketers
84 percent feel misunderstood by investment marketers

Source: Yankelovich Monitor

The Key to Marketing to Women

It’s a scientific truth that women and men see things differently – because their brains work differently. While men think in abstract principles and have great spatial acuity, women are more accessible emotionally and think more holistically. Translating that into a brand’s marketing messages is critical in reaching this key consumer.

Does your brand truly “get” women and how they relate to your marketing messages?

1 2