women’s purchasing power

The Recession Will Be Over When Moms Say It’s Over

Marketing to Moms During the Recession

Though Warren Buffet recently ruled out a double-dip recession in the U.S., ultimately it’s our country’s moms who will decide when the economy starts showing real signs of recovery.

75 million U.S. moms make or influence 85 percent of all household purchase decisions, representing $2.1 trillion in annual spending power. Brands are counting on American mothers to help them survive the current economic slump, but getting moms to unleash their “purse power” continues to be a struggle.

With up to 45 percent of moms insisting they have “eliminated anything they don’t feel is absolutely necessary from their lives,” and another 29 percent having found ways to cut back on spending in response to the current economic climate, moms are putting brands, products and services under tighter scrutiny than ever before, and making sure every dollar is spent wisely.

According to a BSM Media Study, moms focus on the needs of their families first, and then look for the smaller luxuries they can afford for themselves. Instead of a new pair of boots, in this economy it might be a new magazine or lipgloss. And while nesting was a social issue in the days following 9/11, today it’s an economic one, with 81 percent of moms cutting back on eating out, and 72 percent reducing their out-of-house entertainment altogether, according to a recent USA Today/Gallup Poll.

What does this mean for marketers? It means that moms are interacting with their favorite brands in new ways – like Starbucks on a weekly instead of a daily basis, or Costco pizza instead of Friday night delivery. Experts believe this state-of-mind will continue even after the recession is over for many American families.

Moms have always been more brand loyal than men, but they require more frequent interaction and communications designed specifically for them. Marketers need to make the extra effort to build relationships with their female consumers, whether it’s through social media, influencer recommendations or customer appreciation. They need to start marketing with moms, not at them.

Are moms still loyal to your brand through these economic times?

Does “Mancession” Mean Women Will Lead the Recovery?

Mancession

Is Consumer Spending by Women Driving the Economic Recovery?

The 2007-2008 recession has hit men so much harder than women that it has even coined a new phrase: the Mancession, according to a recent Newsweek article.

Men are the victims of two thirds of the 11 million jobs lost since the recession began, primarily because they work in industries like construction and manufacturing that were most severely impacted by the recession. According to economists, they also will face a much more difficult road to recovery than their female counterparts.

American women already are the breadwinners or co-breadwinners in two thirds of their households, and it is predicted that by 2024, the average woman in America will make more money than the average man.

The Nuts and Bolts of Women Consumer Spending

American women are responsible for 85 percent of all consumer purchases; they hold 93 percent of U.S. bank accounts, 51 percent of all personal wealth, and are worth more than $7 trillion in consumer spending power—more than the entire economy of Japan. On a global level, women are the biggest emerging market in the history of the planet—more than twice the size of India and China combined. It’s a seismic change, and by all indications it will continue: of the 15 job categories expected to grow the most in the next decade, all but two are filled primarily by women.

Such a drastic shift hopefully will result in corporations sitting up and taking notice—and ensuring their products and services appeal to female consumers. Brands need to pay close attention to how they’re marketing to women, because ultimately it may be the female consumer that pulls us all out of this “mancession.”

Why Would Brands Ignore These Women?

Boomer Women Examples

Why Do Brands Ignore Baby Boomer Women?

The other night I got together with several of my friends for an evening of girltalk. One friend is a mom and business owner who recently bought a new car. Another is an empty-nester who just purchased a refrigerator and dryer. A third is a recently-divorced healthcare industry executive who just bought health insurance for herself and her daughter. And finally there’s me: the CEO of a marketing company who last month purchased new office equipment and a widescreen TV. All of these purchases were made by Boomer women, without input from a spouse or significant other.

Because I’m a Boomer woman and specialize in the marketing-to-women space, I’m particularly conscious of how I’m treated by brands. And while I am of a certain age, I’m certainly not ready to be stored in the attic. And neither are my friends. Yet, as Boomer women we’re continually marginalized by brand managers (primarily male) who don’t think any women of value exist over the age of 39.

What they must realize is that those inconsequential 45+ women are the ones that have the most money to spend on everything from vacations, to new homes, and from cars to cosmetics. Some interesting statistics on the purchasing power of Boomer women:

Boomer women buy 65 percent of new cars, and 53 percent of used cars
Boomer women spend more than $55 billion per year on consumer electronics
Boomer women control a net worth of $19 trillion and own more than 3/4 of this country’s financial wealth
Disposable incomes are highest for women aged 45-54
Boomer women are at the peak of their careers, and statistically are the least impacted by the recession

In addition, this group of women will experience the largest population growth over the next 10 years, and the largest transference of wealth from inheritances left by parents and husbands. Yet rarely if ever does one see a marketer’s target audience that extends beyond the age of 49 unless it’s for the senior market. Why?

Marketers Cannot Continue to Ignore Boomer Women

Marketers and the media need to finally realize that the women most ignored are the ones who can do the most good in an economy that continues to struggle. The time of patronizing ads and ignorance is long gone.

Does your brand ignore the largest and fastest-growing spending segment of women? Or are you one of those women that are being ignored?

The Lies Women Tell

A few posts back I touched briefly on how the book What She’s Not Telling You highlights an interesting behavior by the female consumer –– the habit of telling the “half truth” vs. the “whole truth.” Understanding this concept is so important to marketers that I decided to revisit.

Buying into 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 matters. 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).

An example of how a half truth can negatively affected a brand is Dove’s “Campaign for Real Beauty.” This campaign broke the rules of the beauty business by putting less-than-perfect women in their plain white undies all over billboards, the media and the Internet. Talk shows went crazy and Dove was hailed as the brand that “gets it”. The PR value of the Real Beauty campaign was unparalleled. But soon after, Dove’s sales slowed and eventually flatlined. Why? Because Dove fell for the half truth that women want to feel good about their natural looks. But the whole truth is that women really want to look better than they do, which is why they spend $7 billion annually trying.

On the flip side, Procter & Gamble’s Oil of Olay identified this whole truth: “Just because I’ve earned these facial lines doesn’t mean I want to wear them,” and marketed their Pro-Age Regenerist product based on the whole truth that women want beauty products that really work. They marketed Regenerist as an alternative to invasive cosmetic surgery, and the launch became the biggest skin care launch in the mass market.

Are you identifying the whole truth when marketing to women consumers? What half truths have you told a brand?

Women’s Word of Mouth – A Marketer’s Dream

Word of Mouth Marketing

It’s well-known that women control more than 85 percent of consumer household spending. They dominate the marketplace when it comes to referring products and services to their social networks via word of mouth. Ask any woman how she found her hairdresser, doctor, or favorite wine, and she is likely to tell you that it was from a friend. Women are natural word of mouth spreaders –– they’re wired that way. With four times as many connectors between the left and right hemispheres of the brain as men, women tap deeply into that area that is responsible for bonding and connecting with others.

However, there are subtle differences in how marketers should present information when marketing to women influencers if they want them to pass recommendations along to their friends. Marketers need to enable a woman’s ability to spread the word about their brands. They shouldn’t tell women what to offer or what to say – they need to let women create their own offers or pitch themselves. Women are very protective of their relationships, and if a brand impresses them enough to make them want to tell their friends, women will find a much better way to spread the word than a marketer ever could.

So ask them about their lives. Ask for their opinions. Touch them personally. It doesn’t have to be fancy – just something to get their attention and touch their hearts.

Image from here

Marketing the Scent of a Boy: The New Tween/Teen Demographic

Marketing to Tweens

Marketing to Tweens Means Partnering with Moms

Deodorant: check. Bodywash: check. Face wash, hair sculpting lotion, body spray: check, check and check. Its all there, safely tucked into a bathroom drawer. But it’s not MY bathroom drawer –– these products are the property of my 12-year old son.

A recent New York Times article addressed the allure that grooming products hold for young boys, promising to heighten their sex appeal and overall confidence. And over the past few months I’ve watched how my son and his friends have begun to take much greater care of their appearance.

Most marketers have begun to identify the “tween” years – ages 8-12 – as a demographic to target not as children, but as teenagers. However, according to experts, a concerning side effect of this targeted marketing is that children this age simply don’t have the emotional sophistication to understand the messages they are constantly being exposed to by the media –– and that is leading to a higher risk of emotional and social complications previously not seen until the teen years.

As a mom, I recognize that it is my responsibility as a parent to guide my child safely through these marketing messages. So, while I am grateful to some degree that marketers are helping to shape my son’s heightened interest in hygiene, I will be looking very closely at the tools they’re using and the authenticity of the messages they’re sending in order to engage him.

Because when all is said and done, brands need to partner with moms rather than circumvent them when it comes to their families. And the good news for marketers is that moms are willing to reward them with their loyalty when they get closer to this ideal.

The Financial Power of Women Continues to Grow

The Growth of Women’s Financial Power

Men. Who needs ‘em? A recent Newsweek article noted that women are the ones driving the shopping –– and, economists hope, the recovery. That growth represents “the biggest emerging market in the history of the planet,” according to the article –– more than twice the size of the two hottest developing markets: India and China.

Really? Really? Hasn’t this song been sung by the enlightened for many years now? Is this still news? It’s true that women no longer are the “minority” market so many companies have considered them for decades. They are, in fact, the majority market. Yet many marketers still refuse to recognize the importance of women’s purchasing power. Are they afraid that, by targeting and building relationships with women, they somehow will lose men in the process? If that’s the case, they couldn’t be more wrong. Because the reality is, when you meet the needs of the woman, you more often than not exceed the needs of the man.

Women clearly are the major consumers in far more than traditional female categories. They purchase, or influence the purchase of, 91% of new homes, 66% of PCs, 92% of vacations, 65% of new cars, 93% of food and 89% of bank accounts.

All too often, the opportunity to engage female customers is missed because marketing strategies are drawn up along masculine lines that fail to recognize the differences between male and female purchasing motivations.

It doesn’t matter whether it is cars, cosmetics, or even products for men –– female consumption power is the leading consumption power in the world. Any company that overlooks women as the primary purchase decision makers is making a huge mistake.

So my question is –– are marketers still not getting it? Or is the tide finally turning?

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