Mary just spoke in
DUBAI, UAE at the 
Marketing to Women
Conference
and at the
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Q: Does
marketing to women mean excluding men?
A: No. Of all the harmful marketing-to-women myths out
there, this is the one we need to sacrifice first. Improving your
marketing to women doesn't require painting your product pink or
excluding men or being "for women only." Often the only thing
required is to be a bit more human. To look a little closer at the
details. To simply respect a woman's intelligence rather than
ignore her existence.
In fact, the steps you take to make your brand and product more
desirable to women will probably make it more desirable to
everyone. Women are the world's toughest customers. Please them
and you'll please all.
That said, there is an art to it. Inspiration, intuition, and talent are
required. It helps to think like a woman, laugh like a woman, love
like a woman. And yes, it can help quite a bit to be a woman.
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Q: Why
KickSkirt?
A: Because for all the talk about the importance of marketing
to women, too few companies seem to be doing it right. 80% of
women feel like they're portrayed in a totally inaccurate way in
advertising and 35% are actually offended by the marketing
that is supposed to be enticing them. We are one of the few
agencies with the talent and the desire to change those odds in
your favor.
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Q: What kinds of
companies do you work with?
A: We work with national and global brands or with companies
that have the desire and potential to become one.
We work with brands that are worthy of the women they target. We
only work with companies and products that can truly improve the
lives of women and their families.
We work as partners, not vendors. We believe in results and have
each client's best interest in mind at all times.
We work in environments of mutual respect.
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Q: What services
do you provide?
A: We do everything most agencies do. We just try to do it in
a smarter, more media-neutral way with a lot less marketing speak.
In addition, Mary is available as a creative consultant for companies
who simply need help getting their ad agency to produce work that
truly engages women.
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Q: What is your
process?
A: Our process is this: figure out what works best and do it.
"It" will most likely mean something different for each piece of
business and we find that coming up with unique solutions doesn't
happen if you're too rigid in your approach.
We believe in getting our hands on everything. We believe in cross-pollination.
We believe planners sometimes come up with the best
headlines, that writers sometimes create the best strategy, and that
important stuff like media planning and interactive development
should never be done off in some silo. And so, we all work
together.
Which is to say that we're thoroughly systematic but we don't follow
rigid systems.
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Q:
What has formed your process?
A: Everyone at KickSkirt has spent at least 20 years working for
some of the smartest and best agencies in the world. We've taken
bits of brilliance from each of them and added some smart thinking
of our own. We've learned what works and why and we know that,
at the end of the day, it's our combination of passion and brains
and sheer stubbornness that will produce truly exceptional results
for your business.
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Q: I
have lots of information and insights about women. Isn't that
enough to make my marketing to women effective?
A: No. If information were all it took, there would be more
success stories like Curves. What's required is to place just as
much passion and energy into crafting messages, ads, and
communications as you do uncovering the insights that inform that
creative. Research alone will not create a great brand campaign.
Knowing what a woman wants doesn't mean much if you can't
communicate that fact to her. And women do have a language all
their own.
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Q: Are you
anti-male?
A: No. We're pro common sense.
Here's our logic. The vast majority of women don't feel they're
portrayed accurately in advertising (they're not), and many are
actually offended by the very advertising that's supposed to entice
them. Have the wheels come off the marketing industry as it
pertains to women? No. They were never on. And we know why.
In U.S. advertising agencies, 97% of the creative directors are
men. Think about that for a second. That means men decide what
gets presented and produced. And here's the ugly truth - if those
male creative directors decide an idea won't impress the awards
show judges at Cannes (who are overwhelmingly male), that idea
will never get out the door to you, the client. You won't even have
the honor of seeing it.
So, remember that great insight you finally unearthed? The nugget
that practically guaranteed a favorable female response, provided it
was served up properly? Sadly, it probably won't get served up at
all. This is not an indictment of men, but of the way ad agencies
have always been run.
It is a scientific fact that men and women get excited by different
things, laugh at different jokes, and travel different paths during
the decision making process. In short, we speak a different
language. It's also a fact that women do brilliant advertising.
KickSkirt's team certainly has their share of metal. So why not let
women talk to each other in the language they share? Research is
where you start, but translating it properly is how you finish.
Fortunately, we do both.
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Q: Why
women? Isn't that a rigid niche?
A: Women are not a niche - they control 80-90% of every
consumer purchase decision being made right now.
Women control seven trillion dollars in spending - roughly equal to
the entire Japanese economy.
Women are TWO for the price of ONE: Impress a woman, and the
husband comes with her. Turn a woman off and the husband goes
with her.
The Economist sites women as the single most powerful force in the
global economy.
What makes a brand more appealing to women usually makes it
more appealing to everyone.
According to Tom Peters in his book, TRENDS, ( which gives a very very compelling story about why marketing to women is smart) says women make the BIG
purchases:
personal computers - 66%
consumer electronics - 60%
vacation decisions - 89%
home furnishings - 94%
new home sales - 75%
kitchen appliances - 88%
healthcare purchases - 80%
new cars - 60%
Women often smell better than men.
Women go deep, fast. They frequently learn intimate details about
complete strangers in the course of a checkout line. This valuable
skill, which we are born with, has vast marketing to women applications.
Women's feet are much prettier.
Women are loyal and vocal. Other women trust them. They have
book clubs. Everybody knows that's where the important stuff is
discussed.
You don't have to sissify your brand or paint it pink to attract
women.
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