Understanding Women

There’s an old joke about understanding women that goes something like this: There are two times when a man doesn’t understand a woman. The first is before marriage. And, the second is after marriage.

In many cases you could probably tell this joke about brand marketers as well. For example, when Dell launched their “Della” brand last year, with a campaign and special Web site, many women ridiculed them for being out of touch and condescending. The Dutch beer company Heineken failed with they launched their “Fembot” campaign which AdAge called “possibly the most sexist ad campaign ever”. And, finally, the Docker’s “Wear The Pants” campaign featured content that seemed to depict some apocalyptic world where a “genderless society” was responsible for bad kids and the destruction of cities.

A New Study Focusing on Women’s Relationship To Brands

In a new study conducted by Yahoo! and market research company, Added Value, there are some interesting new conclusions regarding how women relate to brands online. The results found that women react more positively to online content published by a third-party rather than connections through social networks.

The key, according to the study, was the “anonymity” that content Web sites offered. The women studied said that content sites offered the ability to feel like they were connecting to “like-minded women” and solutions to problems without any risk of judgment from the people they know in real life.

But, what was truly surprising about the research results, was that social media, or connections through social networks, were deemed to be “less relevant” when it was put into the context of brand and purchase decisions. In fact, content-oriented Web sites were found to have up to 3 times the impact on a woman’s purchasing decision, as compared to every other online channel.

Maybe just as surprising, the study also concluded even despite “demographic differences”, most women share very similar needs with regard to personal growth.

This suggests there may be value in brand marketers re-prioritizing their audience segmentation strategies. That is, Instead of looking at women as Generation X vs. Millienials vs. Baby Boomers, marketers may be better served by trying to understand these shared “needs” and “motivations” as it relates to the product or service they are offering.

New Opportunities For Brand Marketers

This new information provides a significant opportunity for brand marketers that target women by beginning to build relevant relationships with them through the creation of content driven Web properties, as compared to building social media or community-oriented channels. In fact, the study found women are most receptive to marketing messages on lifestyle, specialty and review-oriented Web sites.

At Boyd, we’re big believers in using content to build relationships with target consumers. In the end, this is what engages the consumer, and ultimately builds trust and loyalty.