It is well known that technology is a male-dominated industry. Just take a look at a couple of statistics noted by Ryan Holmes, creator of Hootsuite, in an article titled, “Why the Tech Industry is (Still) Failing Women:” Only eight percent of startup founders are women, according to EZebis, a site that supports women in tech. Women comprise fewer than 30 percent of U.S. computer science and engineering programs at the undergraduate and graduate levels, according to the National Science Foundation. YET, WHO ACTUALLY PURCHASES TECH PRODUCTS? Let’s take a look at a few more numbers. Women in Western countries use the internet

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Filed under: Buying Power of Women, Connecting with Women, Marketing 2.0, Marketing to "Green" Women, Marketing to Boomer Women, Marketing to Single Women, Marketing to Women, Social Media, Targeting Women, Women and social media, Women and the Internet | 1 Comment »

Guys, are you serious about finding, reaching, understanding and connecting with the highly sought after diverse, female audience? My advice? Consider attending this worthwhile event. Oh…. and that doesn’t mean sending the little lady in the office. More and more, women are moving into CEO, CMO and entrepreneurial roles. And these women understand the importance of selling to the female customer. Do you? More importantly, they are learning how to do it. Are you? This year marks the 10th annual Marketing to Women Conference. Held in May, in Chicago, you [or your competition] will hear from it’s founder Marti Barletta, author of Marketing to

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Filed under: Advertising to Women During Recession, Buying Power of Women, Connecting with Women, Female Business Owners, Marketing to "Green" Women, Marketing to Boomer Women, Marketing to Single Women, Marketing to Women, Marketing-to-Moms, Targeting Women | No Comments »

How well do you know today’s Digital Mom? According toPunchbowl®, moms adopt new technologies faster than the average American. They keep their smartphones by their side at all times to look up information on-the-go, post photos of their kids and stay connected with friends and family. They quickly transition to their tablet to shop online, browse family dinner recipes, and search for birthday party ideas. They interact with bloggers, brands, and loved ones. They check email, watch videos, and read the news. They manage their family’s calendar and keep their photo memories. Mom is the ultimate Household CEO and many of her actions take place online with

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Filed under: Blogging, Buying Power of Women, Connecting with Women, Marketing 2.0, Marketing to Single Women, Marketing to Women, Marketing to Women Myths, Marketing-to-Moms, Targeting Women, Web 2.0, Women and social media, Women and the Internet | 3 Comments »

Although intended to be humorous, the video below from BuzzFeed that shows how foolish it would look if co-workers were to carry out assumed childhood gender roles in the workplace, is pretty spot on. It also reveals just a few of the stereotypical gender traits that are portrayed in advertising messages daily. All women must like pink, for everything Men should never like, wear or even consider the color pink, for anything Women cannot be mechanically-minded All men are mechanically-minded Only women like cooking, dolls, keeping house, fairytales, unicorns and rainbows Only guys like sports, fast cars, adventure and excitement,

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Filed under: Advertising during recession, Buying Power of Women, Marketing to Women, Marketing to Women Myths, Targeting Women | 6 Comments »

LITERALLY. Male marketers, a word of advice. If you are charged with effectively connecting with the female market, consider putting female marketers in charge – not short dresses. While this might be appealing to men, the majority of women will assume your car cannot stand on it’s own. That you need gimmicks to attain their attention. Quit trying to market to women through male lenses. According to Marketing Magazine, Nissan’s global marketing chief Andy Palmer said: “The rise of the ’empowered female’ is the biggest consumer trend affecting its worldwide marketing plans.” Palmer went on to say that Nissan is reshaping

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Filed under: Buying Power of Women, Connecting with Women, Effects of recession, Examples of Bad/Good Advertising, Marketing to Single Women, Marketing to Women, Marketing to Women Myths, Targeting Women | 1 Comment »

Aside from the obvious fact that this video is simply incredible and may likely be the best ad of the year – if not the decade, it is also an excellent example of how to effectively market to women. I don’t exactly need a semi-truck, but Jean-Claude Van Damme makes me want to buy one – from Volvo. Actually, there are some pretty strong arguments for the trucking industry to target female drivers. For instance: There is a shortage of truck drivers. The number of female truck drivers has increased 50% since 2005 and continues to rise. Of the more than

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Filed under: Buying Power of Women, Connecting with Women, Examples of Bad/Good Advertising, Marketing to Women, Targeting Women, Women and the Internet | 1 Comment »

I had never been to Poland, but I fell in love with the coastal city of Gdańsk when I had the honor to speak at the 2013 Mediarun Festival. Touted as the leading marketing event in Central Europe, other speakers included Peter Vesterbacka, founder of Angry Birds, Caroyn Everson, the VP of Global Marketing for Facebook and Faris Abouhamad, the IAA Chairman and World President. I had the pleasure of meeting and conversing with marketing colleagues from all over the world who spoke on topics from leading through innovation to brand valuation, corporate disruption in the digital era, creative leadership,

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Filed under: Advertising to Women During Recession, Buying Power of Women, Connecting with Women, Marketing to Boomer Women, Marketing to Women, Sheconomy Speaks, Targeting Women, Women and the Internet | 1 Comment »

The Infographic below from TopWebDesignSchools.org highlights just a few of the findings in Social Examiner’s 2013 Social Media Marketing Industry Report showing how marketers both use and feel about social media. For the third year in a row, at 69%, marketers plan to increase their use of YouTube (male dominated platform) more than any other platform. But, even as new as it is more than half of marketers plan to increase their usage of Pinterest. Interestingly, the report also noted that female marketers (54%) are also more likely to increase their use of Pinterest than male marketers (47%).

Filed under: Buying Power of Women, Connecting with Women, Marketing to Women, Social Media, Women and social media, Women and the Internet | 2 Comments »

I am honored, humbled and excited to be speaking at the Mediarun Festival in Gdansk, Poland next week on “Why and How to Market to Women.” Touted as the leading business and marketing event in Central Europe, the keynote speaker will be Carolyn Everson, Vice-President of Global Marketing Solutions at Facebook. Everson, defined as a “Women to Watch” by Bloomberg TV, and honored by AWNY (Advertising Women in New York City) as “Changing the Game,” is a marketer who understands women. She was recently referred to as the second “First Lady “of Facebook in a Huffington Post article. Much like Sheryl Sandberg, the

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Filed under: Buying Power of Women, Connecting with Women, Marketing to Women, Social Media, Women and social media | 3 Comments »

That’s a question that Nanda Sibol, Director of Brand Strategy in the San Francisco office of Anthem Worldwide poses in the article below titled, Pink or Blue Branding: Changing Gender Norms. The three-to-six years toy guide from ToyInfo.org, supports this thought process, noting: “After the age of three, children begin to play actively with each other. Preschoolers and kindergartners are masters of make-believe. They like to act out grown-up roles and enjoy costumes and props to help them bring their imaginations to life.” When I asked Ms. Sibol why this topic was of such strong interest to her, she responded:

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Filed under: Buying Power of Women, Connecting with Women, Examples of Bad/Good Advertising, Marketing to Women, Marketing-to-Moms, Targeting Women | 4 Comments »