In the following interview undertaken by e-mail Tinesha Craig, Director of IIM’s i-on-Women division explains some of the challenges related to marketing to women.
Jackie O’Neal:
What accounts for why marketers understand so little about the behaviors and motivations of women consumers in light of the fact that they are an influential group in the marketplace?
Tinesha Craig:
There are four major reasons why marketers understand so little about their consumers:
There is an assumption that they already know her well enough. In a world full of DATA, where every action is tracked and can easily be tabulated, some marketers and market researchers have fully bought into the fact that if they understand what consumers are doing, when they are doing it and how often they do it that is sufficient to help drive strategy. This is clearly not so. So many marketers have sat in meetings and been asked to explain the latest data anomaly only to stare blankly at the leadership in the room with no real viable explanation. The reality is that capturing data on behaviors is really important and, to the extent you understand behaviors better than your competitors, it will be a competitive advantage. The only problem is past behavior does not always dictate future behavior nor does data provide real insight into why a behavior exists and what a marketer might do to encourage or change that behavior.
There are limited resources. Often market research departments, viewed as cost centers in most organizations that struggle to tangibly articulate their value to the company, are among the first to get cut. According to a 2009 study by BCG only 35 percent of executives describe their consumer insight capability as best-in-class. There is growing skepticism about the ability of research tools to really assess consumer perceptions and needs. Also much frustration exists about the time that traditional approaches take to execute. Lastly, a prevailing attitude that gut is as good as insight makes it easy for many budget managers to trim their research budgets in service of other activities.
They believe that by focusing they are limiting their business potential. I can’t tell you how any times I have talked to a marketer and had them remark that they don’t want to focus because, in their minds, focusing means they are arbitrarily shrinking their share of the pie. This is absolutely not true. Focus is absolutely the key to success. Lack of focus leads to distraction. Consider this: you are single and hanging out at your local bar. On this particular night the bar is full of attractive potential mates. You have a couple of choices: scan and identify a person (or two – sometimes you need a back-up plan) that you would like to approach, hone your message and make your approach; or, you can be like a kid in a candy store, wide-eyed and ready to give your pitch to every potential person. I’m no bar hound. In fact I don’t even go to bars anymore, but I have never seen the latter approach work. Sadly, this often mimics the approach marketers take. They try to be all things to all people and end up rendering themselves meaningless to many. If marketers could only remember that:
Adult females watch more TV than men (4 hours vs. 3.5 hours respectively) and are more likely to be exposed you ads. (Source: Nielsen)
Women are reportedly more active on the web, 116 million women compared to 102 million males. (Source: Nielsen)
71% of women use social networking sites compared to 62% of men. (Source: Pew)
They dominate retail shopping, making more trips than their male counterparts. And, they spend more per trip than men. (Source: Nielsen)
They might feel a greater sense of urgency at understanding women better.
They don’t know how and do not have time to figure it out. There is no question that with hyper-fragmented media and retail options and a market that operates 24-hours a day marketers have their hands full just keeping up. The relentless focus on short term ROI, profit margins, productivity, retailer demands, and competition consumes the focus of marketers and their support teams. The consumer generally takes a backseat to these things so it is no surprise that, as published in a recent study, only 20% of marketers say that they truly know their customers (Source: Yesmail & Gleanster).
Jackie O’Neal:
How do you envision the findings will impact future marketing campaigns, product design and ultimately reach the targeted audiences in the future?
Tinesha Craig:
Ultimately, when marketers are more focused on marketing to women and understanding her needs and expectations, they will see that:
Focus = efficiency. The fastest way to improve the impact of their marketing dollars is to focus on women that matter, messages that matter in media that matters to her. They will be able to focus their resources on a few key activities that align with their strategy and execute them well;
Understanding equals connection. Much like dating, when marketers get intentional about really understanding the needs, wants, motivations and personality of the women they want to attract, they will discover more meaningful connections with their consumers. And more meaningful connections result in more meaningful consumer relationships.
Relationship equals loyalty equals competitive advantage. Product features are easily copied (unless patented), but it is really difficult to usurp the connection that comes from authentic relationships. There are many brands that have blazed the trail of developing authentic relationships with women and benefited greatly from doing so – Nordstrom, Southwest Airlines and Google just to name a few. The only question that remains is will your brand be next?
For more information : A copy of the release with a PDF media brief about the study is here:
http://www.prweb.com/releases/2013/7/prweb10913807.htm.