They want to see dynamic women. When asked what characteristics they want in a woman in advertising, Think Eva found that 85.8% of respondents want to see intelligent women and 72.3% want to see independent women portrayed.
If that data still doesn’t convince you, it’s good to know that 73.3% of women in the same study said they have an interest in technology , but they feel that companies only target male audiences in their media.
It’s not just a matter of adapting to the times or being politically correct. By making a mistake in marketing to women, you are also losing a valuable audience with high purchasing power.
By the way, check out this cool guide on Internet safety for women !
4 Practical Do’s (and Don’ts)
Ok, so far you should have understood that communication for women needs to be done well. They are ordinary consumers and they want advertising worth their money.
But if you don’t know where to start, here are 4 practical tips:
1. Stop seeing women as a niche
Women are not a specific niche market.
They are more than half of the Brazilian population and, guess what: they also buy beer, cars, technological products… And if your product is more inclined towards women (such as feminine hygiene products, cosmetics, women’s fashion, etc.) it is a big mistake to bet that they are all the same and think or behave the same way.
We talk a lot around here about the importance of building personas that are inclined to your business. And it’s the same with women. If you’re selling makeup, for example, your persona can’t just be “25-year-old women who buy makeup.”
This needs to be specific and really unravel the tastes and habits of the people who will be consuming you.
Want some cool examples?
Avon
Avon reinvented the idea that makeup is a product only for women. In addition to talking to a more modern audience, they showed their support for various causes and, to be honest: they made a super fun video!
Who Said Berenice
Can we want to have kids? Of course we can. And can we want to not have kids? Who says we can’t? We can! Can we wear a lot of makeup? We can. Can we not wear any makeup? We can. Can we have tattoos? We can, we can. Can we be modern without tattoos? We can. Of course we can. And we can… WE CAN! Hey! Calm down everyone, can’t I ask? You can! Quem Disse Berenice? The makeup brand that was born free.
Quem Disse Berenice is another great example of how to converse with a female audience in a real, natural, modern way. No talking to a woman who doesn’t exist
The National Lottery
If you thought I was just going to bring you examples of beauty products, think again. The National Lottery ‘s This Girl Can campaign shows how real women work out: sweating, swinging, in other words, nothing like those perfect, artificial women from the stock image banks.
2. No objectification
I know you may have been taught that sex sells. And that naked or half-naked women are a great way to get attention.
But sex DOESN’T SELL.
Ohio State University debunked that advertising myth in 2015 , showing that highly sexual or violent content can attract consumers’ attention, but in a negative way.
Objectifying women won’t increase your sales, it will contribute to an oppressive culture and offend a large portion of the public, but the question remains: why do they still insist on it?
3. Stereotyping women is a thing of the past
Not all women hate sports, not all women want to get married and be mothers, not all women like makeup or fashion. “Not all women” are important words when we talk about advertising.
Never assume that all women are the same or have the same taste. The role of women changed a long time ago and stereotyping that audience is a big mistake for any brand. Want to see an example of that in practice?
Beer brand Proibida thought it would be a good idea to create a beer for women that is delicate, sweet and fragrant. Needless to say, that was a stumbling block, right?
This product so angered female beer drinkers who were already consumers of the brand that it generated a lot of negative buzz on the company’s social media. After all, who says all women like delicate things?
The beverage brand Catuaba Selvagem managed to take advantage of the negative noise and use it to their advantage. They made a campaign making it clear that women drink what they want.
Generally, products with female versions are a bad idea. If they offer exactly the same thing and only the name on the packaging changes, what is their real purpose? They also sometimes generate something known as the pink tax, which we will explain below.
Understanding the Pink Tax
Have you heard of the pink tax ?
It happens that when products are made israel mobile database especially for women, they tend to be more expensive than products aimed at the male audience.
And we are not talking about differences in the production or composition of these products. Usually they say that they differ only in the packaging – the women’s one is pink and costs about 7% more than the other products
Do I really need a pencil made especially for women? In 2014, Bic created a line of “For her” pencils and comedian Ellen Degeneres made a video satirizing the situation. Finally, a pencil made just for us women!
Considering that women, on average, receive lower salaries than men, it is almost disgusting to think that a product costs more just because it was colored pink and they decided it was made for a female audience.
The lesson here is that every woman is a different human being. Don’t put us in a bubble or try to sell us something universal.
4. Build relationships and understand the pain points of the female audience
Being a woman is not easy. And the last thing we want is advertising trying to sell us fake recipes and unattainable bodies.
Well-made advertising for women today is that which understands what it really means to be a woman. It is that brand that has empathy for the things and situations we go through every day.
Let’s look at the examples:
#FightLikeAGirl, by Always
Always’s #FightLikeAGirl campaign hit a nerve: the idea of doing things “like a girl” is an insult. The campaign went viral and the brand became known for bringing that discussion to the forefront. Women saw themselves in the campaign. It’s an incredible case of good storytelling that relates to the pain points of its audience.
Blood, by Body Form
Who knew a campaign about menstruation could be so exciting? This one showed strong, real women. No women dancing around, happy with life, while the birds sing along the way.
#MyBeauty by Dove
Dove went viral with various campaigns what are the best sales enablement tools? and actions to show diverse bodies and faces to promote its products. My Beauty My Say is just one example of this.
What appeals to the public is normality: the women who see Dove campaigns are women who see our daily lives in the brand.
It could be our friends and colleagues at work, not some perfect, unreal beauty from Hollywood.
For a March 8th without clichés, Netflix
Every March 8th is the same thing. A thousand campaigns springing up with flowers, roses, chocolates, exalting how incredible, delicate, tender women are.
And we don’t want any of that! Netflix has shown very well how to make a different campaign on March 8th and we know that its brand also manages to avoid those clichés, right?
Advertising is getting better (but we still have a long way to go)
Did you see that doing well-done marketing for women is not that difficult? We are improving, little by little, but there is still a long way to go.
Every sexist advertisement broadcast is like a shot asb directory at all the women who work for that market (and for the consumers too!)
Finally, a little reflection: What would advertising be like if women’s roles in it were replaced by men? Buzzfeed asked itself that question.
We can do better. We can do marketing that is interesting and really speaks to women, without being idealistic and insulting.
