buzzblog

Women control 80% of US spending … that’s huge!  They are delaying marriage and family and opting for higher education and higher earning power.  In emerging markets, women are entering the workplace at an amazing rate.  Women will soon dominate the global marketplace and companies who recognize them as purchasing powerhouses and direct their messaging towards them will end up big winners.

Today women control or influence most of the household purchases including banking and healthcare. They make decisions on cars, vacations and private schools. This is a big shift from the “traditional” role of women as once perceived in commerce.  Those companies who are willing to recognize this shift and develop marketing programs that target women will soon learn that they have long time loyal customers and endorsers.

According to Forbes “Women are the market … not just a niche” and this statement is supported by the reality that more and more corporations are in fact targeting their messaging to females.  Citigroup, among other financial companies, is targeting women in their advertising with
more images of women than men.

The “girlie” stereotype
is a big no no
Several years ago, Dell Computers created a cutesy site for women called Della – and boy did that bomb!  Contrary to what some marketers might think, most women do not want to think of their technology as a fashion statement and they do think about things other than diets and workouts … geez. They are not looking for computers that speak to style and color choice. Rather, similar to their male counterparts, they seek tools to accommodate and facilitate their busy business and personal lives.  The outrage from women in response to Della was comical … poorly done, Michael.  She’s way gone now … not much of a trace of her remains online … Della oh wella. He he.

The bottom line is this. Women wear pants with uber deep pockets. Financial services companies, manufacturers of autos, computers and other tech and electronic gear need to get with the program in terms of the consumer power of Today’s Woman.

“If I had a dictionary, I would use the customary
Compliments and phrases when I wish to sing your praises,
But as it is, I’m in the soup, my heart is doing loop-the-loop,
On top of all of that—I’m breathless.

When I try to be poetic, you are never sympathetic,
As it is I do my best, and hope and pray I pass the test….”

I have a fond childhood memory of my father singing Breathless with me. It was meant to be sung as quickly as possible, beginning to end, without coming up for air.  It was fun.  It was a challenge. And today it’s what inspires this post.

The ability to effectively articulate an idea or craft a powerful selling message doesn’t come easily for most, and can be challenging even for those skilled in the art of turning a phrase.  I think about the many types of communications that we produce at Gemini on a daily basis: educational materials, sales tools, branding collateral, packaging, advertising messages across all platforms and more that are used to train, inspire and move to action.

We specialize in content creation – from taglines to teaching modules.  To be successful, it is critical to the process that we do our homework and understand our audience, the demographics, the budget and so forth. But when it comes right down to it, no computer can do the job of skilled content creators.  This is where the marketing really comes together.

“I take you for a little walk, and I’m a guy who likes to talk,
I leave you on the porch, and then I wind up with a torch.

For every single time that I’m inclined to tell you what is on my mind,
I’m darned if I don’t find—I’m … all out of breath.”

So…here are my rules for content creation:

1. Respect the deadline (after all … the word dead is right in there)
2. Rely on multiple resources (even the most prolific writers need  good source material)
3. Spelling and grammar matter (I think that speaks for itself)
4. Think like a teacher (rather than a pushy salesman)
5. Speak to your ideal customer (the rest will come around)
6. Call Gemini when you are Breathless

*BREATHLESS lyrics by Eddie Cherkose and Jacques Press

Beauty as defined by The Merriam Dictionary is the quality, or aggregate of qualities in a person or thing that gives pleasure to the senses or that pleasurably exalts the mind or spirit. The topic of Beauty is studied extensively in sociology, psychology and anthropology curriculums. The desire to achieve a State of Beauty continues to create exponential growth in the cosmetics, aesthetics and personal care industry with global sales reaching $426 billion in 2011¹.

I believe we are all naturally attracted to beautiful things… art, music, fashion and architecture are obvious examples. We are also attracted to anything that stirs the endorphins and engages our own psyches.  Therefore, Beauty becomes a subjective  experience of perception and is indeed “in the eye of the beholder.”

This concept is cleverly articulated in the web-only commercial that is part of Dove’s ongoing “Campaign for Real Beauty”.  In the commercial entitled “Dove Beauty Sketches” which is presented in both three- and seven-minute versions, a forensic sketch artist draws several women, based only on their descriptions. (They’re concealed behind a screen.) Then he draws a different portrait of each woman, based on descriptions by relative strangers. The resulting sketches are displayed side by side; in all cases the portraits inspired by strangers are more flattering than the women’s own versions of themselves.

It’s a remarkable use of social media to advance a brand campaign that explores the concept of self-perception vs. how we are often [more favorably!] perceived by others, thus making the tagline “You are more beautiful than you think” truly successful.   Check it out…

Campaign for Real Beauty

This web-only commercial had 49,362,811 views as of May 10, 2013.  It’s a Beautiful thing.

¹source: http://www.thebeautycompany.co/downloads/Beyer_BeautyNumbers.pdf

Securing a referral or a reference is an important key to achieving success, particularly when the competition is fierce.  One can read about something of interest or hear about it on the news and other types of media, but frankly, when a dear friend, a family member or even yoga teacher makes a recommendation or a referral it can carry more weight. Think about it … when a true believer whom you admire tells you something is great … doesn’t that strongly influence your decision making process?

Progresso soup spot \”can-curlers\”

So, how do we become proficient in the process of referral? First off, as social creatures, we should follow the golden rule of reciprocity – of giving references to receive references.  Next, we should consider the primary definition of the word referral – to direct to a source for help or information.  If you, your product or your organization are well-skilled or well-networked enough to be that source, you are golden.  If your competition is that source it may be time to either rethink your interpersonal skills or kick your networking up a notch.

The second definition of referral is “to regard as originated by”. If you are the originator, it’s awesome if you are highly regarded.  If on the other hand, you know the originator well, represent the originator or have the ear of the originator and vice versa … you may be a true believer and “influencer” in your admirer’s decision making process.

Whether job hunting, searching for a doctor, bringing in new business, or even finding that perfect recipe for brisket, a solid referral is the where the success story begins.

So I was on the web site of an anti-aging skin care company for about two minutes the other day reading about their sun damage reversal product. Ever since that experience I have been receiving ads embedded in other internet pages for that very product! Now unless this company has an ad budget that exceeds that of Toyota…doubtful……how you may ask, is this happening?

Another example.  I was viewing a web site for a company that provides creative talent to advertising agencies. Wouldn’t you know it… the exact same thing happened. Ads for this particular company (which I know to be a relatively small Manhattan firm) are now being served up to me on other websites that I explore.

What do both of these companies have in common?  They are both engaging in the marketing platforms known as Behavioral Targeting and Re-messaging. It’s kind of like Big Brother with digital binoculars.

Today it is clear that we are able, through the use of cookies and java scripting, to behaviorally follow, target and re-message viewers with the products they have shown an interest in.  This is amazingly cool for you, The Advertiser, when you consider how focused and efficient you can be with your brand messages and your advertising budget.

Behavioral Targeting enables you to target your current customers and potential customers based on their search-and- view online behaviors. These viewers are then categorized based on the types of sites they have recently and frequently visited.

Re-messaging, also called Re-marketing or Re-targeting, gives you an opportunity to re-engage site visitors with targeted messages and offers that appear when viewers have abandoned your site and surf other sites around the Web.

Metric evaluations allow you to clearly see numbers of visits, re-targets, ad exposures and stats…providing the info you need to fine tune messages and target sell effectively.  Bullseye!

So, traditional newspaper and magazine advertising venues, scoot over. Make ample room for my new technology heroes (and my clients’ new best friends) Algorithms and Metrics.

I’m not sure where the expression “It’s a dog-eat-dog world” originated but apparently humans don’t care that they are all for themselves, and will literally take down anyone who stands in their way. It seems unfair to blame dogs for bad human behavior.

Here are some other expressions in which dogs take the heat:

Dog tired (What happens after a long day of work or a long night of karaoke)

My dogs are barking (In some circles, dogs mean feet and barking means yelling. Why not just say my feet hurt?)
Doggy style (Ok that’s actually not so bad.)
Dawg! (Thank you Randy Jackson.)
Dog gone it (A derivative of dag nab it, which in turn is a derivative of gosh darn it. Oh heck I haven’t got a clue.)
Hot Dog! (actually a good thing)
Hot dog (actually not at all a good thing)
He’s a dog (he’s not a nice person)
She’s a dog (she’s not a nice looking person. Typical.)
And the ever popular…
She’s a real b***h (Did you read my recent blog? She must be The Boss.)