Mark Twain once said, “History doesn’t repeat itself, but it rhymes.” Politicians, economists and the media forever can debate how this recession resembles the Great Depression, but no one can argue the fact that the world has changed – and in a big way. We have responded to these difficult times with a seismic shift in attitude and a reset of values. And by “we,” I mean women.
Marketers, are you listening? Opportunity is a-knockin’!
Women are an immense purchasing power and comprise an influential business power. We would be foolish to not study the complexities of women as consumers and as business leaders. We have much to learn about her new views of the world around her.
Tuesday, February 9, from 8:30-10 a.m., E.B. Lane, the Phoenix Business Journal and networking coach, Dave Sherman, are co-hosting The Power of Women: Keys to understanding, marketing to, and networking with women in business. E.B. Lane will share insights about the shift in consumer attitudes among one of our target consumers, the present-day Mom. The Phoenix Business Journal will share insights from its research gathered from more than 1,600 company executives, including 400 women-owned businesses. And Dave Sherman will offer networking tips on making business connections with women.
As for E.B. Lane, here is a preview of presentation, starting with some insights that prompted our deep dive into this subject. For example:
Women are primarily responsible for either making or influencing 85 percent of all purchasing decisions in the United States.
With this much influence, E.B. Lane decided to investigate. We could’ve ordered in some pizza, soda and a handful of moms, and placed them around a table for a few hours with the hopes they would share something that would become the next big campaign. But moms are telling us that the whole staged focus group thing is just not working.
Sixty percent of moms said they felt that marketers are ignoring their needs. An alarming 73 percent felt that advertisers don’t really understand what it’s like to be a mom.
Instead, we invested lots of time and creativity. Well, we didn’t exactly; our moms did. Over a five-week social exploratory, a sampling of moms in Denver and Boston shared their lives with us, inside and out. Here’s some of what we found out:
MOMS ARE RESILIENT
Recession-shmession! It may surprise you to know that this economic crunch thing is not going to get the best of Mom. And it is certainly not going to threaten her family. In fact, she optimistically believes that tightening the belt and getting back to basics will make her family stronger. Bring it on.
MOM KNOWS BEST – AND SHE KNOWS FACEBOOK
As always, Mom has her unwavering priorities. Family needs first, her own needs last. Her children may be exhausting, but only until they close their eyes at night, magically erasing all chaos from her memory. On the other hand, this recession has taken a brutal beating to her social life. Girl trips and retail therapy are faded photos now proudly displayed on Facebook. She has quickly discovered that online is one place she can connect with her girlfriends, and armies of her kind are escaping there for free.
MOMS ARE THE REAL, REAL HOUSEWIVES
Materialism is so 2000-Late. Mom is now turned off by messages of luxury and greed. She’s no dummy – she knows excess is what got us here in the first place. Wisely and enthusiastically, she is choosing the accumulation of experiences over the accumulation of things. So take that, Jones’ next door!
Although none of this mom stuff may be earth shattering, we’re living in an historical period of change. This is an exciting time for marketers if we look up from our bleeding books with the same optimism and enthusiasm as these moms. There’s a critical fine line between marketing messages of empathy and sympathy. And there’s a distinct difference between the interaction of the Wii and the isolation of an X-Box. Just ask your kids. Or better yet, ask Mom.
To learn more, we hope you join us for The Power of Women. If you haven’t registered, you can do that here.
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