Soccer moms of the nation unite. It’s time to deflate
that stereotype.
In this era of demographic hairsplitting, brands
and marketers are focusing their efforts on communicating
more exclusively to each gender. While it
might be risky to talk about genders having certain
characteristics, it’s helpful from a marketing standpoint
to identify some of those inherent qualities.
Besides, if men really are from Mars and women
from Venus, wouldn’t it make sense to speak their
language? That’s the fundamental mission behind
Frank About Women, a consulting division of
Mullen based in Winston Salem, N.C., and Sullivan,
Higdon & Sink (SHS), an agency based in Wichita,
Kan., whose focus is on marketing to men.
LESS HISTORY, MORE HERSTORY
According to Jennifer Ganshirt, comanaging partner
of Frank About Women, females hear, see and communicate
differently than males. “Women notice
nuance,” Ganshirt says. “And they appreciate nuance,
[such as] stories and campaigns that are complex and
focused on key messages, that still are going to build
a brand, but do so in a multilayered and textural kind
of way. Women generally react to that.”
Ganshirt cites automobile campaigns focusing
on safety and dependability as good examples of
what appeals to women. “Storytelling generally works
well for women—campaigns that really speak to [the]
core of a woman’s sense of herself and her [responsibility]
to the well-being of her entire family.”
Frank About Women has been working with
TJX Companies, operators of the T.J. Maxx and
Marshalls stores, for approximately six years.
Regarding a recent campaign, Ganshirt says, “Our
Maxx Moments campaign is about understanding
that there is a sense of ‘score euphoria’ when a
woman scores in T.J. Maxx, and she can’t help but
talk about it.” In each Maxx Moments television
spot, a woman is so giddy over the brand-name bargains
bought at T.J. Maxx that she can’t help but tell
someone every chance she gets.
Getting women talking is another tip of the
iceberg, Ganshirt notes. “Women are nine times
more likely to talk about a product than men are
in their natural day-to-day conversations,” says
Ganshirt. “If you can stand out and do it differently,
you are going to have an impact. But it’s
much more challenging if you aren’t willing to
throw out the stereotypes.”
MEN BEHAVING … RESPONSIBLY?
While women are the more complex gender, men
have typically been portrayed as predictable. In fact,
marketing directed at men often seems much more
stereotypical than marketing to women.
According to John January, vice president and
director of brand voice at Sullivan, Higdon and Sink
(SHS), there are currently two prevailing stereotypes
in marketing to men. “The first of [these] is the narcissistic,
over-sexed Peter Pan who seems to have a lot
of money, but no responsibilities,” January says. “The
second is the sort of sad-sack dad who, if he isn’t
reviled by his family, is maybe ignored by them, and
seems to be so helpless and out of touch that he can’t
find cat food at the grocery store.”
January says it’s a mistake to think there’s only
one way to talk to men. “I think there’s a danger in
assuming men won’t respond to anything that isn’t
funny or that would dare to make them think or
feel,” he says. “At a certain point, they take their lives
and what they’re trying to do pretty seriously, so I
think the brands that can understand that and can
get deeper with them are going to benefit.” January
says men are more complex than marketers often
give them credit for: “I think the biggest trap is that
marketers tend to think all guys want that bad-boy
fantasy played out for them and again. It’s not that
[the approach] can’t or doesn’t work, particularly for
some demographics, but it’s only one way. And to get
a deeper relationship, you need to go farther.”
One way SHS has honed its own marketing
process is by identifying five universal truths about
men, which include: men seek enlightenment, they
seek experience, they seek success on their own
terms, men happily define themselves as principle-driven
and men identify themselves as family-centric.
This philosophy is visible in SHS’s work for
Helzberg Diamonds. “We like to say men would be
more comfortable free swimming with tiger sharks in
a wet suit made of meat than they would be walking
into a jewelry store,” January says.
In campaigns for Christmas and Valentine’s Day,
SHS chose to focus on attention-getting print ads
and multimedia components. The multimedia component captured the attention of shoppers
with short animated films shown on a billboard in
Times Square. The challenge was to communicate
without the benefit of sound. “Those sort of little
romantic scenes [presented in the ads] clearly take
advantage of what animation can bring to the party,”
January says.
Sullivan, Higdon & Sink’s prowess in marketing
to men is also seen in its work for Cessna. SHS
developed several elements to the campaign marketing
two different aircraft: the Caravan and the
Citation X. The Caravan is Cessna’s most versatile
plane and can land virtually anywhere, including on
water. The Citation X is simply the fastest private-passenger
airplane in its category commercially available,
according to Cessna.
The two different aircraft required two different
approaches. “Interestingly, we find that entrepreneurship
and pilot licenses tend to go together, and
we try to take advantage of that anytime we can,”
explains January. To appeal to the experience-seeking
mentality of men, SHS shipped postcards about the
Caravan in bulk so they could be mailed with postmarks
from exotic locations to a prospect list.
The Citation X campaign highlighted the very
reason for its existence: speed. January says, “We sent
particular prospects a radar speed gun in a large box
to try to demonstrate the speed story. Again, it’s all
about trying to engage men beyond what they may
be expecting.”
The presence of the unexpected in marketing
campaigns often works for both genders—such as the
widget Sullivan, Higdon & Sink created for Helzberg
Diamonds counting down the days until Valentine’s
Day. “We found that not only did guys download it,
but loads of their significant others downloaded it as
well,” January says.
And just in case you’re still wondering about
the soccer-mom stereotype, guess how many women
have been to a soccer game in the past six months?
According to a recent Frank About Women survey,
the answer is only about 2 percent … and that was
probably because of David Beckham … pish, could it
be because of Posh?
