Eveolution: The Eight Truths of Marketing to Women

If your new consumer product is selling like crazy, you may not feel you need this book. If, however, you feel you are not getting the response you should get, this book may provide some answers to your problem. Its cute title and subtitle "The Eight Truths of Marketing to Women" may mislead some, particularly men, into thinking this is not a serious guide to marketing. But consider Faith Popcorn¹s credentials. She is recognized worldwide for her successful predictions of trends. She anticipated the amazing success of sport-utility vehicles, the sales boom in alternative medicines, and the failure of New Coke. Her consulting firm has many premier clients, among them IBM, BMW, and Nabisco. The fact that her lecture fee is between $30,000 and $40,000 is also a strong indication of that this lady has something worth hearing. Popcorn bases her book on eight key principles and devotes and entire chapter to each one. In Chapter One, she discusses the basic fact that women connect to other women. 70% say they learn the most about new products from other women. Women are 50% of the on-line population. The slick super hype ad of forty years ago no longer sells women on a brand. She cites the convincing power of the Rosie O¹Donnell and Oprah TV shows and suggests you click into iVillage.com, disgruntledhousewife.com, and wellweb.com to get a feel as to how your brand may fit in. In Chapter Two, she observes an important gender difference, men focus, women multi-task and lead multiple lives. Her firm coined a new word to describe marketing to women at work: Perfessional. This describes the "ultimate blurring of the personal and professional." If you have female employees, this section is a must read. She cites, as an example, the invention of the Baby Jogger which allows a woman to keep her baby with her while she gets some exercise. Chapter three answers the timeless question, What do women want?" The authors cite example after example of how men and women are wired differently. The key point made here is "Anticipating what women want." They recite how Sony, specifically Akio Morita, practiced "anticipatory marketing" with resounding success. Chapter Four states the old in-your-face image advertising is dead as far as women are concerned. Again, women are wired differently and their massive buying power demands you understand the differences. She cites what she terms "a woman¹s Peripheral Vision." She suggests some new and unusual approaches. She gives the example of Carly Fiorina, chief executive of Hewlett-Packard (83,000 workers, $42 billion sales), who is focusing on customers, not products. Chapter Five examines the changes the large increase in women working has brought about and observes: "The idea that woman consumers need your product more than you need them is Neanderthal thinking." The new magic word is: Convenience. The time saving, convenience, and privacy of on line shopping appeals to women. Popcorn calls it the "Go to Her Truth."

7 Stars ******* I am a big Faith Popcorn fan. That led me to go into reading this book with high expectations. What a great deal it was to have those expectations well exceeded! Tom Peters first raised the theme of this book in his book, The Circle of Innovation. The vast bulk of most consumer purchases are either made or strongly influenced by women. Stop marketing generally, and be sure you marketing is gender friendly in the broadest sense. But Tom, as a man, could only take that point so far. Faith Popcorn has really explained it very well. She has identified 8 key principles: (1) Women link (the marketer's job is to make that easier for women -- witness the success of women-only Web sites) (2) Serve all of a woman's needs, not just the ones she has part of the day (if she needs convenient ordering, be sure to offer everything she wants to buy conveniently -- take-out foods for all meals) (3) Women want their needs anticipated (if she has to tell you what she wants, it's all over -- lots of work, stress, home responsibilities and money mean that home spas are doing well) (4) Use the indirect approach (women prefer to notice things on their own and apply them, rather than getting a direct, hard sell -- women notice institutional appliances in great restaurants and put them into their own kitchens) (5) Go to her and make it easy (witness the success of at-home direct selling) (6) Sell one generation of women, and you get the next as well (see how children now dress like adults at a very young age, because Mom and daughter want to look like each other) (7) Take on a role as a trustworthy adult to help women, and they will link with your brand (GE Financial Assurance provides a mentor role for women entrepreneurs) (8) All the details matter (organic foods are taking off because they are healthier, even though very expensive). As interesting as these points are, Faith Popcorn also deserves praise for the superb way she explains her ideas. In the beginning of the book, she has one example of each concept. Then there is a chapter on each principle. The chapter has many examples, and finalizes with one thorough one drawn from her consulting experience. Then, to be sure you've got the point, she takes well-known brands in each chapter and points out what they are NOT doing that they should be. The crowning glory is a chapter on all of the things that Ron Perelman and Revlon are doing wrong, and compares it with how the brand was run originally. Faith couldn't find much of anything she likes about the Revlon approach. As a matter of fact, the company has done poorly. But, at a broader level, this book is also about marketing in the 21st century. Although the focus of the book is women, those who market to men will often benefit from following the same advice. Saturn, a role model she describes, is not just appealing to women. Men like to be treated like people, too, when they buy a car. As a loyal Saturn owner, I know t

Ignore the infuriating capitalization and focus on what Faith Popcorn is telling you: Women make 80% of all consumer purchasing decisions. The successful businesses of the future will be those that revamp their marketing strategies to appeal to this mother-of-all demographic groups, Popcorn says. She then lays out a fairly comprehensive plan for doing just that. Rich with case studies of gender-based marketing principles in action, the book is witty, intelligent and convincing. We from [...] recommend it as a must-read in marketing, branding or strategic planning.

This is a book that gives some of us dim-witted males an idea as to how females think. Most of the book had me nodding my head and silently saying to myself, "Aha! So that's why my wife does this or that!" The only quibble that I had was on the chapter regarding Revlon. While reading it, I was thinking that perhaps Revlon knows exactly what they are doing. In other words, if Revlon is intent upon capturing the teen female audience, they would market that audience by showing youthful fashion models wearing the product rather than practical soccer moms or average middle-aged women. On the whole, however, I found this a very enjoyable read and look forward to other books by Ms. Popcorn.

Upkeeping her good work as a trend spotter in popcorn report and clicking, Faith use clear English to explain what we should pay attention when we do marketing to female in future. As a marketing people in a nationwide FMCG, I find this book giving me insight in formulating marketing strategies of our female product. I would recommend this book to all people who work in the same field as me.