Female Empowerment More Important Than Female Power Tools
Kearney's latest study of women shoppers finds women don't just want products with a "female-focus," they want manufacturing and retailing companies to empower and promote women
In a world of consumer micro-targeting, AI-directed marketing, and corporately mandated “Wokeness” – when it comes to effectively selling to women– a surprising number of industries are still missing the mark. Even more surprising is which industries – including consumer packaged goods and some retail formats – are on that list.
To find out what women really think about how companies approach them Kearney polled 1,000 women for our 2020 Women Consumers Survey. We discovered the formula for winning with women goes far beyond developing gender progressive advertising that shows women comfortable in “historically male” roles and men doing household chores or just developing “female-focused” products. Companies must transform their entire organization from the R&D process to the boardroom in support of the advancement of women; cater to their unique category needs; and authentically and effectively communicate those efforts.
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The bottom line could not be clearer. If you operate in product categories where a female-focused product is valued, invest in it, understanding that throwing marketing dollars at customers is not enough to ensure the loyalty of the women consumers. “Effectively selling to women requires companies take an integrated, holistic, and consistent approach — anchored by true gender equality — reflected in everything they do from talent development, leadership practices, and public support for women’s causes to merchandising, supply chain partner selection, advertising content, and, in most cases, product and service design,” said Alex Fitzgerald, Manager in Kearney’s Consumer practice.
Kearney found a deep link between identity and purchasing behavior. Thirty nine percent of respondents said pro-woman/female empowerment marketing is a primary purchasing consideration and/or that they try to only buy from companies that do this. Gender progressive marketing campaigns were the least important for purchase decision. Over 75% of the women polled said they will pay a premium for products that support the advancement of women or walk away from brands they don’t see helping the cause.
“But, just having women in executive positions is not enough,” said Fitzgerald. “The higher the visibility of women in an organization the more other women expect of the company.” Seventy nine percent of respondents have different expectations of women-led companies, assuming they should be better at meeting their needs.
As far as product design goes, where respondents clearly wanted to see gender built into the design of some products, over 40% still told us women they just don’t have special needs in tools and electronics, so there’s no need for more “female-focused” screwdrivers and televisions.
When we asked them what gender stereotype they thought presented the biggest roadblock to achieving their own personal and professional success respondents indicated that all were equally objectionable, leaving not safe space for vestigial corporate misogyny.
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