Devoted to Managers and those that seek to improve their management skills

In our talk about marketing to women and the great diversity and segmentation that it involves, let’s look at one case study.

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Let me give you a quick illustration. Disney came out with a ‘family’ movie that many brought their children to see. In the movie they had one of the cartoon characters dressed in drag and some overt things that, for the Disney demographic, was inappropriate. 

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This incident, among a number of other mistakes, turned the women that entrusted Disney with their children’s eyes, against them. They have punished Disney ever since. Contrast that with Pixar who understands their market, and makes hit after hit that is faithfully attended by trusting parents and their children.a

You have to be careful in all areas. For example, their have been times when consultants tell the company to promote their nonprofit giving. The idea is to let their customers know that they are concerned about more than just the bottom line. The idea is sound, but this has backfired more than once, as it was discovered that some of the charities they gave to were on the opposite side of the values of the women customers they served.

Again, the result was predictable, they made the company pay for not respecting who they were; and why not? If you exist to serve a certain segment of the population, you owe it to them to respect their values and to act in accordance with them. To not do this is corporate suicide.

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To not check out thoroughly what your corporate giving is backing is inexcusable; managing your marketing demands that you do. If your not sure, than don’t give until you are.

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That women do most of the purchasing is irrefutable. To make the mistake of identifying women as an entity that is to be marketed to as if there are not differences or segmentation in their ranks, is naïve and just poor business. You will pay for it if you make that mistake too many times without adjusting your mistake and remembering who it is you serve.