These labels and others like “relationship focused”, “managing on her own” “fulfilled empty nester” and “make ends meet” were assigned to six categories of women as a result of a recent marketing study by the Boston Consulting Group. (They actually turned the study into a book called Women Want More…I’m reading it now.)
According to the study, women – as a market – represent an opportunity that’s bigger than China and India combined. The study found that the greatest potential lies in six industries: food, fitness, beauty, apparel, health care, and financial services.
Based on the survey, they came up with six archetypes, from the “pressure cooker” lady to the “make ends meet” woman. I think I’m somewhere between the fast-tracker and the relationship focused category…
The book highlight several companies that market to women successfully, i.e. Curves and Swiffer, but point to huge opportunities for more complex products, like financial services.
The author of this article in PR Week, Julia Hood, had a unique reaction to the study. She wonders why PR doesn’t already “own the female market” since there are so many women working in PR. Interesting question…
