A while back I was interviewed in the Ottawa Citizen about marketing specifically to males in A Show Just For Guys. I actually get called upon a lot to offer commentary on gender based marketing. Politicians and political parties are interested in it right now (duh!), companies, higher ed institutions, ...It amuses me because the way things like Mothers' Day and Fathers' Day are marketed is so not gender specific. At least not in the way most people think if they're not marketers.
For example, consider the ads that run around Mothers' Day. They're going to be targeted to women, yes, but the action they're going to encourage women to take is as drivers and motivators of anothers' purchase. The real target of those ads is going to be people who want to purchase something for the significant woman in their life.
Similarly, Fathers' Day promotions are...well, here the system breaks down somewhat and again, it's a gender thing.
Males (as a group) have far fewer problems making purchases for themselves -- what might be considered selfish and I'm not writing that this is the case -- than women do. This is due to the nature of male society building versus female society building. Males tend to create hierarchical, vertical societies, women ten to create horizontal, equilateral societies. Do women have leaders within their groups? Most definitely! Usually those leaders are the ones who listen the most and actively seek counsel before, during and after making a decision. Male societal leaders are chosen just a tad bit differently.
So Fathers' Day ads will be targeted to both genders, males who will make a purchase for themselves and others who will make a purchase for the significant male in their life.
But the male-for-himself and the others-for-their-male ads will themselves be different. The male-for-himself ad will show that, once the male makes the purchase for himself, his level in his hierarchy increases. The others-for-their-male ad will show, once the gift is exchanged, the male is a happy, peaceful, giving, loving and caring member of that other person's society.
Please contact NextStage for information regarding presentations and trainings on this and other topics.
Links for this post:
- Gender Based MarketingBlog Posts
- More Gender Based Marketing Blog Posts
- Gender Marketing Web Design Differences
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