Customer Reviews

Marketing to Women

5 star:		(29)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

First off, I'm a guy. I found this book had a lot of information that I never knew before. I asked a few women I knew and was suprised that their responses were identical to the information in the book. For example what they liked to see in advertisements and what they said their aspirations were, were identical to what was said in the book. Some of it made no sense to me but it made perfect sense to the women I asked.

I have to say I'm disappointed with the minor male bashing in the book. Some of her male point of views are a bit extreme, for example: "Men, on the other hand, are more likely to hold the view that people are important, but no more important or interesting than current events or new ideas in computer animation, or something more material like cars or cameras." I value my relationships and found this a bit extreme. Do all women think this?

I took off one star for her point of view on men, but other than that this is a good book. If you are marketing to women, this book will give you insight on the subject.

In this uniquely informative volume, Barletta answers three separate but related questions: What makes women a worthwhile market? Why market differently to women? and How do we get beyond gender generalities to actionable tactics? In her Introduction, she lists "Eight Myths of Marketing to Women" which, during the course of her book's narrative, she convincingly repudiates. For example, #5: With women, marketing is all about relationships. "While it's true that women put more emphasis on relationships -- personal and corporate -- than men do, their purchase decisions and response to communications are affected by far more than `relationships.' From word meaning to word-of-mouth referrals, product priorities to Internet usage patterns, women differ from men in many, many marketing dimensions. And, to overlook their complexities would be to undermine the effectiveness of your company's programs." According to Barletta, there are four components of the women's market: earning power ("What's in her wallet?"), high-net worth women ("the ultimate asset-holders"), consumer spending power (the "household chief purchasing officer"), and women in business ("controlling the company checkbook").

A majority of consumers in the U.S. are women. Research indicates that online spending will increase 26% this year to $96 billion. Consumer spending accounts for two-thirds of the economy and women influence 95% and make 85% of all consumer buying decisions; moreover, the majority of corporate purchasing agents and managers are women. Female entrepreneurs account for 70% of new business start-ups. If you are still unconvinced of the upside potential of marketing to women, consider these facts:

* Between 1970 and 1990, the number of women living alone doubled from 7.3 million to 15.3 million and this pattern has continued.

* At least 55% of those online each day are women.

* By the year 2010, women will control 60% of wealth in the U.S.

* College students were responsible for $210 billion in sales in 2002 and 58% of them were female.

* Women purchase more than 50% of the cars and own more than 46% of the homes in the U.S.

* More than half of all business travelers are women.

In Part II of her book, Barletta introduces and then explains what she calls the GenderTrends™Marketing Model, a systematic and simple tool to help her readers understand, reach, and increase their share of the world's largest market -- women. The model is designed to achieve three objectives:

1. "Structure the complexities of the gender differences into an organized view of female [in italics] gender culture."

2. "Show you how gender culture interacts with each of the 12 [in italics] marketing elements [end italics] in the marketing mix."

3. "Apply the resulting insights to the four stages of the consumer's [in italics] purchase path." FYI, the four are activation through market entry, nomination of purchase options to consider, investigation and decision with regard to nominees, and finally, succession (i.e. repeat business and, hopefully, evangelistic loyalty).

Few books fully deliver on the promises stated or implied in their subtitle. Barletta's book is the commendable exception. She offers a wealth of information and an abundance of wisdom which will help decision-makers in literally any organization (regardless of size or nature) to understand, reach, and increase their share of "the world's largest market segment." This book provides just about everything you need to do precisely that. What are you waiting for?

SHORT BUT SWEET...I have co-founded a company to develop and market a new fashion accessory for active women who misplace their glasses frequently. All of the founders have been in the sales, marketing, and/or advertising fields for years. But, this is the first time any of us have been involved in a business that will live or die solely on creating "awareness of", "interest in", and "demand for" with women.

I found Marketing to Women, read it cover to cover (I could not put it down), and have now made it mandatory reading for anyone associated with our company. Barletta offers great insights and provokes "out of the box thinking."

As an extra aside, I learned a lot about female buying habits (Eg. women need to find the perfect answer) that, in the past, frustrated me. This book has and will continue improve my relationship not only with my female customers, but also, and probably most importantly, with my wife, and daughter.

This book could change the way you think about marketing.For some reason when i think marketing i think men, not any more. This book has some valuable insights into who spends the cash and what on, and most importantly how to get your hands on some of that money.

As a recent graduate of Wharton's MBA program with a major in marketing, I was delighted to read Ms. Barletta's book as it relates entirely to a startup venture I'm undertaking. There are a lot of books out there on marketing but few manage to combine the "why"s with the "how"s and deliver useful, hands-on guidance that's backed up by solid thinking - "Marketing to Women" is, fortunately, one of these books.

Although an MBA can give you a big boost in understanding the art of marketing, it is often done so on a very broad, general level. Considering that, in many areas of the economy, women account for 50% or more of the purchasing power, Ms. Barletta's book credibly restores the notion that women are and will continue to be very important targets for marketers. So how do you reach them?

In the introduction, Ms. Barletta talks about the "Power of the Purse" and the "Differences that make a Difference", touching on the size and economic importance of the women's market, followed up by a discussion on some of the key differences between men and women on a sociological basis. Note that the slant is US-centric but is likely to be similar in many Western countries.

Ms. Barletta then guides us through her "GenderTrends" marketing model and posits a straightforward framework within which to make marketing decisions, encompassing social values, life/time factors, communication keys, and so on, in a women-oriented context. The ramifications for advertising, web-site and electronic marketing, and products and packaging are covered as well. For example, you will learn that women generally prefer more detail than men in their pitches, an actionable, testable assertion in any marketer's language.

A keystone of Ms. Barletta's book is Chapter 6 "The Spiral Path: How Women Make Purchase Decisions", which basically looks at the non-linearity inherent in womens' purchasing decisions. Men take the "I think, I decide, I buy" approach, women go for "I think, I decide, I think some more, I talk to friends, I think, I think some more, I talk a little more, OK, now I buy". Implicit within the women-centric decision making framework is a strong reliance on others' opinions, which is where Ms. Barletta highlights a key difference between women and men - word-of-mouth is more likely to impact womens' purchase decisions than mens'. Simply put, any marketer who ignores the social aspect of womens' purchasing decisions is in trouble.

Finally, in the latter part of her book, "Strategies and Tactics", Ms. Barletta touches on the practical applications of marketing to women. You will find information on "Why women?", "Which Women?", and other segmentation- and research-related topics. Ms. Barletta also goes into detail on communication vehicles and getting your message across. For example, you will learn that when a salesman tries pitching to a woman, she will nod, not necessarily in agreement to the sales pitch but, in fact, to indicate respect to the pitcher and to give off "I'm listening" body language; contrast this to men, who nod in agreement because, well, they're in agreement. This has very important consequences for sales people, especially men selling to women.

In summary, Ms. Barletta has written an outstanding book that not only sets a solid psychological and sociological framework for her thesis that marketing to women is different, but she backs it up with facts and figures and things you can do to start marketing to women better, starting today.

As a consumer group, women represent an enormous opportunity, but chances are your company is missing out on them. Author Martha Barletta says most marketers fail to capitalize on this lucrative market. They don't realize its potential or understand fundamental gender differences. As a result, their marketing fails to communicate with women, let alone persuade them. Barletta, a consultant specializing in marketing to women consumers, offers a book heavy on theory and long on detail. Except for a few examples of how ads are executed, the book lacks case studies that would bring these theories to life. Still, Barletta provides good advice on practical applications of these ideas about gender culture. She sheds light on the myths and realities of marketing to women, and provides essays by female experts in the field. What a pity that it all reads like a textbook. Given that, we target this rather educational tome as more appropriate for people who study marketing than for people who do marketing, although thoughtful marketers might still want to take a look

As a marketer and author of several books it usually surprises people when I tell them I've read perhaps three marketing books in my life cover-to-cover. Marketing books tend to peter out after the first two or three chapters, putting their authors in the position of having to pump a lot of air into their pages to get enough literary bulk to justify cranking up the printing presses.

Marti Barletta's "Marketing to Women" is the fourth marketing book I've read cover-to-cover. Keeping in mind that women account directly and indirectly for an estimated 80% of buying in the consumer economy, "marketing to Women" is a proverbial "must read" for everyone in marketing. Barletta's marketing wisdom, spiced here and there with a dash of puckerish humor, if not enough to turn a person into a marketer of wizardly proportions, is surely enough to at the very least double a marketer's effectiveness.

Barletta claims that "Marketing to Women" is the first book ever that deals with the "nuts and bolts" of marketing to women. She's probably right, and if so, that claim suggests how much out of tune most marketing is with reality.

No serious reader of this remarkable, far-reaching though accessible book, will come to the last period of the last sentence of its last chapter without knowing a great deal more about themselves as well as how to more effectively market to the biggest market on the planet -- women! Barletta explores seminal differences between men and women that everyone, marketer or not, would do well to understand for personal as well as for professional reasons. For instance, what does it mean in terms of differences in shopping and buying behavior that when men win in a game, their testosterone levels increase, but women's testosterone levels increase whether or not they win if they played a good game? It means a great deal, and "Marketing to Women" tells you why. Clue: It has to do with customary - and crucial - differences between men and women in relationship nurturing and management.

Anyone in marketing who does not know that adults over 40 have become the New Customer Majority are about as prepared for today's marketplace realities as a wheelwright applying for a job at General Motors. People aged 40 and older constitute the only high-growth consumer population. The sweet spot of this population is, of course, boomers, but the sweetest spot of all is boomer women. If you don't know how these women think, feel, shop and buy, you can only play a pin-the-tail-on-the-donkey kind of marketing that relies on trial-and-error speculative approaches.

Barletta draws on new discoveries in brain science and human genome studies to retire the controversial idea that was most in vogue during the 1960s and 70s that held that aside from reproductive systems, no essential differences exist between males and females. Au contraire; the differences are immense and this shows up decisively in shopping and buying behavior. Yet, aside from personal and household products, and despite women accounting for 80% or so of consumer purchases, differences between males and females are widely ignored by marketers. In fact, as Barletta aptly shows, marketing reflects a clear-cut bias against the feminine values that characterize most of what happens in the consumer marketplace. Go figure. No -- read Marti Barletta's book.

Increase Your Sales Marketing to Women!

Looking for new customers? Looking to increase sales? Want a larger market share? Run-Don't walk--to your nearest bookstore and grab up your copy of Martha Barletta's Marketing to Women!

This engaging, well-written book walks you step-by-step through the process of understanding, reaching, speaking to and capturing this huge, as yet fairly untapped, market.

Barletta understands communication, motivation and sales strategy. She writes with a wry, good humor and interesting asides. She uses real-life examples and outlines specific scenarios and actions to grow your market share.

You cannot go wrong Marketing to Women! Read it today. Make money tomorrow.

Wendy Weiss
Cold Calling for Women
http://www.wendyweiss.com

Finally a text that gets right to the heart of the differences and similarities of the topic. I thought we WERE marketing to women until I read this book. Now I need copies for all of my marketing staff. Thank you, Ms. Barletta! I should share my bonus with you (but I won't).

Amidst a whole lot of other extremely useful advice, Martha Barletta's book, "Marketing to Women", explores one concept that you have to be aware of if you want to market to women. And you'd better want to, as Barletta vividly points out -- they spend most of the money. The concept is "milestone marketing". Women's wants and needs and attitudes shift with age; they're in the market for different things at different stages of their lives. So you can't just target women in general, you really have to tailor a range of approaches in your marketing strategy to appeal to women at these different stages. Buy this book -- it tells you how to do that.