80% of purchasing decisions are made by women (according to research by Iris). That means those of us working in marketing who are not women need to think like them. That could apply to some female marketers as well.
What I do is research what women are saying in magazines, social media and TV to get a handle of what is of interest and way they express themselves. The thing is though, you can't fake it. You have to immerse yourself, be the part, or you just sound like someone speaking a foreign language who doesn't quite understand the idioms.
If in doubt, play it straight. Don't use language which is going to sound false- like the dad in Modern Family trying to ingratiate himself with his kids. Better to use neutral phrases. The main thing is understanding what is important to the people who are your customers.
My wife and I own Your Life Your Style, a shop based in Winchester and online, selling designer accessories for people and their homes. We also own The Lewis Experience, a Marketing and PR company specialising in entertainment and SMEs. We used to work in theatre marketing and played a key role in the success of The Mayflower Southampton. In this blog, I share a few observations on retailing, marketing, PR and the arts.
Saturday, May 22, 2010
Thursday, May 13, 2010
How To Manage Your Privacy On Facebook
As a retailer, I know there are many legal requirements to protect and not misuse personal data. Not so the social networks like Facebook because people voluntarily give up their information. This article in the New York Times shows how managing your privacy on Facebook involves 50 settings and 170 options and a privacy policy longer than the US constituion.
You can argue that the Facebook guys just want us to have the maximum number of options when it comes to sharing our personal information. Then again, given that the company has come in for a lot of criticism after stalkers, paedophiles and others have used Facebook for nasty purposes, you'd think it might be better advised to assume that everybody wants maximum privacy and to let people opt in to the various levels of sharing.
You can argue that the Facebook guys just want us to have the maximum number of options when it comes to sharing our personal information. Then again, given that the company has come in for a lot of criticism after stalkers, paedophiles and others have used Facebook for nasty purposes, you'd think it might be better advised to assume that everybody wants maximum privacy and to let people opt in to the various levels of sharing.
Labels:
data protection,
e-shop,
Facebook
Saturday, May 08, 2010
Did Voters Find 'Posh Boys' Too Lightweight?
I have my own theory as to why neither David Cameron nor Nick Clegg did as well as expected. In my experience as a the owner of a shop Your Life Your Style, the recession has caused people to become more cautious in their buying, preferring nostalgia, simplicity and lasting quality.
If you apply this to the party leaders you can see why voters might have been worried that Cameron and Clegg were too young and inexperienced to handle the current grave situation. Brown, despite his many failings, is stolid and experienced. The 'posh boys' might have been the right choice when the living was easy but to take on the worst crisis in most of our lifetimes, the Tories and Lib Dems might have been better with old warhorses like Ken Clarke and Vince Cable.
If you apply this to the party leaders you can see why voters might have been worried that Cameron and Clegg were too young and inexperienced to handle the current grave situation. Brown, despite his many failings, is stolid and experienced. The 'posh boys' might have been the right choice when the living was easy but to take on the worst crisis in most of our lifetimes, the Tories and Lib Dems might have been better with old warhorses like Ken Clarke and Vince Cable.
Labels:
David Cameron,
Gordon Brown,
Ken Clarke,
Nick Clegg,
politics,
recession,
retailing,
Vince Cable
Friday, May 07, 2010
Too Much Of A Good Marketing Thing
One of the world’s leading internet retailers is bombarding me with emails. A weekly update on their latest offers and new products would be OK. But daily? This is spam, no matter how good the targeting is. It’s a classic marketing mistake and is bound to lead to people blocking their emails. That includes me, much as I like buying from this company.
At Your Life Your Style, we email about once a month, which may not be enough to keep us constantly on our customers' radar, but I'd rather that than become unwelcome in the inbox.
At Your Life Your Style, we email about once a month, which may not be enough to keep us constantly on our customers' radar, but I'd rather that than become unwelcome in the inbox.
Labels:
business,
e-mails,
e-shop,
marketing,
Your Life Your Style
Wednesday, May 05, 2010
Barcelona- More Than A Club
I love Barcelona Football Club. As they say themselves it's Mes Que Un Club. It's owned by the fans and has long been associated with the free spirit of the Catalonia region of Spain. Despite being in effect a co-operative, they are also one of the richest, most successful football clubs in the world.
As John Lewis and numerous other employee or customer owned companies show, there is an viable alternative to running a business in order to please the short term interests of shareholders. If only some British clubs, currently up to their ears in debt, had adopted the Barca model.
As John Lewis and numerous other employee or customer owned companies show, there is an viable alternative to running a business in order to please the short term interests of shareholders. If only some British clubs, currently up to their ears in debt, had adopted the Barca model.
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