An agency president’s advice for marketing to women

When people ask me how old I am my stock answer is, “I’m between 39 and none of your business!”

To all those marketers hell bent on winning over millennials, let me tell you something about us baby boomer gals: We are more financially empowered and wield more spending clout than any previous generation.

We are the healthiest, wealthiest and most active generation of women in history.  Over the next decade, women will control two thirds of consumer wealth in the U.S. alone.  We have more money, leisure time and use technology more than any other generation in history.

That’s just a few amazing factoids and a big reason why marketers should pay special attention to this affluent purchasing group.

As primary buyers for tech gadgets, automobiles, financial products, vacations and other big ticket items, marketers should speak to us as a legitimate and serious target group. We make our own money, and we know how to spend it.

To start, marketers have to truly embrace and understand this segment of women. We are digital divas, but we use social media differently than millennials and Gen Y. Understanding our habits and social ecosystem is key. We are on Facebook, Pinterest, Twitter and Instagram — regularly. SnapChat is not in our vocabulary, yet, unless we are trying to use the platform to talk to our teenage kid. We use YouTube for instructional videos, but not to watch what we missed on TV the night before. Frankly, we don’t give a sh*t what we missed on TV. Who has time for that?

We embrace traditional media habits, we watch live TV, listen to the radio, buy magazines and still subscribe to newspapers.  Well, at least I still do.

We are not hard to find, but we are difficult to convince and engage. We are very discerning with our money. We want truth, results and we appreciate value. It took us a long time to acquire our wealth and we’re not parting with it that easily. But, when we love a brand … boy, are we loyal and blab about it to everyone.

So how can marketers do a better job at reaching the most affluent female group on the planet?  Speak to us in our language, deliver value and save the colour pink.

Here’s how:

We aren’t men, but we appreciate the same things. I was recently in an LCBO where a woman was encouraging consumers to taste test a new whiskey. She approached all the men around me, but not me. She didn’t even make eye contact with me. First off, I drink whiskey, and love it.  I also drink scotch, rye and cognac. I felt very much discriminated. And, by a fellow woman. I get whiskey is primarily purchased and consumed by men, but with the popularity of whiskey on the rise, don’t forget us women who can slam back a few with the best of them.

We love branded content magazines and catalogues. This is especially true in the luxury market. One of my all time favorite branded content pieces arrives twice a year. It’s the Spring/Summer and Fall/Winter issues from Holt Renfrew. Stunning photos and art direction, this catalogue is always neatly stored on my bed side table. From fashion to beauty I find myself lusting over shoes I can’t afford, but love to be on top of trends and new finds.

The battlefield in the luxury goods market is heating up to a full on boil with Nordstorm, Simons and Saks now jockeying for our coveted dollar. If they want to succeed, reaching the affluent female baby boomer is a must. Lure us with great content, wrapped in thick stock glossy images.  We still appreciate a sexy read, just deliver the same experience in store. 

Don’t wash it all in pink. Not all women want product bathed in bubble gum pink. We need to be reminded of our gender through the delicate hues of pastel cherry. I want good golf clubs without pink grips, I don’t need a flimsy razor in rose pink, give me that hardcore, sexy, stainless steel curved one with the contour blade my husband uses. Black has been the new pink for us baby boomer gals for a long, long time.

Give us the experience. As we get older and wiser we also get impatient, intolerant and value our time above all else. The experience must be memorable and we should get something for our time. When I get invited to special shopping evenings, I want to know that during that time I get something of high value I couldn’t get by coming in the next day with the pedestrian traffic. Whether it’s an engaging speaker or a tarot card reading, give us exclusivity. We will come and experience your product offering, but there must be a good reason to sacrifice our time for your brand.

Don’t be overly cutesy. What’s with Canadian banking ads? Am I 12? Penguins, condensing speak, two cranky men on a green couch? How does this even speak to me? Baby boomer women have investments, RRSPs, GICs, we manage our kids RESPs and we control our own wealth. Here’s a novel idea, a Canadian bank that speaks and caters to mature women who have money. Now that’s worth real dividends.

Marketers have a tremendous opportunity to connect, convince and converse with a target market of women with money and the sole power to spend it.

We’re here.  Talk to us. We’re waiting.

Julie Rusciolelli is the president of Maverick