Marketing to women

Why is it that so much emphasis is put on ‘Marketing to Women’ as opposed to effective and well targetted marketing?

In the stationery industry, the majority of purchasers in offices are female. This is a fact. But why should the marketing be tailored ‘to women’?

If a manufacturer of lawnmowers or vacuum cleaners, both of which (hopefully) are used by both men and women, produced a lighter weight version, how would I promote it? In many instances the automatic assumption is that they are ideal products for a woman. But wouldn’t the company be missing a trick? Lightweight products such as these are ideal for those with back or joint problems, maybe the lawnmower could be more appropriate for those with a small garden, limited storage space, etc and the vacuum cleaner for people with a lot of stairs, and so on. 

In the office products market, there are many ‘pink’ products with associations with one of the breast cancer charities. These have a female focus but are certainly not exclusively designed for women. The benefits may be functional, design, corporate social responsibility or a personal feel-good benefit…after all pink shirts are a popular choice with the dark suit for the business man.

There are benefits to be had from focusing on the potential needs of the user and the benefits you offer to the purchaser, regardless of their sex. In the office it mustn’t be ignored that purchaser and user are likely to be different. Segmentation has moved on in recent years and the risk of assuming all women will respond to your offering in the same way is a risk that is not worth taking.