The Keys to Transparent Marketing

Transparently reaching women is all about making great changes in your product and marketing that are inspired by women, but appreciated by everyone. The heart of the matter is providing solutions ” and an industry's gold standard will be those that are intuitive and take the hassle out of buying. A woman 's response to your transparent ways will inspire her to rave to friends , "Why didn't I think of that?" Or, "I can't imagine doing it any other way."

Transparent marketing involves a lot more preparatory research and connecting with your women's market than a visible effort might. Here are a few keys to developing an effective and resonant transparent campaign from the start:

1 NARROW YOUR FOCUS

No matter how much you want to, you won't be able to market all at once toward a broad spectrum of ages, life stages or cultures. The more mass appeal you create, the more likely your message will become too diluted to appeal to just those women with whom you need to be relevant. So, force yourself to decide upon those women who will likely be the early adopters of, or best fit for, your product or service. If you start with that narrowly defined but important group , their passion for your brand will attract a wider audience.

A good example of this in action is the yoga fitness movement. The culture and lifestyle around yoga, which originally served quite a narrow niche, are now embraced by a much broader market. The small passionate core group of early practitioners demonstrated the benefits of these health practices and commitments. Now celebrities and aging Boomers are taking it mainstream. Suddenly the yoga culture is fueling the new designs of workout clothes and shoes, the increasing adoption of eastern -inspired religions and practices, and a new awareness and passion for organic and raw food diets.

2 UNDERSTAND THE CUSTOMER COMMUNITY INTIMATELY

You've identified that powerful community of focus, so now it is essential to understand what influences it. Two important things to consider as you explore the wants and needs of these women:

A day in their life. Do what you can to learn about their daily routines, common thoughts and regular stresses. What are their motivations and what are their fears? What pushes their buttons ? How do things work within their community? What music do they listen to?

These are some intimate, touchy-feely questions to pose. But this is how you dig deep to retrieve the cues you need in order to form your transparent strategies. Only when you know these fine details of the lives of those women with whom you'd like to build brand loyalty, can you see how your products, services and messages will fit their needs and their ways of learning about things.

A day in their dreams. Shared hopes, desires and belief structures, even more than generational commonalities, bring women together in community and define the boundaries of market segments. For instance, a commitment to organic gardening and an aspiration to protect the environment long- term are both examples of beliefs that can transcend all generations, cultures and life stages.

3 BUILD CUSTOMER FEEDBACK INTO YOUR PROCESS

Go beyond just understanding your market to involving your customers and marketing with them. Instead of getting feedback about a product or program once it is virtually on the shelf (too little input, too late), include women sooner and more often when building something new.

4 FOCUS ON YOUR PRODUCT'S CONTEXT

Design your customer experience around those key scenarios or life stages that occur in the community of women on which your brand is focused. Consider how your brand might be positioned to turn up in the doctor's waiting room, in the store aisle or in the mailbox, just as your customer thinks about or needs your product or service.

defining questions of a transparent brand

Does your brand have personality? Brand personality can come from the sassiness of your ad copy or the voice-over style of your radio ads or even from the founder of your company ” like Suze Orman, who has become her own brand of financial awareness.

Politically correct does not equal a brand personality. There seems to be a myth that the best way to draw more women into a brand is to make it more universal, but this often results in a more bland , tasteless personality. Instead, the marketplace is rewarding brands with more fully developed (even spicy) personalities. You really see this with Gen Yers who have turned up their noses at many of the industry giants (think of how Levi's has been scrambling these past years ) to pursue smaller brands with quirks , sass and attitude. If you want to reach more women, introduce their favorite flavors instead of turning everything to vanilla .

It is also important to note that a brand doesn't necessarily need to have a feminine personality to appeal to women. Some brands are attractive to women because of their more masculine personality. We can think of specific tools, movies, tire stores and liquor brands that have a huge appeal to women which would diminish if they were more feminized. That doesn't mean that those brands shouldn't target women in their media buying and in customizing their service according to her high standards. But they certainly don't need to inject any estrogen into their brand personality to be more appealing to their women customers.

What is your brand's language? The language your brand uses is both an element of brand personality, as discussed above, and also a stand-alone concern. Whether your brand seems to present a more masculine or more a feminine "feel"; whether its design standards employ soft colors and short paragraphs or dark colors and dense text; to whether the copy takes a formal tone or expresses a lot of humor ” there will be many elements and nuances to the marketing dialect you've built over time. All these things need to be integrated to reflect a language that can be heard and understood by your women's market.

Does your brand's language include the voice of a company founder, an industry expert or a key customer? For example, Suze Orman delivers her financial advice in a voice that always seems to come directly from her. In a less obvious example, the sports network ESPN has worked to develop multiple personalities that give voice to their wide range of content. Some companies use animated and drawn characters to lend personality to their brands, such as "Snap, Crackle and Pop," who bring Kellogg's Rice Krispies cereal alive .

 

5 UNDERSTAND AND DEFINE YOUR BRAND

Let your brand's spirit step forward, instead of diluting it in an attempt to be everything to everyone. The danger these days in building a marketing effort to women isn't so much about being politically correct, it's more about the hazards of becoming too similar to the bland campaigns of other brands. When you know what sets your brand apart and effectively present and promote that uniqueness, you'll more likely capture the attention of women and get the buzz started with their friends.

6 BE AUTHENTIC

Share your brand's attitude and honestly reveal both its strengths and weaknesses. The community you are trying to reach will appreciate such forthrightness, and that will also help them gain trust in the people behind the brand.

"why didn't I think of that?" ten products or services that reflect transparent marketing

Ford Windstar: Developed a dimmer switch on the overhead interior light, so sleeping kids could be transported home without being awakened by the bright light.

Wal-Mart: Created an atmosphere of immediate welcome by coming up with the idea for store greeters.

Starbucks: Features cozy chairs for lingering and offers wireless access for an office away from the office.

Bliss Spa: Staff members send patrons handwritten thankyou notes.

Les Schwab: Salespeople run out to your car to greet you and will repair your tires for free.

Sephora: Purposefully displays its selections in an accessible and inviting way and has a high number of staff on the retail floor, so women can easily test lipsticks, blush and skin care products, and feel free to ask questions.

Reflect.com: Invites you to develop and customize your own lotions and cosmetics, right down to choosing a name and picking the packaging.

Saturn: Introduced the no-dicker sticker price to appeal to women auto buyers .

TiVo: Brought television viewing back under a mother's control (among other features). Now you could record every episode of SpongeBob SquarePants and allow your kids to watch the show at your convenience.

Terry Precision Cycling: Introduced the now-famed women-specific bicycle saddle (it's the one with the hole in it), and then developed one for men as well.