A perspective: Empowering the power of her purse

Do you agree that we have entered an era of "womenomics" -- where women wield increasing power on the economic and cultural front?

Absolutely. It’s not that women’s power has necessarily increased though – it’s the recognition from the business world that she holds it.

What is driving this female focus?

Better insights and understanding. So much has changed since the 1960s that “she” was no longer easy to assign a particular image or generalisation to. Outdated perceptions were allowed to linger for years. However, in the last 18 months there have been a number of very influential global and national research studies that have informed the business community in a new and enlightening way. For example, the Boston Consulting Group's book released in 2009: Women Want More: ; The She Spot – by Lisa Witter and Lisa Chen; Gamma Factor research report; and SheSpot's report: Australian Women: Pragmatic & Real. Having more women involved in the workforce (eg up from 48% of all women in 1986 to 58% by 2006) where decisions are being made has helped to evolve the business world’s view. In addition, the power and value of online social connections – with her at the centre of them – has peaked everyone’s interest in knowing more. This combination drives new enthusiasm for knowledge about “her”....and so the research studies are timely and the audience has a hunger for it. The perfect storm.

How significant a factor is the internet in driving this shift?

Monumental. She has always been a connector that wields influence through word of mouth and enthusiasm for conversation! However, the Internet has made this even more obvious and transparent to decision makers. So, businesses are waking up to the fact that SHE controls the bulk of the spending AND she is the one driving word of mouth and social connections for brands. It’s the combination of her own family’s spending as well as every other family that she knows. Combined with what we know about women and what she values, her affinity for the Internet is obvious. It’s become the contemporary woman’s ideal tool for survival, she uses it for communication, content, commerce, convenience and communication. Her non-work online activities confirm her heaviest usage is driven by communication and content (heaviest usage being 4hrs+ per week).

How are women using the internet to make buying decisions and influence those of others?

McKinsey had a great piece on the consumer purchasing journey 12 months ago that made this obvious. They had the data to prove that consumers are moving outside the purchasing funnel—changing the way they research and buy products and services. In the new purchasing cycle, two-thirds of the touch points during the active-evaluation phase involve consumer-driven activities such as Internet reviews and word-of-mouth recommendations from friends and family. The McKinsey study made it clear that the epicenter of consumer-driven marketing is the Internet, crucial during the active-evaluation phase as consumers seek information, reviews, and recommendations! When we consider this in light of the female consumer – and her control over spending AND affinity for connecting online and sharing……it becomes very evident just how pronounced this trend is in the female demographic.

Some commentators have suggested that the increased importance of work / life balance in the way individuals and companies approach work has been influenced by women. Do you agree?

Wholeheartedly. The message we keep hearing from the Kidspot audience is that the ‘Super Woman’ ideal of the ‘80s just isn’t sustainable for most women. Any woman trying to juggle work and a family knows that something eventually has to give and most are crystal clear that won't be family. While they’re grateful that previous generations of women fought so hard for them to have the choice, they’re now exercising that right by choosing whether to work, how long they want to take out of the workforce to have a family and the hours they want to work on return. Employers need to offer flexibility and family-friendly HR policies if they want to attract and retain key female talent.

This isn’t isolated to the way companies approach internal policies that support work/life balance, women are obviously having an impact on political policy as well. Political strategists know that women are more likely to be swinging voters and therefore the ultimate deciders on which party is in power. We’ve seen an increase in online discussion around political themes – especially concerning child care, health care and education.

How do marketers and media companies have to change the way they communicate with women to reflect this paradigm shift?

Firstly, be authentic. Women value real people, situations and messages - so forget the hype. Then show her you know her by acknowledging that she’s challenged by time pressures and is looking for solutions. Find her online and invite her in, encourage her to participate because she likes to have her say – but make sure you listen to her!

A more recent trend we think marketers need to be aware of is women's need and expectation for “real time” information and connections online extending to the “real world” – offline. Brands that value a relationship with their consumers need to be mindful of this evolution and her redefining of real time engagement: the convergence of online & offline. Leveraging conversation in real time and in the real world will be part of the best brands' stories in the coming year.

What are the most important lesson Shespot has learned about the way women act as consumers?

The power of word of mouth! Women are natural communicators and love to tell other women (even complete strangers) about something that’s made their life easier, a bargain they’ve unearthed or a product that they think they’re the first to discover. They can quickly assume a brand advocacy role without consciously realising it and the flow on effect (especially in an online community) is amazing to watch. We have learnt quite quickly how to tap into this without compromising user experience or interrupting the flow of conversations happening across the sites.

What are the opportunities / challenges for companies operating in an increasing "feminised" world?

Companies who get it right have the opportunity to build long term brand loyalty in a feminised world. Once women find a brand they trust they tend to stick with it until something goes horribly wrong. Women can be quite forgiving and if you open up a two way dialogue with her she’ll tend to tell you what you’re doing wrong before you lose her as a customer. Johnson & Johnson do this well by continuously leveraging the conversations between women across the SheSpot portfolio.

The challenge facing companies is finding her and communicating with her when she’s not distracted. She rarely gets time to just sit and read a magazine and she’s more than likely folding the washing while the TV is on in the background. Online is definitely now her mass media. Today’s woman is an experienced, frequent Internet user and she goes online for everything – from researching purchases to connecting with other women to catching up on local and world events.

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