W Comes Before X & Y

M2W Special Report...Best I've Ever Seen!

2008-05-11T14:59:00.000-07:00

For well over a decade, I've been attempting to champion an approach to marketing that is often talked about, but seldom practiced. And if it is practiced, even by marketing notables, it seldom comes off well. What I'm talking about is the increasing awareness that connecting with women (marketing wise) is a major strategy for the future.

But I have to say that the recent "custom report'" from Adweek, regrettable titled Marketing To Women, is the best overall media piece I have ever seen on this complicated subject. I say regrettably, because by now, we ought to have dispersed with the "catch all" phrase of "marketing to women". But setting all that aside, in my opinion, your will never see a more credible and concise account of the evolution of M2W (see, I told you I would never use that phrase again!) Please...read the entire piece (all the sections).

Women & Blogging...A No Brainer!

2008-04-25T08:53:00.000-07:00

The BlogHer/Compass Partners 2008 Social Media Benchmark Study of 6,000 women revealed almost 50% consider blogs “very reliable” or “highly reliable” sources for advice and information. And check out the power point presentation relating to the study findings.

The groups most likely influenced by blogs are Gen X and Millennials (Gen Y). Some women (20%) would even give up chocolate for blogging. (this can be a sign of something serious)
See the PowerPoint presentation for a full representation of the study results here.

I Couldn't Have Said It Better!

2008-04-06T07:41:00.000-07:00

It's been a week since I launched this blog. In that time, I have carefully research countless articles in reaction to the Pew study of late last year. That Pew study crystallized a trend that has been growing for several years. This article, called Teen Girls, The New Cyberpioneers, is the best so far in articulating what is taking place in social media.

I Am A Gendergraphics Consultant!

2008-04-05T08:20:00.000-07:00

Don't try buying the com, net or org for Gendergraphics. I just did! Seriously though, when one finds a nifty, one word term that describes one's passion, and it only produces 2 non-descript items in a google search...they'd better claim it. But the really exciting thing is that I will never have to use "marketing to women" again. It's about time we had a formal identity for a discipline that focuses on the motivations, usage patterns and attitudes of gender.

Another google search finds 27 million items for Demographics, 133,000 for Psychographics and 217,000 for Technographics. If you search on "marketing to women", you'll find a very respectable 184,999 items. That's a lot of google "awareness" for a discipline that is so darn hard to sell to decision makers. I'd say it deserves it's own term...wouldn't you?

Y & F's "Super Communicators"...Women!

2008-04-03T09:37:00.000-07:00

Remember the "Super Communicators" identified on last years Pew Study titled "Teens and Social Media"? Pew maintains that they tend to be teen females and the stats for the Facebook page of Young & Free Alberta bear that out. Remember, these "super-communicators" identified in the research tend to do more. They tend to have more communication with more friends using more forms of communication (land lines and face to face included).

OK...here's some unofficial stats as per my counts(check me, if you want). Out of the 150 or so Y & F Facebook friends, I identified 20 who had over 300 friends in their profiles. Of those 20, 63% were women, who had a total of 63% more friends than the guys (overall). The average number of friends were about the same, but the number of Y & F friends were larger for the Gen Y women/girls. And if you believe the old adage that women are three times as likely to tell a friend about a product/service...well, thats the group I would want to impress.

Speaking of Video and Social Media

2008-04-02T16:22:00.000-07:00

I think this blog post says a great deal about social media, the Pew Study and video content. Take a look and tell me what you think.

Video Is No. 1 To Attract Gen Y...Not!

2008-04-02T11:28:00.000-07:00

I've just spend the last two days watching a series of webinars on marketing to Gen Y, which was presented by a major CUSO. While I applaud their mission to educate the FIs about marketing to Gen Y, I disagree with their priorities of media to use. And it's not just me that would disagree. I'm sure the folks at Pew Research would also take issue with their choice.

Even though they produced 5 webinars to cover social media and the many user generated content choices, my overriding perception was that video was their number one choice, when it came to a Gen Y media strategy. That might well have been true a while back, but it's not anymore(according to Pew). Their research project, titled "Teens and Social Media", reveals two critical items that I didn't hear mentioned once in the blogs.

1. Social Media is increasingly being dominated by Gen Y women; to be specific, Gen Y girls. The only category where Gen Y men outscored Gen Y women in the study was in the production, distribution and downloading of videos.
2. These same girls, who have exploded in growth from 2004 to 2006, overwhelmingly prefer to use UGC other than video to create and communicate.

So, if the majority of Gen Y, Web 2.0 activity is centered around young women...and their chosen form of UGC is graphic and textual, why would you primarily employ video to market to them? You wouldn't.

Next Big Gen Y Thing...Chat Rooms!

2008-03-31T09:52:00.000-07:00

Great article recently in the NYTimes identifying a new group from Silicon Valley who have developed technology that will allow for text based, live socialization. With names like Meebo and TokBox, these sites will allow it's users access to an immediate experience not seen since the days of AOL.

It brings to mind the "smart mobs" identified in Howard Rheingold's book by the same name; Tokyo high-school girls, who served (and still serve) as a bellwether for social media. Those same "mobs" that were identified late last year in extensive research from Pew. But the new "chat rooms" will be quicker and richer. And if Pew is right, young Gen Y women will rush to them.

Young & Free Program Has Gen Y Women At It's Hub

2008-03-30T13:15:00.000-07:00

It's early yet, but don't be too surprised if the Young & Free program from Currency Marketing has "young women" to thank for it's success. Young & Free Alberta is the first identifiable example of a credit union totally committing to a Gen Y marketing program. And already, there is increasing anecdotal evidence that the program is taking on strong tones of Gen Y women.

Take for example the fact that the Y & F spokesperson is a spokeswoman; and her credentials match exactly the profile of what a Pew Research study recently described as a "super-communicator". That same study, called Teens and Social Media, also revealed strong evidence that young women (to be exact, teenage girls) are emerging as a powerful force in social media. That evidence was recently showcased in a recent New York Times article called Sorry, Boys, This Is Our Domain.

Back to the Y & F spokeswoman. Her name is Larissa Walkiw, and as I mentioned, she is a perfect example of what Pew is calling a "super-communicator" in that she is 19 years old and blogs, creates content for the web, produces video and has a huge network of friends and family. My guess is that it was that huge group of friends and family who's votes produced her win (the voting was not even close). Stay tuned for more on this real world example that Gen Y women might very well be the key to Gen Y everyone.

Gen Y Girls Are "Super-Communicators"

2008-03-29T14:20:00.000-07:00

You're hearing a lot these days about the "super delegates". From all appearances, it seems that this group of well connected, highly influential delegates will be the determining factor in the choice of the next Presidential nominee for the Democratic Party. They are the "cream of the crop".

It would also appear that the social media revolution has its own select group of influencers; mostly older girls, who use a host of technology options for communicating with family and friends, including traditional land line phones, cell phones, texting, social network sites, instant messaging and email. This group, called "super-communicators", emerged from the Pew report titled Teens and Social Media. They represent 28% of the entire teen population and they are more likely to be older girls.

Women Led "Smart Mobs" Increasingly Define Social Media

2008-03-29T07:20:00.000-07:00

Remember the groundbreaking book by Howard Rheingold way back in 2002 called Smart Mobs: The Next Social Revolution? In it, Rheingold described the exploding mobile culture in Japan, which according to his assertion, was driven in large measure by teenage girls texting their friends via their cell phones.

That same pattern seems to be occurring today in America via social media, and the latest Pew study validates the fact that groups of young girls, "smart mobs" if you will, are at the heart of the phenomenon.

Young Women Key To Reaching Gen Y

2008-03-28T18:21:00.000-07:00

Don't take our word for it. Recent research from the often quoted Pew Internet & American Life Project points to the growing power of young women using social media. The report, titled Teens & Social Media, clearly identifies young girls as the driving force behind the creation and proliferation of blogs, graphics, photos and Web sites on the Internet. That information was showcased in an article in last months New York Times titled, Sorry, Boys, This Is Our Domain. The article went on to say that "as teenage bloggers nearly doubled from 2004 to 2006, almost all of the growth was because of the increased activities of girls".

Here are a few highlights from the report:

1. Girls continue to dominate the teen blogosphere (35% vs. 20%)
2. Girls eclipse boys in photo posting (54% to 40%)
3. Older girls create more content for websites than boys (32% vs. 22%)

We'll be taking a deeper dive into this and other research conducted by Pew in future posts. Needless to say, the research seems to strongly suggest that the future of social media could very well be heavily influenced by Gen Y women.