Archive for March, 2007

You gotta see this.

I was reading a blog post over at the marketing to women online blog called "The Importance of Images When Marketing to Women".

Holly brings up some really interesting questions about how women relate to advertising images differently than men and it got me thinking. You can check it out here.

Now, we all know men and women are VERY different. And while that’s a thought that is pleasing to me, personally, it does lead to some, shall we say, interesting communication and perception problems.  So, if we take that very basic unscientific viewpoint and extend it to advertising what is evident will undoubtedly blow your socks off!

It did mine…they are still somewhere upstairs possibly never to be seen again.

Take a look at the results of this (truly scientific) eyetracking study compliments of OJR.org. The red hotspots are the places viewed the longest…(You can see the full article here)

Men and women OBVIOUSLY look at images in advertising differently but who knew HOW differently! Are your socks blown to the recesses of your cubicle yet?

Laura Ruel and Nora Paul, the authors of the article that contains the eyetracking data, go on to say it this way. …"gender makes a distinct difference on what parts of the photo are stared at the longest."

Um, yeah, based on the image above, I'd definitely agree with that.

They also point out that, "Although both men and women look at the image of George Brett when directed to find out information about his sport and position, men tend to focus on private anatomy as well as the face. For the women, the face is the only place they viewed."

There is a reason for all this madness. Women are simply wired differently than men. Women are more attuned to facial expressions and deciphering emotion. Ladies, we are BORN that way.

This knowledge can be put to excellent use. In designing a web site, in creating an ad campaign, in any media that you might use to reach women, it's imperative that an emotional connection is made so you can tell your story.

I'm curious about what you think - curious if you've experienced this in advertisements (whether you are male or female) and what about the ad made you take some sort of action or lack thereof.

As always, please share your own thoughts and viewpoints. Love to know what you are thinking!

I have long said that “eco friendly” is the way to go. It’s destined to be the next big trend in what Americans purchase.  It’s becoming fashionable to be eco friendly. I like to call it, eco chic.

It’s a marketers dream.

A totally untapped market area, just on the verge of explosion, with the sweet new smell of notoriety beginning to waft up to our collective noses through advertisements of hybrid cars, green building, organic food and clothing…

Ah, just like freshly mowed grass (but, um, not with a gas powered mower, of course)

The guys over at Treehugger figured this out quite a while ago. Online retailers are beginning to see it too.  

But the “search” is slow. By “search” (notice the quotes) I mean good content web sites that rank in the search engines and the actual search terms that are typed into the search engines to find the products and/or services. The two don’t mesh up. But it won't take long until they do.

While this is not unusual and not news that what is served up by the search engines isn’t what people are necessarily looking for, it is unusual for there to be very little competition. The web is so big and broad that rarely does it offer up an opportunity where there is an actual gap waiting to be filled without tons of competition that people actually WANT information on.

Remember, where there is demand, there is always a rush to answer the demand with supply. Competition will get fierce, fast. 

Eco-friendly isn’t new. There are many people into living eco-friendly lifestyles. You can look at it as a sort of underground movement that is just beginning to hit mainstream America – thus, it’s becoming chic, eco chic.

Want to get in on the eco bandwagon?

My advice? Do it. Now.

There's no time like the present and if you or your business is waffling on whether to get involved in supporting eco friendly products and/or services, you'll be left behind as the eco chic market trend moves into full swing.

Well, just in case you're actually reading this blog and wondering why the heck I haven't made a post in a week and a half, let me explain.

I've been on vacation - Disneyland.

Really.

I'm not kidding. 

I've always (and I mean always) said with the cash it takes to go to Disney, I could be laying on a beach somewhere in the South Pacific with cute cabana boys and drinks with umbrellas in them.

Alas! I got a Disney deal to good to pass up so the cabana boys and the tropical hideaway idea went flying right out the window. My family and I did have a very exciting and memorable time. 

So, you can look for the blog postings to pick back up very soon.

But what about marketing, you might be asking…where's the marketing angle in all this? Well, there isn't one, at least, not one that I want to talk about right this second. It was a vacation in it's purest form - you know, the kind you had when you were a kid. No computer. No wireless internet. Not connected. It felt pretty good.