Truly Twisted Marketing

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!