Get in Touch with Your Feminine Side
FLING Branding: stereotyping consumers one chocolate bar at a time
In the 2005 movie “Hitch,” Will Smith attempts to market average guys to spectacular women, using pearls of sensory branding wisdom like, “60% of all human communication is nonverbal, body language; 30% is your tone. So that means 90% of what you’re saying ain’t coming out of your mouth.” He wasn’t the first to recognize that advertising to women consumers is a lot more complicated than marketing beer and muscle cars to men. Women all want different things: they want to laugh but they don’t want to be insulted, they need to empathize or identify with who or what is being sold, and they can’t be stereotyped as one pink bubbly demographic. So why even try to tackle the confusing mindset of the woman consumer?
Because women make somewhere around 80% of all purchases, which means they control the vast majority of consumer spending. Yes, that means a good chunk of industries like cars and electronics, too. And during these times, recession-hit companies simply can’t afford to thumb their noses at such an overwhelming statistic.
Take for example, Mars’ latest candy bar, the “Fling.” It’s a low calorie chocolate wafer with a chocolate coating that sparkles with glitter. Yes, glitter. The online branding campaign is bright pink, and the slogan promises it’s, “Naughty… but not that naughty.” Predictable? Absolutely. Insulting? Patronizing? Maybe. The product was launched in California where that kind of marketing just might work… on thirteen year old girls… but it’s too soon to tell. Frito Lay took a more subtle approach and now hosts a line of new products including veggie crisps, 100-calorie packs, and baked potato chips.
To me it seems obvious which campaign will be more successful. Marketing to women is no longer a nice addition to a campaign; it’s headlining many of them. DeBeers adjusted to a drop in diamond sales by inventing a famously successful campaign for right hand rings. Their wording, “Your right hand is a declaration of independence. Your left hand lives for love. Your right hand lives for the moment. Your left hand wants to be held. Your right hand wants to be held high. Women of the world, raise your right hand,” empowered women. For DeBeers, it paid to analyze the female market of single, financially independent thirty-somethings and react accordingly.
The danger some companies face in feminizing their brand, whatever that means, is the alienation of the male demographic. Some companies are afraid of compromising their masculine image. But for many companies in these times, it’s a matter of survival. It’s no surprise that the companies concerned with brand profitability want to get ahead during the recession are capitalizing on the opportunities presented by female consumers.
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I like your take on it and agree that women are a very powerful audience. Think about how many colors have been added the last couple of years to cameras and MP3 players…lots of pink, red, yellow etc. Would be interesting to know sales of these devices by color.
For sure we won’t see many men buying a “Fling” chocolate – unless the’re buying it for their girlfriend maybe. Whether chocolate is the right product to be feminizing or if you’re better off with a generic approach I’m doubtful. But I guess time will tell….