RE:INVENTION, a Chicago Marketing and PR firm - specializing in B2B marketing - HELPS COMPANIES MARKET THEIR PRODUCTS AND SERVICES TO WOMEN. Welcome to our blog. Explore our toolbox and learn how women-targeted marketing and PR can boost your sales and profits. Visit re:invention's corporate website at: www.reinventioninc.com.
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Wednesday, July 30, 2008
Women Make Their Online Presence Known
A study conducted by BlogHer and Compass Partners last year found that 36 million women participate in the blogosphere each week, 15 million of which have their own blogs. In the last two weeks these ladies of the web have definitely reminded us of how impressive their online presence is. Consequently we have compiled an "in case you missed it" or, if you didn’t, an "in case you are eager to know more" list of some notable marks recently left by Internet savvy women.
Launch of New Search Engine Cuil Anna Patterson is one of three former Google engineers who launched their rival search engine Cuil on Monday. The founders believe Cuil out searches Google when it comes to depth and breadth on the Internet, which is rapidly expanding. According to AP, Patterson's last Internet search engine was so impressive that Google bought the technology in 2004 to upgrade its own system. She believes Cuil is even more valuable than her previous project.
BlogHer Conference BlogHer, Inc. hosted its fourth annual BlogHer Conference July 18-20 in San Francisco. The conference was started in 2005 to help female bloggers network and gain exposure. Once again, the BlogHer conference sold out, attracting over 1,000 bloggers from all over the world. Despite the impressive turnout, many women bloggers who attended the event are still worried they are not receiving the same recognition as their male counterparts. Read more about this event in the New York Times article entitled “Blogging’s Glass Ceiling.” Tech Cult’s 100 Top Web Celebrities Recently Tech Cult compiled their list of the 100 Top Web Celebrities. According to their website, they compiled the list by gathering around 200 potential names and querying them on Google to see how many results they would generate. After some minor adjustments, the 100 names with the highest number of results were profiled. (Celebrities that became famous prior to the explosion of the Web were not included.) 11 notable women made it onto this list including Michelle Malkin, Mitchell Baker of the Mozilla Foundation, Sarah Lacey of BusinessWeek, and Marissa Mayer of Google. To see the full list click here. Blogger Backlash Against BMW ad A BMW print ad for their premium used cars has caught the attention of female bloggers who are outraged by the company’s message. The ad displays a shoulders up picture of a sultry blond girl accompanied by the tagline “You know you’re not the first.” Yvonne DiVita wrote a great post in response to this ad on the lip-sticking blog. Sabine Clappaert of Muse asked “HELLO? Is there anyone home at BMW Marketing...?” I recommend you check out both of the posts these ladies have written about this ad, as well as the accompanying comments. (there are a lot of them!)
2008 Blog-To Show Liz Strauss just hosted her Second Official Successful-Blog Blog-To Show. She began the Blog-To show because “folks said they needed a way to talk about their blogs.” This year 260 blogs from all over the blogosphere were showcased. See them all here.
Kudos to all the ladies mentioned here for commanding the attention of the blogosphere!
RE: 10 Tips from This Week's Featured Woman Entrepreneur or Executive
This week's featured woman entrepreneur or executive is Susan Wilson Solovic, CEO of SBTV.com (St. Louis, MO).
about Susan Solovic
Susan Wilson Solovic is the CEO and co-founder of SBTV.com - small business television. Her career in broadcast and print journalism, with a focus on small business, spans 25 years. She is an Emmy award winning corporate television producer, a former news reporter for NBC and CBS affiliates, a former featured columnist for UPI on businesswomen issues and a best-selling author of The Girls’ Guide to Building a Million-Dollar Business; The Girls’ Guide to Power and Success; Reinvent Your Career: Attain the Success You Deserve and Desire; and Hanging onto the American Dream.
In 2000, the Small Business Administration recognized her as a leading small business journalist. In addition to her CEO and anchor duties at SBTV.com, Susan is a frequent columnist for publications such as Enterprising Women, a frequent on-camera small business expert for Bloomberg, CNN, CNN/fn, Early Today Show on NBC, World News this Morning on ABC and is frequently quoted in Cosmopolitan magazine on career advice for young women. Susan can often be seen as a keynote speaker, emcee, panelist or moderator at many conferences such as:
- National Association of Women Business Owners - Women Business Enterprise National Council - New York Times Small Business Summit - Business Marketing Association - Women Impacting Public Policy - National Women’s Business Council
About SBTV.com Susan says, "Our goal at SBTV.com was to create a new media platform to provide timely news, critical information and interactivity to help small businesses start, grow, protect and manage their business enterprises. We've been recognized by the Stevie Awards as the Most Innovative Company under 100 employees in the country in 2006. That same year we were selected as the 2006 Best Investment Opportunity by the Women's Technology Cluster Venture Forum. "
Susan's Top 10 Tips.
1. Get out of your way. To succeed in business you need to give yourself permission to be successful. You must think big, bold and audacious. There's nothing wrong with wanting to be successful or build a multi-million or billion enterprise; It doesn't mean you're being greedy, overly aggressive or a bitch. And by the way, don't keep your dreams a secret.
2. If you don't ask... . So many women in business are afraid to ask and then wonder why they don't get the big deals, opportunities or promotions. For example, a small percentage of women are financial advisors. Why is this? It's a great business for women, but the research shows that women often don't succeed in this profession because they won't ask for the sale.
Don't be afraid to boldly ask for opportunities. They rarely come knocking at your door.
3. It's about the money, honey. You aren't evil if you want and/or do make money. In fact, as a woman entrepreneur, building a profitable enterprise not only means you can care for yourself and your family, but it also gives you the opportunity to pay sustainable wages to your employees, create family friendly work environments, give back to your community and participate in the political process which gives you a voice to impact issues important to you, your business and your employees. 4. Be a constant learner. My mother used to say, "Education is the one thing no one can ever take away from you." And Nelson Mandela has said, "Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world."
5. Relationships may change - be prepared. As you become more successful there may be others in your life who don't understand and may not be comfortable with your success. I recommend three things: if the relationship becomes toxic, move away; for the relationships you value, maintain balance and focus; and connect with other women who are in your peer group and who can support and understand.
6. Speak with confidence and control. You absolutely can change your voice and speaking habits. Small, timid, meek voices don't command respect and confidence.
7. When you say 'yes' to one thing, effectively say 'no' to something else. Taking on too much limits your ability to successfully accomplish your goals and objectives. We all have our limitations. You aren't a superwoman. Learn to say 'no' and mean it.
8. Network effectively by giving. Always be willing to provide assistance to others. Then when you need some help, it will return to you in volumes.
9. Shatter the looking glass. Our image of ourselves is based upon a reflection of how others see us. If you've been told you are fat your whole life, then you are fat, regardless of how much you weigh. Shatter that reflection and get to know who you really are. Facts are far better than fiction.
10. Take a vacation. Working hard day in and day out without a break gets you what? I don't know. Before you start a new year, sit down with a calender and mark off your vacation time. Make it sacred even if you do nothing more than stay at home. Our bodies and minds need time to recharge.
Many appreciations to Susan for her words of wisdom!
What did you learn from Susan's 10 tips? Post a kind comment if you think she and her tips deserve a complimentary pair of shoes from the RE:INVENTION team.
Share your expertise! Submit A REQUEST to have your company featured along with your 10 Tips For 10 Million Women.
I recently finished reading the book bounce! by entrepreneur, author, and speaker Barry Moltz. The interesting thing about bounce! is that it discusses failure equally as often, if not more than, success. bounce! is about learning how to forget about the stereotypical success archetypes (something from nothing, something from something, and the comeback) to realize that our own business life cycles are filled with successes and failures, some of which we can learn from, but some of which are just steps along the way with no lessons attached.
Moltz uses a rubber band ball as a metaphor for our business lives. With each new experience we add a new rubber band to the ball and with each new rubber band the ball bounces a little differently each time. If we learn to develop what Moltz calls ‘true business confidence’ then we can bounce back from every success and failure.
Moltz uses examples from business, but also sports, religion, martial arts, dance, etc. to allow the reader to creatively visualize the lessons in the book. A great example from bounce! of this technique is a quote from Anna Belyaev, CEO of Type A in Chicago. She says:
You know, like when you’re a kid, you play baseball and recruit other kids to play your game; you won or lost, had a great time. But that’s not how we play our adult life. Our businesses, everything becomes really important. If I reinvent it as a game, then I say what kind of game am I playing, what positions are being filled? Then I invite people to play it and it becomes fun.
So how do we develop bounce? By using the ten building bands for true business confidence:
1. Environment 2. Humility 3. Face the fear of failure 4. In failure, give up the shame 5. Failure gives us a choice 6. More effective risk taking 7. Process trumps outcome 8. Setting patient goals for success and failure 9. A measurement system of our own 10. Value Action
This is not a ‘How to Succeed in Business’ book. This book is about developing the ability to bounce from inevitable success and failure. I recommend this quick read to anyone in business looking for a fresh and honest take on surviving in the business world.
My favorite section of the book is the chapter titled Do it Anyway: Be a Smart Risk Taker. In this chapter Moltz writes:
To have the opportunity to win, you have to be able to stay in the game. Play to win, but only if you can absorb the loss. If you bet too much and then make a fatal mistake that bankrupts your business, you are out of the game with no opportunity to succeed. This isn’t to say that you can’t take risks that don’t pay off. You must take risks, and some of them will fail. However, often small mistakes can do the job of larger ones, allowing you the opportunity (opportunity, not guarantee) to incrementally make your own way to success.
RE: 10 Tips from This Week's Featured Woman Entrepreneur or Executive
This week's featured woman entrepreneur or executive is Lesley Mattos, Owner of Adesso Albums (San Fransisco, CA).
about Lesley and Adesso Albums Why would a woman making a six-figure salary in Silicon Valley choose to leave her high profile position with Cisco to create a product that used no 21st Century technology? Ask Lesley Mattos, Creator and Founder of Adesso Albums. That’s exactly what she did!
“Working with Silicon Valley’s top technology companies can take a toll on a gal’s ability to stop and see, much less smell the roses,” said Mattos. “During a trip to Italy, far away from friends and family and immersed in a culture that lives in the moment, I realized what I’d lost sight of. That’s where the idea for Adesso Albums was born.”
The Adesso Album is the original instant photo guest book and it’s revolutionizing the traditional guest book market. The album combines retro, funky and fun Polaroid instant photos with hand written sentiments from guests creating an instant memento that is presented to honorees at events such as a weddings, birthdays, anniversary or retirement parties as they are leaving – memories in hand! It’s the only album on the market today that captures life’s milestone events in pictures and words, “now”, which is what the word “Adesso” means in Italian.
Lesley's Top 10 Tips.
1. Embrace change. It's an inevitable part of running a business and rather than fighting it, wasting valuable time and eventually losing, you're better off anticipating, planning for and embracing it. As a small business, you are nimble, can react quickly and in a variety of ways. If you look at change as an opportunity to grow, you will.
2. Use technology. Do more with less by automating routine processes with web-based applications. There are two advantages: these applications increase productivity and free you, your staff and your resources to focus on more important tasks and they can be accessed from anywhere.
3. Keep your eye on the ball. It's easy to get caught up in the day-to-day minutia of running a business. Constantly asking yourself if your daily decisions and activities get you closer to your overall goals for the company will keep you on track and from spending time on the wrong things. 4. Know your differentiators. Compare your product or service to the real, as well as the perceived competition. A competing concept can be even more threatening than an actual product and unless you have thought about what differentiates your product or service from everything that's out there, your marketing efforts will fall short.
5. Lead by example. Peers and subordinates alike will learn from your example. They 'listen' with their eyes, so make sure your behavior, your process and your actions both inside the office and out are things you want emulated.
6. Give the illusion of participation. Everyone likes to feel a part of the decision process, so let them! Then do what you think you ought to do anyway. It's not necessary, and often actually a hindrance in a small business environment to employ the decision by committee process.
7. Control timing. We often miss opportunities because we think we have to respond immediately to stimuli such as phone calls or emails. Just because the phone is ringing or an email comes in it doesn't mean you have to react. Your day shouldn't be a series of interruptions, and to the more you can control them, the more effective you'll be.
8. Know what you don't know. It's inconceivable that you could have in-depth knowledge of every aspect of your business. Acknowledge your weak areas and surround yourself with competent resources and trusted partners and learn from them.
9. Stay Organized. It is critical to update, edit, add and delete from your list of to-do's on a daily basis. Nothing feels better than crossing things off and with a well-maintained list for you and your team, everyone will stay on track and your chances for success are enhanced.
10. Plan for success. Formalize your process as you go and plan for and build infrastructure - human and otherwise - ahead of your growth so when it comes, you're ready for it. And don't forget to celebrate your successes along the way. Stop and pat yourself and your team on the back as milestones are achieved.
Did Lesley's 10 Tips inspire or motivate you? If you think her wise words deserve a complimentary pair of shoes from the RE:INVENTION team, post a kind comment!
Share your expertise! Submit A REQUEST to have your company featured along with your 10 Tips For 10 Million Women.
This week's featured woman entrepreneur or executive is Lisa Nirell, Chief Energy Officer of EnergizeGrowth™ LLC (Sunriver, OR).
about Lisa and EnergizeGrowth™ LLC Lisa and her team work with services leaders who want to eventually exit or sell their company, but lack a steady stream of profitable clients. Through her research, 24 years of experience, strategy workshops, and highly interactive learning programs, Lisa helped clients secure $84M in new business within just three years. Lisa was the first global account manager in Siebel Systems' (now Oracle's) history to lead, design and implement a formal account strategy for Microsoft Corporation. Within two years, revenues grew from $2M to $11M. Her clients walk away with new ways to grow and eventually exit their business wealthier and healthier. Lisa has designed dozens of multimedia programs around the results of a one-year study of high performing business owners, and from exclusive interviews with leaders such as Dr. Stephen Covey and Marshall Goldsmith. One of her greatest publishing adventures was contributing to Guy Kawasaki's hottest new book, "The Art of the Start." She authored the upcoming book, "EnergizeGrowth™ NOW: The Marketing Guide to A Wealthy Company and a Healthy Life." In addition, she is an award winning business columnist for several magazines--including The San Diego Transcript, Vistage (formerly TEC International), AFSMI's SBusiness Journal, Women in Technology, and Renaissance Executive Forums.Today Lisa helps entrepreneurial companies implement her acclaimed EnergizeGrowth™ LLC marketing and planning programs. She is also a licensed Action Plan Marketing consultant and a member of the Million Dollar Consulting College with Alan Weiss. Lisa's community and mentors keep her sane and energized. She is actively involved in the Institute for Management Consultants, The Bend Chamber of Commerce, and Central OR Builders Association. A portion of the EnergizeGrowth™ LLC revenues support Room To Read, The Deschutes Basin Land Trust, and The Central OR Humane Society.
Lisa's Top 10 Tips.
1. Keep your mindset 'in check.' What limiting beliefs do you have about your talents and skills that stop you? Find a way to catch yourself and manage that situation when it arises.
2. Develop select sets of relationships with executives in companies that you admire. Make yourself visible. Ask if you can interview their top executive and then publish your results. This will increase your visibility.
3. Write a growth plan for your business. Most entrepreneurs keep their marketing and growth plans in their heads. They get easily distracted. In turn, results may never happen - or if they do, they take much longer to attain. 4. Celebrate small successes. Put away your inner critic who wants you to do things perfectly. As I say to my clients, "Perfect is the enemy of done."
5. Repeat after me: "I am in the marketing business." Change your perspective about marketing being something you do when you need clients. Everything you say, do and wear reflects your company's brand. Embrace marketing and demand generation as an integral piece of what you do.
6. Build a supportive environment. Who do you spend time with? Are they lifelong learners? Do they have fun in their business? Are they profitable? DO they genuinely care about your success? Are they emotionally wealthy? Your success is a direct result of the expectations of your peers.
7. Upgrade your skills. Are your communication skills weak? Are you struggling to manage your cash flow? Go find an expert to help you grow in these areas.
8. Know where you're going. Write down (or create a vision board) of the business and life you want to attain. Include images of the experiences you envision. Put it prominently in your work space. Tell all of your allies and partners.
9. Strategize your actions. It's one thing to envision what you want your business to look like in three years. It's as equally important to have a written action plan for how you are going to get there. Pick just one or two strategies and write a plan. Stick to it. (I write about this in my upcoming book, "EnergizeGrowth™ NOW: The Marketing Guide to A Wealthy Company and a Healthy Life.")
10. Stay on the FUN channel. Allocate at least one to two hours for fun into your day. Find time to exercise, garden, dance, watch a comedy, sing or whatever make you feel lighter. Life is too short.
Contact Information
Lisa Nirell Chief Energy Officer (CEO) of EnergizeGrowth™ LLC. Web: http://energizegrowth.com/ Email: lisa@energizegrowth.com 541.593.8787
Many appreciations to Lisa for her wise words!
Think Lisa's 10 Tips deserve a complimentary pair of shoes from the RE:INVENTION team? Post a kind comment!
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Now that Hillary Clinton is out of the presidential race, there is much debate over who her supporters will be casting their vote for in November. And what’s the demographic that could decide the election? According to a recent article in the Chicago Tribune: suburban women.
In the article Suburban women seen as key bloc for Obama and McCain, Christi Parsons writes that this segment of voters, which has been critical in past elections, could be the tipping point in the campaign. Both parties have taken notice, with John McCain and Barack Obama reaching out even more dramatically to women voters and former Clinton supporters.
"The Republicans, in order to do unusually well with women voters, will have to target them" in very small blocs, said Ruth Mandel, director of the Eagleton Institute of Politics at Rutgers University. "Especially because of the discussions in the primaries about suburban voters being a challenge for Senator Obama to reach and connect with, suburban voters will be a target."
Carly Fiorina, McCain’s chief economic advisor and a possible vice president candidate, is leading his campaign toward women. Fiorina, the first woman to lead a Fortune 20 company (Hewlett-Packard, Co.), brings her skills as a businesswoman to the political arena. She told USA Today’s Susan Page at a breakfast last week, “There are a lot of things that government can learn and borrow from business.”
Fiorina isn’t the only potential woman vice president with an eye on business. Kansas Governor Kathleen Sebelius, a vice president contender for Obama, was recently honored with the American Rights at Work's fourth annual Eleanor Roosevelt Human Rights Award at a celebration on the National Museum of Women in the Arts in Washington, D.C.
Sebelius also recently signed Executive Order 08-08, which expands the Kansas Statewide Certification Program, where women and minority businesses can be certified as a Disadvantaged Business Enterprise. According to Kansas City infoZine, certification increases opportunities for women and minority businesses to obtain contracts and subcontracts from governmental and private entities committed to the inclusion of minority- and women-owned businesses.
"A key component of our economic strength is supporting Kansas small businesses," Sebelius said. "This executive order will make sure that more small businesses can secure contracts and keep their employees working."
We will be interested to see how both of these influential women impact the presidential campaign in the coming months. Join us as we watch for more political marketing toward women voters from both parties.
RE: 10 Tips from This Week's Featured Woman Entrepreneur or Executive
This week's featured woman entrepreneur or executive is Jen Groover, CEO and president of Jen Groover Productions LLC, Butler Bag LLC and Jenuine Concepts LLC.
About Jen Groover:
Tagged by Success Magazine as a "One Woman Brand" and a leading "Serial Entrepreneur" by Entrepreneur Magazine, Jen Groover masterminded and built her own companies and has assisted in the launch of more than 50 other companies.
Jen's most notable triumph to date is the creation and success of the Butler Bag company, which due to her business strategy and concept has become a multi-million dollar company in under two years - and without the use of any paid advertising. Butler Bag's success has spawned a recent licensing deal with industry leader The Accessory Network Group and the launching of a much anticipated line on QVC this summer.
Jen has also recently signed a major licensing deal with the brand management company, Earthbound, which will allow the Jen Groover brand to fully emerge at major retailers thereby introducing to the world her breadth of products ranging from children's development-based toys and games to apparel and household products.
Jen's personal and business mantras "Have more fear of regret than failure" and "What if...? Why not...?"will be furthered in the near future with the release of her interactive Web site Launcher's Cafe. Coupling the incredible capabilities of social networking with an innovative approach to teaching, Launcher's Cafe will be a beneficial addition to the way entrepreneurs and launchers learn, share information, do business and accelerate business growth.
Jen's Top 10 Tips
1. Ignore the naysayers. When someone challenges your ideas, respond back with wondering "what if...?" and "why not...?" Historically, the best ideas are always challenged and doubted from the beginning.
2. Have more "fear of regret" than you have "fear of failure." In school, we get conditioned to fear those red marks. We see them as a sign of failure and we are conditioned to fear failure but the feeling of regret is often a worse emotion than diving in an trying something. When you're risking, you're giving it your all, which should give you a great sense of pride. Plus, even if you fail, you're gaining wisdom. Your goal should always be to focus on learning and figuring out how to be a better navigator towards success.
3. Discomfort brings growth. We innately try to stay in our 'comfort zone' but growth and forward progression happen outside of that zone. Challenge yourself to do things you may feel uncomfortable doing - this is when you truly grow and evolve.
4. Do not judge, be inspired. Try not to be so quick to judge everyone and everything - this closes off your ability to see opportunity. Instead, condition yourself to be inspired by the unusual, different, contrarian. If you keep a creative, open mind, many opportunities will come to you.
5. Seek wisdom over knowledge. People become paralyzed by new dreams because they don't have enough text book knowledge. But some of the most successful people have not even finished high school or college. You truly gain your needed wisdom by doing. So don't keep saying 'one more course and I'll be ready to go.' Dive in. Get your hands dirty.
6. Stop complaining and start doing. This rule applies to everyone in a company from CEOs to employees. Always focus on solutions.
7. You're entitled to nothing until you earn it. Many people walk around with a false sense of entitlement. Remember: You're not entitled to it until you've rolled up your sleeves, put in the hard work and earned it.
8. Don't fear a lack of work/life balance. Let your personal life inspire and re-energize your professional life and vise versa. Compartmentalizing them can often create more stress and sense of failure.
9. Collaboration is crucial to success. So often business ventures fail not for lack of a good idea or concept, but because an individual is trying to do everything herself. Collaboration allows you to diversify, expand and grow more quickly.
10. Failures are an opportunity to learn and grow. Failures happen - it's inevitable. Instead of getting hung up on them or bogged down by them, evaluate the circumstances and then learn and grow from them. This healthy outlook on failing allows you to move on and evolve.
Big thanks to Jen Groover for her words of wisdom! Are you inspired by Jen's 10 Tips? Leave a kind comment about what you think.
Share your expertise! Submit a request to have your company featured along with your 10 Tips For 10 Million Women.
RE: June's Three Marketing to Women Campaigns Worth Noting
As with any other month, June was full of companies and producers striving to gain the interest and attention of women across the world. We at RE:INVENTION would like to shine a little light on the campaigns that continued to get it right through the month of June. Taking a look back, these three women-targeted marketing campaigns had what it took to successfully court the women of today:
1. Wonderbra has launched a campaign this June calling upon customers - aka real women - to pose as models for a mosaic-style billboard to be featured in Central London August 11 which will feature thousands of d'ecolletages ranging in all shapes and sizes - although the new campaign is for their new D - G-sized bras. Wonderbra and Iris PR hit it on the head with their saucy viral portraying objects commonly used as nicknames for breasts - jugs, knockers, watermelons and the like.
While the campaign is launching in the UK, we in the U.S. should appreciate Iris' attempt to incorporate real images of actual customers (Dove, anyone?) and the humor they bring to a topic so taboo in our nation.... They promise no airbrushing and the women's faces will not be shown.
"Today it is not about talking at your market, it is about involving them in the creation of the marketing," says Natasha Williams, a Director of Iris PR.
And involving the Wonderbra market of 18-35-year-old women shows just how far advertising has come for products as misrepresented (in America, anyway) as women's underwear. No longer do the majority of women consumers relate or react positively to the size-zero supermodel - falsely - portraying what real women look like in their skivvies. And women are more willing and proud than ever to show off what they do look like.
"The idea is to use women from our...target market who embody the spirit of the Wonderbra and feel happy showing themselves feeling good wearing our bras," says Julia Nolan, Wonderbra's marketing manager.
The icing on the cupcakes: The images produced will be used in a Wonderbra for Breast Cancer Care 2009 calender which will generate money and awareness for the charity. Kudos to Wonderbra for keeping the ball rolling and allowing women to show how sexy real bodies can be - we hope to see more of this trend!
2. Electrolux, makers of premium appliances for homes and restaurants in Europe for more than 7 decades, is coming on to women in the U.S. with the mission of helping those who are already doing amazing things in their lives - the do-it-all women - be even more amazing.
Electrolux's recent campaign includes commercials featuring America's sweetheart Kelly Ripa - certainly a busy woman - in real-life situations in which the appliances allow her to move more smoothly through her busy day. While many of Electrolux'x target audience - 35 - 54-year-old women - may not be able to relate to Ripa's multi-million dollar lifestyle and perfectly assembled appearance (The ladies at SheHive question the relatability), they will surely be able to relate to the concept of juggling a career, family and other responsibilities and Electrolux will allow them to do that better, faster and easier - all while getting the water to a boil in 90 seconds.
The attractive part about the Electrolux's marketing strategy is that they not only address, but commend, today's women for wearing more than a closet's worth of hats. They don't want to offer women a way to take off some hats or slow down, but rather offer them quality products to help keep their life as full and satisfied as possible - lending a hand to women in their efforts to continue doing it all, similar to what American Express did with Tina Fey.
Electrolux, like Wonderbra, realizes the importance of engaging their market. With their transcendent online game called 'Kelly's Bags' , customers can play a virtual scavenger hunt where Ripa's collection of hand bags can lead them to a prize of this year's hottest collection of Electrolux'spremiumkitchen appliances - a pretty fresh approach.
"We know that in order to be successful we needed to engage our consumer target in ways that are non-traditional and yes, even daring," says Mary Kay Kopf, Vice President, Brand Marketing for Electrolux Major Appliances North America.
With 'Kelly's Bags,' Kopf says, "We wanted to give people a compelling reason to visit the Electrolux Web site so we stacked the deck - giving them a fun game and the chance to win 10 suites of premium appliances."
And Electrolux is doing their part, too: In conjunction with Weber Shandwick, when people register to play the online game, they're also helping to support the Ovarian Cancer Research Fund as the company donates $1 every time an eligible customer registers to play.
3. And lastly - but certainly not least wonderful - is a small campaign movement with a very big message. We found this conceptual marketing to women project at Muse Communication - a smart marketing to women blog - and were touched by the way creator Dave Werner connected with women in such an enduring way.
Dave's goal was to create something that inspires wide-spread discussion, deeper thinking and change for an issue he admits he has not been significantly affected by, but that he realizes is an issue thousands of women face every day. With much time and effort, Dave created an inspiring grass roots campaign to change social conscience and plant the seed of respect in a society full of disappointing generalizations.
Take a look:
To view more about the mirror, the process and the extremely touching testimonials Dave received from women, visit his site and click on the reflect/respect tab located at the bottom right.
Have any suggestions for what you thought was a great marketing to women campaign from June? Keep your eyes peeled this month and share great campaigns you come across in July when we post our choices for the top three again at the end of the month.
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