The Skinny on Lululemon’s Success

by Mary Lou Quinlan
Published June 13, 2011 in Media

On Friday afternoon, NPR Marketplace interviewed me about the success of retailer Lululemon Athletica. I was excited to weigh in on the yogawear juggernaut because I’ve been a fan since first discovering them in a Vancouver store while on my book tour in 2005. I’m addicted to the brand and have watched (and contributed to!) their growth ever since. Here’s why:

1) Terrific execution at retail: their philosophy of optimism and energy spiced with a dash of yoga zen pervades the entire experience. No matter the store, they cast their salesforce to engage the local community. They’re helpful, never presumptive, always knowledgeable and fun. (They ask where I practice yoga and even offer free classes in store!)

2) Consistently gorgeous design/color/news that can sustain the hefty pricetag in a category of disposable black leggings: They’ve co-opted the fast fashion code of Zara to activewear, driving frequency of visits and size of purchase (Gotta have that grape pullover with the thumbholes before they sell out!)

3) And as I mentioned in the interview, the brand’s secret Whole Truth: the fabric makes your butt look great. (Try it out yourself.)

Even with expansion, the brand hasn’t lost its chic. More like a Chanel bag or a Tory Burch flat, it’s ‘what to be seen in’ at the cooler gyms in big cities, high end ‘burbs and resorts. Lululemon is a cult of ‘namaste meets fashionista’, with a discrete logo that follows you from yoga mat to sidewalk runway. (Oh, and did I mention it makes your butt look good?)

Tags: Exercise, Good Intentions, marketing with women in mind

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Despite More Ways To Talk Up, WOM Is Down

by Mary Lou Quinlan
Published June 9, 2011 in Retail

A new study from Colloquy Research reveals that Word of Mouth– the 2011 darling of communications for today’s brands– is shutting down.  According to the Colloquy study, of 3,295 U.S. consumers surveyed, just 58% said they often have conversations with family, friends and coworkers about products and services they’ve used, a full 20% down from 2008 survey results.

This dip is particularly surprising given the enormous increase in texting, mobile and social media like FB and Twitter for spreading the word every time we blink. The reason for the reduced chatter? The continued deflated economy that sucks the air out of bragging rights and even erodes consumption of what’s hot. What’s kind of obvious is that when you are not able to buy a lot of stuff, the coolest new brands aren’t on your lips. In fact, they are probably kind of annoying. If things are tight and your appliances are on their last legs and a friend were to inadvertently gush, “Oh, I just bought this great new washer!”, you would clam up or slug her.

As this limp economy lingers and more women either suffer or (if they are OK) keep their buying sprees under the radar, what will it mean for the brands who have been counting on women’s WOM for their marketing strategies? Does it mean brands will have to step up to the plate again and start doing their own heavy lifting? Or that women, the best viral marketers of all, will put their friendships and empathy ahead of their consumerism and not only not talk up the latest whatever, but instead espouse the virtue of not buying…even when they can?

For more of Mary Lou’s insight on WOM, check out her interview with The Small Business Advocate. CLICK HERE.

Tags: marketing with women in mind, Social Networking

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Guns vs Sloth: The Appeal of Nerf

by Libby Kane
Published June 1, 2011 in Moms & Family, New Ideas

Which is more upsetting: Your child glued to a TV screen for hours on end, or your child actively playing… with a toy gun?
Hasbro, the longtime providers of all things gun (as an aside, the term “gun” is avoided within the company, where they substitute the word “shooter”) has placed its bets behind our horror of young American couch potatoes.

The Wall Street journal describes how Nerf has progressed beyond your basic party-favor water gun to elaborate launchers of water, paper, and foam. What caught our eye, however, is the growth of the Dart Tag league. Hasbro turned Dart Tag into a sport based on and named after one of its most popular models in 2008, and will now recruit young players (of both sexes) nationally to participate in the first-ever championship game held in Orlando, FL this August.

Let’s do a quick rundown: Engaging consumers? Check. Benefitting youth? Check. Increasing sales? Judging by the 2010 reported 8% sales increase of outdoor toys in a wholly unremarkable toy retail market—check. While the mom in many of us cringes at the thought of children shooting each other with anything, that same side cheers for an activity that can peel our kids off the couch. In fact, the appeal has us justifying our approval (“It’s really only water/paper/Nerf”). Well played, Hasbro.

Tags: Wall Street Journal

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Just Ask a Woman is seeking an associate planner: Want to join our team?

by Tracy Chapman
Published May 19, 2011 in New Ideas

Just Ask a Woman, the leading women’s marketing consultancy in the US, is seeking an insightful, energetic Associate Account Planner. Job listing below. If all of this sounds like a description of you or someone you know, please contact Tracy Chapman at tchapman@justaskawoman.com

Responsibilities include:

Qualitative Research Support and Execution

• work with the three JAAW team principals to grow the client base and deliver results that earn repeat business
• be proficient at research screener creation, interfacing with recruiters and managing multiple recruits across the country
• development of discussion guides and ability to respond to client edits and direction
• orchestration of the on-site planning and logistics for the qualitative work, which ranges from large group interviewing to small group, as well as in-store and in-home ethnographic techniques
• attendance at research sessions and recording notes.  May also include independently interviewing women in a style that shows openness, empathy and engagement
• ability to pull together consumer perspective, insights and marketing point of view in a highly persuasive, readable document
• ability to develop PowerPoint presentations
• ability to review and edit video to support insights in a compelling way
• effective presenter to client organizations. Comfortable speaking in front of small and large audiences

 Eager Contributor to Content Creation

In addition to our insight-gathering and strategic marketing prowess, Just Ask a Woman is also a prolific communications organization. This candidate will be encouraged to add their voice to not only the Just Ask a Woman editorial but also other media venues, both traditional and digital in order to spread our learning to potential clients and partners.

 A Smart, Likeable, Energetic Team Player

With a small company, it may go without saying that chemistry counts, but here it’s a mantra. Our style with our clients is honest and persistent and frankly, fun. We have a track record for being people whom others really love to work with, thanks to our track record of responsiveness, speed and grace under pressure and our unrelenting commitment to speak truth to power. We are all hands on and expect that same work ethic from everyone.

 Someone who both works to live and lives to work

While we work hard, we are also very conscious of two things. One, that burning talent to the ground is a sure fire way to burn it out, so we are generous with our vacation policy and our flexibility when life calls for it. But we also expect that in return, each team member will include Just Ask a Woman’s goals as a personal priority. We can’t help thinking about women 24/7/365 even when off duty, so our insights are always shared among us, fresh and not slotted under “later.”

 Qualification Requirements:

Must have a Bachelor’s degree. Internships in related fields a plus

2-3 years of relevant experience in an account planning department

Excellent writing skills

Proficient with PowerPoint. Final Cut Pro experience preferred

Travel is required

Assets

Strong awareness and interest in all media forms; active social media presence; pop culture enthusiast; trendwatcher and interpreter; avid consumer, especially at discount; is a careful budget manager who treats our clients’ investments and Just Ask a Woman’s assets with care and precision.

A perfectionist as far as details and follow up, a big strategic thinker who’s also a practical problem solver, fast on your feet, but thoughtful in your approach, an easy sense of humor, empathy and relatability to women of all life stages, income, geography, ethnicity and values.

If you are the person that people turn to for help, the person that others confess secrets to…and you keep them, you are on the right track. And most of all, you must have a deep personal respect and regard for women. We are kind of obsessed with how they think, behave and buy.  And we care about helping them have happier, healthier lives by giving our clients the support to do right by them AND make money doing it.

Please contact Tracy Chapman at tchapman@justaskawoman.com

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Carlsberg Copenhagen: This Beer Matches My Outfit

by Libby Kane
Published May 19, 2011 in Food, New Ideas

With the light color palette and clean lines of their newest beer, Copenhagen, Carlsberg looks to entice the quarter of all beer drinkers who are female. While the idea is a good one (why let a quarter of your market fall by the wayside?), this is an actual quote from the company’s innovation director:

“There may be situations where they are standing in a bar and want their drinks to match their style. In this case, they may well reject a beer if the design does not appeal to them.”

Yes, it must be that common “this alcohol doesn’t match my outfit” dilemma that turns many women away from beer. Not the ads portraying them as keg-providing robots. To give Carlsberg credit, though (and Fast Company makes the good point that the company is based in Denmark, one of the world’s most gender-equal countries), the packaging is beautiful—and not pink!

The “androgynous” drink, according to Adweek, won’t make an appearance Stateside—and let’s just point out that beer, not having a sex, gender, or any human biology really, would have a hard time looking androgynous—so it won’t be the new must-have accessory for American women.

Being unable to test it ourselves, we’ll have to address our European counterparts for the answer to the deciding question: How does it taste?

Tags: For Women, marketing with women in mind

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ScanIt!, Then SpendIt!

by Libby Kane
Published May 18, 2011 in Retail

First there was the cashier. Then, the express lane. The self-scanner. And now, the ScanIt!.

Another testament to the idea that the better the tech, the smaller the package (and that exclamation points are silly in product names) the ScanIt! is a handheld device that scans grocery purchases as they’re made, keeps a running total, and even suggests relevant coupons and deals mid-shop.

Let’s do pros first: It’s really, really cool. Who doesn’t love scanning things? We see a prime distraction for bored shoppers, kids and moms alike. Then there’s the budget-policing aspect: No more fudging prices or mistyping on that smart phone calculator—the ScanIt! (feels silly, right?) will do the math for you.

Photo: coolestgadgets.com

Yet while the ScanIt! might be touted as a tool for the money-conscious shopper—and who isn’t one, these days?—it’s actually a pink plastic spending trap. Really though, it’s pink. The idea of suggestions for further purchases with coupons seems great, but it’s eerily reminiscent of the enjoyably black hole that is SuperTarget… you don’t think you need it until you see it on sale. The Wall Street Journal tells us that, unsurprisingly, shoppers who use the device spend about 10% more than shoppers who don’t.

Apparently, around half of Stop & Shop and Giant supermarkets in the Northeast have implemented the ScanIt!. But knowing that it’s a device that allows us to avoid lines and interacting with others, we expect that it will spread through NYC like wildfire.

Tags: Retail, Shopping

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At Least It Isn’t Pink

by Jen Drexler
Published May 5, 2011 in Tech

So this week word leaked that Verizon is testing an Android smartphone intended for women. How did it leak? Well someone revealed they are doing focus groups with women in their 20-30s around the country to vet the phone. Note to marketers: Think twice about the perfunctory release respondents sign at your focus groups. Might want to tighten up security

Here is what we know:
It will be green in color b/c green is soothing
It will have a rubber back so it is easier to grip
It will have apps (well, it is a smartphone, right?)
The wallpaper will be calming
Has some cool accessories like a wireless charging dock that has speakers (a la an iHome unplugged)
Car speaker and matching bluetooth headset

Here is what I don’t understand:
Why is this for women versus for people? Wouldn’t men also like a soothing phone with a no slip grip?

The only feature which is more distinctly female is the cool light up charm that attaches to the phone with a strap. It lights up when there is a call or a new message. Now this is really smart for women. If you are wondering why … look over at the table of women having dinner together on a Thursday night. I bet that their phones are on the table in case the babysitter or their teenager needs to call. Because women don’t keep their phones in their pockets like men we don’t hear or feel our phones ring. So we put them out on the table so we can see if someone has called or texted. This visual cue would alleviate the anxiety about missing an important call. I’m guessing a really intuitive engineer figured this one out.

So what do you think? Do women need phones made just for them?

Tags: Android, For Women, Verizon

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Good Intentions? Gulp!

by Mary Lou Quinlan
Published April 27, 2011 in Health

Whenever we talk to women about eating well, they are quick to jump on the Half Truth of “I try to be healthy,” but within seconds, rebound to the Whole Truth, “But red wine is good for you , right?”

Well, recent news from the American Heart Association and American Stroke Association reveals there can be too much of a good thing sabotaging women’s Good Intentions and may actually be hurting them (“I try to drink red wine instead of white to get that Reserva-whatever” ingredient). The study indicated that while consumers know that red wine has benefits, unfortunately, they don’t know that the benefit has limits. Supposedly women should only consume 4 ounces a day, which to my count is less than a typical goblet served at most restaurants and dinner tables. Add a second or third glass of ‘good for you’ and her Good Intentions can end up leading to cardiovascular disease, like high blood pressure and even stroke.

So, what’s the solution? When healthcare organizations tout the benefits of drinking red wine or milk, eating chocolate or fiber, it’s only fair play to learn from the oldest adage of all, “An apple a day keeps the doctor away.” (Not an orchard…AN apple.) Be specific. Let her know that too much of a good thing can be a bad thing. Make an honest woman of her, for health’s sake.

Tags: Good Intentions, Whole Truths

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Who’s Your Hidden Buyer? The True Power of Women

by Mary Lou Quinlan
Published April 26, 2011 in Retail

This past weekend, a newspaper columnist discredited the well known statistic that ‘women buy 80%’ of everything sold in the US. I could take issue with the article on several counts, including the fact that the writer discarded reams of data supplied by experts in the field and relied on only the more discouraging sources, oddly from overseas. But I understand why he struggled with the statistic in the first place. It’s virtually unproveable by its nature. What Just Ask a Woman and so many of our colleagues in the women’s marketing arena have espoused for years is that women ‘buy or influence the purchase of 80%’ and it’s that word ‘influence’ that provides too much wiggle room.

For indeed, if women buy or influence, then so do men. “Buy” is easy to define. Credit card handed over? That’s the buyer. Cash on the counter? That’s the buyer. Contract signed? That’s the buyer. But what does influence really mean? It’s the how, why, who and when that lead to that final decision. And in some of the biggest spending categories, women are the Hidden Buyers.

While leaders in the food, beauty and household products industries refer to all their customers as “she,” marketers of less traditionally gender-based  products and services, such as finance, electronics, major hardgoods, automotive, healthcare and insurance may need a wake- up call to be able to pick their hidden buyer out of a line up. (That’s why the 80% stat is a helpful eye-opener!)

Here’s an example.  Look at your kitchen, from the countertop to the appliances to the lighting. If you’re a couple, you both may have voted on whether you’ve got granite or a composite, a water dispenser or a wine cabinet,  Schoolhouse lights or modern overheads.  But whose idea was it? Who pulled pictures from Dwell, DVR’d HGTV and bookmarked Houzz? Who vetted ideas with friends? Who compared prices, walked the aisles, pushed for one more feature, one more deal? Even if the credit card receipt carried his signature, the likelihood, by far, is that the dealbreaking decisions were largely hers.

But retailers and marketers who give him all the credit are hugely missing her hidden buying power. The home improvement industry’s major players—who watch the in-store action firsthand– are convinced of women’s 80% clout. And the female hidden buyer is rocking the foundation of every car showroom, financial broker’s office and big box electronic retailer in this country and their power only increases each year.

The question isn’t whether your brand or business attributes 60, 80 or 90% of final sales to women. The real question is: are you seeing the hidden 100%…her sometimes invisible but always powerful influence?

Tags: Retail, Shopping, Whole Truths

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Sales Show Women Are Only Green-ish

by Mary Lou Quinlan
Published April 22, 2011 in Retail

Okay, we will try not to rub it in. But after four years of predicting that women were more ‘greenish’ than green and that they will only buy green if it’s as convenient, effective and equally priced to conventional products, we get to say, “I told you so.”

In today’s New York Times article “As Consumers Cut Spending, ‘Green’ Products Lose Allure,”  sales on everything from kitchen counter cleaners to hybrid cars are sinking because the penny-pinching consumer would rather save money than contribute to a cause. While there’s an affluent core of advocates who are still fueling the growth of the smaller brands like Method or Seventh Generations, mass brands have met their match in today’s mass female consumer.

We don’t mean to say that women don’t want to save the environment or live in a more holistic, organic, healthy way, but in this economy, women are running households with every bit of ingenuity they can muster. Cutting pennies adds up and even though she got that original glow from displaying her Clorox Greenworks cred, she can’t justify the markup anymore. And even though Clorox has reduced prices, women continue to make choices that feel right for their households.

We identified this “greenish” trend in What She’s Not Telling You as the Half Truth of Ego Protection. Sure, she likes to feel that she comes off as a conscientious person, but underneath, she’s got to draw the line somewhere. Consultants and pundits who are preaching at conferences and corporations, painting the entire female population green, are misleading marketers to overdeliver on what is a Half Truth among women. Sure, we are growing our green consciousness…but take it one step at a time or find yourself buried.

Tags: Ego Protection, Green-ish, Recession Spending, The New York Times

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