The Hummer and the Mini -- Big and Small Marketing to Women Trends
Thursday, February 8th, 2007 at 2:11 PM
I just finished reading The Hummer and the Mini - Navigating the Contradictions of the New Trend Landscape, by Robyn Waters. A fellow member of the Women Gurus Network, Robyn is the former Vice President of Trend, Design, and Product Development at Target, so she certainly knows a thing or two about identifying and capitalizing on the powerful trends that drive the consumer landscape. In fact, she created a few trends herself during her successful career at Tarzhay.
What really fascinated me is her theory of "trend and countertrend" - for every trend, there is a countertrend. For every Hummer, there is a Mini Cooper. For every mall of ginormous proportions, there are now quaint Main Street USA shopping enclaves popping up. For every case of the "Hurried Woman Syndrome," (trying to fulfill many roles for many people and suffering physically and mentally from it), there are yoga classes, portable spas, mobile nap stations, sabbaticals, and other "extreme relaxation" options. I love this new and interesting way to look for insights when you are developing products, services, or communications messages.
One of her key "trend/countertrends" that I parallels my work on marketing to women is "Social Capitalism." Robyn's idea is that companies are consciously choosing different business models in order to do good first, and then make money. This is a very different model than the "greed is good" one which we are used to. And it falls in line with my concept of "corporate halo" - that is, the sum of a company’s acts of social responsibility and community citizenship for the benefit of the whole community. Everyone cares about such worthy causes as the environment, eradicating deadly diseases, helping those less fortunate, etc. But women care more. They feel responsible for people who need help, and they open their wallets to support companies who care too. Consumers are faced with hundreds of brand choices every day, and most products are now seen as commodities - Brand X is generally the same as Brand Y, so there's no differentiation. If you can differentiate your brand by shining your corporate halo, by standing for something worthwhile, then you'll win women's hearts.
Robyn's book has a lot of great examples from categories such as auto, health and beauty, airlines, packaged goods, home services, toys/books/entertainment, clothing, fast food, hotels, liquor, footwear, housing, retail, etc. Frankly, the materialism made my head spin after a while -- so many products, so many choices!
My predication is that there will be a countertrend to all of this mass consumption. Based on my research for PrimeTime Women: How to Win the Hearts, Minds, and Business of Boomer Big Spenders, I believe that there will be a move away from consumption of STUFF to a consumption of experiences. Joe Pine and Jim Gilmore, authors of The Experience Economy, report that consumers are becoming jaded about the next great product or service. The experts on the Mature Market would layer on the observation that, by midlife, it’s not about “what I have,” or “establishing myself socially” anymore. It’s about “Now that I realize I only have one life to live, I intend to experience it to the fullest.”
Which way do you think that the pendulum will swing?
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