5 ms·

I think an effective strategy to sell to women would be to stop believing you have to "sell to women". Marketing targeted at either gender is tacky, transparent

by ZoFreX 15y ago

I think an effective strategy to sell to women would be to stop believing you have to "sell to women". Marketing targeted at either gender is tacky, transparent, and often insulting.

deleted 15y ago
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raganwald 15y ago
I agree. Most women I know would be happy if you--not you specifically, but the rhetorical "you"--simply applied the "Don't act like a dick" rule. It's really simple. There are times when you want to act like a dick, but nudge nudge, wink wink, you think we know you aren't really a dick so you think it's ok. For example, if you are writing a blog post and you give it the title "Why learning javascript will help you launch your startup, conquer the world, and sleep with the prom queen," you're acting like a dick. You may think it's a nudge nudge, wink wink, kind of dick, but it's still acting like a dick. If you just stop doing that, you'd be surprised how much more traction you will get with women. And visible minorities. And a bunch of other people. It's not so much that we're outraged or offended or will protest and call for laws against stupid marketing ploys, but such writing often takes the tone that you and a bunch of other boys are in a cozy little club and we aren't invited. This makes us take our money and spend it somewhere else. http://raganwald.posterous.com/the-dont-act-like-a-dick-rule http://raganwald.posterous.com/the-dont-act-like-a-dick-rule
- deleted 15y ago
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  - msbarnett 15y ago
    It's not at all clear to me what criteria such a filter would use, nor why you think most of these templates aren't appropriate for women, nor why you're conflating "appropriateness for a knitting hobbyist site" with "appropriateness for women". At first glance I'm not seeing many templates that I'd associate with DIY craft type sites, but I don't think that's a gender issue.
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endtime 15y ago
>Marketing targeted at either gender is tacky, transparent, and often insulting. Marketing obviously targeted at either gender is tacky, transparent, and often insulting. Marketing intelligently targeted at either gender is, I would wager, more effective.
jellicle 15y ago
You notice a small subset of bad marketing targeted at gender, and draw the conclusion that all such is tacky, transparent, and insulting. You do not notice that 99% of all marketing is gender-targeted, and that most of it does its job so well that it is unnoticeable.
- ZoFreX 15y ago
  I almost regret asking such a silly question already, but do you have any examples of marketing that is gender targeted so well that it's unnoticeable?
  - yid 15y ago
    Loaded question asking for examples of "unnoticeable" gender targeting. And lots of products are gender targeted, but that facet isn't generally the first to stick out -- ads for tampons, mens vs womens shaving razors, birth control and prostate exams.
jordan0day 15y ago
That's an awful broad brush you're painting with, there. While as a man I can laugh at ads obviously targeted at the reptilian portion of my brain, that doesn't mean they're not necessarily effective. I mean, I don't buy any Axe-brand deodorant or anything, but that doesn't mean I find it easy to turn away from their commercials (I'd argue that as a 28 year-old married man I'm not their target demographic, anyway).

by ZoFreX 15y ago

I think an effective strategy to sell to women would be to stop believing you have to "sell to women". Marketing targeted at either gender is tacky, transparent, and often insulting.

deleted 15y ago

[deleted]

raganwald 15y ago

I agree. Most women I know would be happy if you--not you specifically, but the rhetorical "you"--simply applied the "Don't act like a dick" rule. It's really simple. There are times when you want to act like a dick, but nudge nudge, wink wink, you think we know you aren't really a dick so you think it's ok. For example, if you are writing a blog post and you give it the title "Why learning javascript will help you launch your startup, conquer the world, and sleep with the prom queen," you're acting like a dick. You may think it's a nudge nudge, wink wink, kind of dick, but it's still acting like a dick. If you just stop doing that, you'd be surprised how much more traction you will get with women. And visible minorities. And a bunch of other people. It's not so much that we're outraged or offended or will protest and call for laws against stupid marketing ploys, but such writing often takes the tone that you and a bunch of other boys are in a cozy little club and we aren't invited. This makes us take our money and spend it somewhere else. http://raganwald.posterous.com/the-dont-act-like-a-dick-rule http://raganwald.posterous.com/the-dont-act-like-a-dick-rule

deleted 15y ago
[deleted]
- msbarnett 15y ago
  It's not at all clear to me what criteria such a filter would use, nor why you think most of these templates aren't appropriate for women, nor why you're conflating "appropriateness for a knitting hobbyist site" with "appropriateness for women". At first glance I'm not seeing many templates that I'd associate with DIY craft type sites, but I don't think that's a gender issue.
- deleted 15y ago
  [deleted]

endtime 15y ago

>Marketing targeted at either gender is tacky, transparent, and often insulting. Marketing obviously targeted at either gender is tacky, transparent, and often insulting. Marketing intelligently targeted at either gender is, I would wager, more effective.

jellicle 15y ago

You notice a small subset of bad marketing targeted at gender, and draw the conclusion that all such is tacky, transparent, and insulting. You do not notice that 99% of all marketing is gender-targeted, and that most of it does its job so well that it is unnoticeable.

ZoFreX 15y ago
I almost regret asking such a silly question already, but do you have any examples of marketing that is gender targeted so well that it's unnoticeable?
- yid 15y ago
  Loaded question asking for examples of "unnoticeable" gender targeting. And lots of products are gender targeted, but that facet isn't generally the first to stick out -- ads for tampons, mens vs womens shaving razors, birth control and prostate exams.

jordan0day 15y ago

That's an awful broad brush you're painting with, there. While as a man I can laugh at ads obviously targeted at the reptilian portion of my brain, that doesn't mean they're not necessarily effective. I mean, I don't buy any Axe-brand deodorant or anything, but that doesn't mean I find it easy to turn away from their commercials (I'd argue that as a 28 year-old married man I'm not their target demographic, anyway).