What to watch for when making your brand more appealing to women

At a recent dinner at a corporate event, I had the opportunity to listen to a stand-up comedian. Each joke was more macho than the other. And I thought, what a bad image this dinner will give this brand with all the women here and how old-fashioned the whole gig is. At least I don’t want to partner with that brand anymore.

My experience is more proof that in the new decade brands can no longer leave a gap between what they preach and what they do. Companies and brands – and us, communicators helping them – must take care of every detail in our communication. This means much more than simply being politically correct in an era in which women are on the rise, but also developing aggressive strategies that are close to the female gender and truly respect it.

But how to do this authentically and with effect? Here are some of my best ideas:

Entrepreneurship
Women today are independent; they do not want to stay put in their house for a long time or follow a schedule forced on them that does not allow them to be with their children. Brands should be talking to this specific group, seek out their exact needs, provide them effective solutions, become their partners.

Involvement
For example, for the upcoming women’s day or week, brands may offer special discounts only to women. I don’t mean only clothes – why not technology, notebooks, cameras, fitness and outdoor, temporary workforce services, among many others? Advisory firms can develop research papers with statistics on women and key issues related to them in many different aspects.

Elegance
Take care of your words and address women differently from the masculine gender.

Recognition
Why not create special spaces just for women? Best female employee, best female-owned business, you name it. Or start an internal company blog with topics that might be of special interest to women.

Creativity, Creativity and more Creativity
For decades women have been reading about topics that interest them written from the male perspectives. It is time to take the pen, collect ideas and apply creativity from women to women.

This list is far from complete, but I hope it proves there is still a lot a brand can do to bring itself closer to women in its target audience – and increasingly – to women as decision-makers. They certainly will be interested in custom-designed products and services and will appreciate being truly recognized and valued.

Agree? Disagree? Have any further ideas on how to do this? Feel free to comment and add to the discussion on this important subject of the new decade.