Ad Targeting By Attitudinal Segment
Advertising has a long history of erasing women’s experiences and replacing them with stereotypes, impossible standards, and disempowering storylines. There’s been progress, but are we resting on our laurels instead of pushing for more?
taboos and gender inequality
Even though people of all genders buy products like cannabis, alcohol, and sex toys, women consistently say they’re treated differently by advertisers—as if they’re not using the same products as their male friends, partners, and brothers. Brands need to ditch their preconceived notions about gender-based consumption.
It’s not over.
Yesterday I wanted to celebrate the one day that the world pays a little more attention to women. I really did. But then I thought about how very far we have to go to achieve equality. And how despite some gains in some areas basic rights are being stripped from women. Around the world and here at home.
Working Works at Fancy
While on a panel at the Ad Age Small Agency Conference last month I was asked why Fancy was deliberately set up a bit differently from the typical agency model of FTEs, butts-in-seats, show-up-Sunday-or-don’t-bother-Monday.
Well, we’re building the agency we always wanted to work for but never could find.
Owning Up at the Small Agency Conference
Last week, I was part of a panel of women agency leaders who were discussing “Owning up: The rise of female leaders and how to make your workplace more equitable” at the Ad Age Small Agency Conference. We talked about why we started our agencies, what it means to be driving progress, uplifting equity, and creating the industry we know can change the world. It’s a conversation that doesn’t happen nearly often enough.
Mothers are more than moms, just ask one. We did (500 actually).
Motherhood isn’t everything. Even to moms. That was made clear in our survey when 9 out of 10 mothers said they wanted to be portrayed in roles other than mom. In no way does this diminish the role of motherhood in a person’s life. It can be defining. It can be exceptional. It can be transformative. It isn’t, however, everything. The pre-motherhood self does not simply evaporate, replaced by the selfless devotion to others and instant knowledge of laundry cycles, sheet pan dinners, and where the extra AA batteries are.
Shopping can change the sexual wellness conversation
News flash: Humans are sexual beings.
We have needs, wants, desires. We seek others to share experiences. And sometimes we bring products into the picture.
Women over 40 are different
A woman over 40 is anything but typical. So brands, when you’re considering broadening your focus to include her, be sure to really include who she actually is, how your brand can connect to what is important to her, and the kind of difference you can make for the life she’s living.
How Old is a mom?
When you picture a “mom” in your head is she 25? 35? How old are her kids? Newborn? Pre-schoolers? School-aged? Mothers in their 40s, never mind 50s, are largely left out of the motherhood conversation brands are having no matter how old their kids are.
Our Positive Purpose
At Fancy, we’re recommitting to the whole reason we’re in this game in the first place. The three leaders of Fancy came together because we knew the power of advertising to change the world. And we also knew that business as usual wasn’t going to change anything.
ten years of thanks
We all know running a small business isn’t for the faint of heart. 20% fail in the first year, 50% but the fifth year, and at the 10-year mark, a milestone Fancy just reached, only 33% are still around.
And I’m so thankful.
What Are Women Over 40 Worth to Your Marketing Mix?
Remember when it was all Millennials all the time? When the world was swathed in pink and brass gleamed bright. When inspirational sayings scrawled in neon adorned walls and terrazzo covered floors, tables counters and kleenex boxes? Sorry ladies, it’s all about Gen Z now. How quickly a media darling gets pushed to the side when a newer, cuter, younger, sparklier option catches marketing’s eye.
Our Mothers, Ourselves
Have you all seen all the hullabaloo about the new "Not Your Mother's Tiffany" campaign? Wowza is there ever a lot of passion around that! The good news is that Tiffany certainly learned it had a lot of fans. The bad news, of course, is that all of these people are now royally pissed off.
1 in 4 americans is a woman 40+. Surprised? I was.
For as long as we can remember there have been so few women over 40 portrayed in advertising and entertainment, or celebrated in the highest ranks of business, that we have come to believe that is reality. We literally think there are far fewer of us than there are. Consequently, we feel alone. But we’re not. There are 83 million of us. 25% of the population.
Is There An Expiration Date On Women’s Sexual Pleasure?
When I attended a Sexual Pleasure Workshop for women over 40 I was confident I knew exactly what to expect. The majority of the women in this group were over 50 and so I buckled down for another depressing menopause chat.
I could not have been more wrong.
Aging: Finally Coming of Age
Aging is nothing new.
We beings have been doing it since time began. Time passes. We get older. No matter if we’re trees or humans or horses or plankton.
Women, especially, have internalized a societal directive that says stop it, slow it, avoid it, hide it at any cost for, basically, ever.
And that’s powerful.
Half of mothers Over 40 Think Brands Don’t Get Them.
When Fancy surveyed nearly 500 women over 40, we asked the moms whether they felt that advertisers understood their experience of motherhood. Over 50% said no. In the advertising world “mom” = “harried woman, 25-35, with toddlers through grade-schoolers, trying to hold it all together.”
Women Over 40: Is this a Moment or a Movement?
Here’s the thing though: women over 40, 50, 60, 70, etc are not having a moment. They are accelerating a movement. They are not fading into the background, quietly retiring (as if!) and re-doing the living room drapes. Women have never been more engaged, more motivated, more in control of their lives than they are today.
Why Women Over 40 Are Critical to Your Brand’s Success
Believe it or not, they buy tequila, tampons, and technology. They bank, renovate, and drive. They need tires and air conditioners and plane tickets (post-vaccination, please...). In other words, everything that anyone needs to live a typical life today.
