Beyond Demographics: The Deep Work of Understanding Women.
Surface-level audience research isn’t enough—especially when you’re marketing to women. If you want to build trust, relevance, and resonance, you have to go deeper than age, income, and symptom checklists. You have to understand her values, her lived experience, her cultural pressures, and the emotional landscape she navigates daily.
How to market to women without pissing them off.
Women have plenty to be pissed off about right now—your brand shouldn’t be one of them.
In 2025, too many campaigns still rely on stereotypes, euphemisms, and half-baked empowerment slogans that miss the mark. Women notice when you get it right. And they really notice when you don’t. So how do you market to women without pissing them off? Start here.
Politics at Work. Indeed.
We’ve been told it’s taboo to mix work and politics. That it’s not nice. Or polite. That it might make people uncomfortable. Or maybe even not want to work with you. But when your company is founded to do one thing: make things better for women, guess what? There are already people who don't want to work with you! So we're just going for it. Today, in this world, in this election, there is just too much at stake not to raise our voice.
Women Want to Buy From Brands That Support Them
Ultimately, you can choose how you show up as a brand. This is privilege, and it is power. You can pander and prioritize your profits only. You can do the bare minimum to meet your bottom line. You can come up with any number of excuses why you can’t do more (“We’re just a brand!” “That’s not our responsibility.” “We don’t have the time or resources.”) Or, you can change minds and lives.
Join Women’s Conversations to Create Better Ads
Women often don’t see themselves in the body types, clothing choices, careers, lifestyles, emotions, and more presented in ads. The bar isn’t going to raise itself. It’s up to us. Can’t we create ads that resonate more? As far as we’re concerned, an ad hasn’t done its job unless the women in the audience can say, “I feel seen.”
Newsflash: Women Want Accurate Period Ads
In 2023, menstrual product brands are going head-to-head with media companies, continuing to gatekeep the messages women receive in their ads. These powerful companies often consider menstrual blood on par with other bodily fluids, deeming these visuals inappropriate, gratuitous, or graphic.
Perform Less, Empathize More
The road to advertising to women is often paved with good intentions. But good intentions are not enough to reach women. Performative feminism is advertising’s lip service, and women deserve better. Sure, the 50s housewife no longer features in ads, but sexism is still there; it’s just covert.
How to sell financial products and services to women
Change isn’t just on the horizon; it’s already here. If you’re a financial advertiser, women’s financial lives are worth your time and energy. Know them, sell to them.
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.
Let’s be honest here.
Women over 40 have seen and heard a lot. They’ve been bombarded by messages from advertisers, Hollywood, magazines (because women over 40 actually read magazines!), men, mothers and mothers-in-law. They’ve received criticism masquerading as advice. Advice sold as a must-do. And opinions laid out as fact.
To Resonate With Women 40+ Beauty Brands Need to Get Real
Global ad spend in the beauty category is expected to hit well over $15B this year, but who’s really paying attention? Who is absorbing the onslaught of content messaging and predetermined ideals? Turns out, not women over 40.
Keepin’ it quirky
If you come to our office, you’ll need to join #thefancybookclub. So demands Fancy co-founder, Erica Fite.