There is nothing more frustrating than opening up your email on a Monday morning and finding yet another article written about Abercrombie & Fitch CEO Mike Jeffries. If you’re not up to date on this controversial US clothing tycoon, he has long been accused of deliberately excluding plus-size women from wearing his clothes. What’s more, the CEO has made a recent public announcement that his store is for a “very specific” type of client and that those who don’t measure up should probably shop elsewhere. Jeffries has been unapologetic about this exclusionary marketing and it’s clear to us that he simply doesn’t care to expand his target demographic.
This would all be terribly disconcerting if it weren’t for a recent and refreshing addition to the H&M website. They have generated big buzz by tapping size 12 American model Jennie Runk to front their swimwear campaign this season. In literal opposition to Abercrombie & Fitch, the H&M team completely downplayed the press for this. There was no press release or a bold declaration from the CEO, instead the company simply uploaded the photos of Runk just as they would for any new product release. “Our aim is not to convey a certain message or show an ideal but to find a model who can illustrate this collection in an inspiring and clear way,” an H&M publicist told Quartz.
It’s clear that these two companies have very little in common when it comes to the celebration of a healthy body image and offering clothing for the average woman. They have however unknowingly worked together to reinforce the importance of balancing aspiration with being relatable when marketing messages to women. In a perfect world there would be a balance in advertisements and in clothing selections. Various beautiful women of different shapes and sizes would model clothing, and consumers would see themselves in the advertisements and purchase the beautiful clothes.
H&M is as close to achieving this balance as we’ve ever seen, and with Jean Paul Gaultier and Ralph Lauren slowly pushing the fashion envelope, we think the average American woman might finally be getting her chance to shine.
It is fairly well known that women today outnumber men in American colleges. They enroll at a higher rate, graduate with more degrees, and yet still struggle to find their place in many career fields post-college. Luckily, the tide is changing and women across the United States are optimistically starting their own businesses and breaking through the glass ceiling. Weighing data from 48 major U.S. cities, Intuit created a list of the top 10 U.S. cities for women entrepreneurs and compiled the information in this great infographic. Check it out and let us know if you think they missed anything!
When you think of a brand mascot who comes to mind? You probably think of the Geico gecko first, and then rattle through a list of people or creatures that aid brands in pitching their products to the public. You’d be right if you said a majority of them are men, and you’d be even more right if you recognized just how silly it is that more companies don’t use frontwomen to sell their products.
Adweek’s recent article “Best Female Brand Mascots: The Women Rule” by Robert Klara highlights five female characters that have long been working for brands across the world. From Progressive’s Flo to the ever popular Mrs. Butterworth, this articles proves that marketers should consider more who is making 85% of consumer purchases and just whose listening and watching their advertisements.
If five mascots aren’t enough for you, Womenkind has compiled the largest collection of female brand mascots on the internet. Seriously, we have! Check out our Pinterest board today and let us know if we are missing any.
Introducing Great Grains Protein Blends, a healthy new cereal available in two delicious varieties: Honey, Oats and Seeds and Cinnamon Hazelnut. Great Grains Protein Blends is loaded with natural whole grain and fiber and is a good source of protein to help support a healthy metabolism.
See for yourself. Check out Great Grains on Facebook!
Did you know that today, April 9 2013 is Equal Pay Day? Originated by the National Committee on Pay Equity (NCPE) in 1996 as a public awareness event, Equal Pay Day illustrates the gap between men’s and women’s wages. The date symbolizes how far into 2013 women must work to earn what men earned in 2012. Interesting, isn’t it?
Here’s our new work to launch the JeNu Active-Youth Skincare System, an innovative ultrasound wand that safety delivers 12 times more key ingredients 5 layers beyond a wrinkles’ surface. JeNu is the first to market the ultrasound technology to consumers at home. The campaign is designed to be clean, beautiful and appeal to women seeking innovative skincare solutions.
Special thanks to Colette Courtion, Megan Bassetti and the rest of the wonderful team at JeNu for sharing this amazing product with us.
Discover JeNu Bioscience for yourself at JeNu.com.
Beans Velocci, Staff Writer at Content Equals Money, recently published an article titled ‘Adding Nuance to the Woman-Focused Marketing Discussion.’ Velocci has a BA in History of Women, Gender, and Sexuality, and writes a lot about women’s purchasing power and the online network of moms sharing product recommendations. However, the reason we are recommending this specific article isn’t because of her wealth of knowledge on those specific subjects, but instead her take on social shifts that are redefining the age-old question of “what women want.” With the topic of ‘women in the workplace’ dominating the news, I think it’s about time we start analyzing whether we should even be asking “what women women,” and instead take a very close look at the assumptions that are driving marketing messages to women.
At Womenkind we love three things: Women, design and authenticity. This infographic designed by Jessica Wallace is the perfect combination of all three. It’s absolutely critical that the following information is spread around and heard by everyone. “The benefits of paying women their fair share include increasing the GDP while reducing the poverty rates for families. Check out the infographic below to see what else the gender wage gap affects.” – LearnStuff
Recent news of Pakistani fashion houses removing women from their advertisements sparked our interest. After campaigners blacked out images of models on billboards last years, the issues of marketing to Muslim consumers came onto the radar of advertisers worldwide.
It’s an interesting and increasingly tricky situation. American companies are eager to sell fashion to Muslims and Muslims feel that women should not be flaunted across their cities. In a 2011 Gallup survey, researchers found that almost two-thirds of Pakistanis objected to billboards with women.
So, how will fashion houses demonstrate the beauty of its clothing without models? One Pakistani line is using sailboats to showcase the lightweight fabrics.
What do you think? Is there an interesting and innovative way to sell fashion to women without using actual women? How will multinational companies, eager to appeal to the 1.57 billion Muslims, sell their clothing?
