WOMENKIND

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.

It’s no secret – nearly every little girl, at some point in her life, dreams of becoming a princess. This is something that the creative staff at Majolica Majorca knew all too well. According to a recent article in Ad Age, the Majolica Majorca staff was able to bring the fantasy alive for many young women in Japan while making their brand a success story at the exact same time. Now, the popular makeup company is available worldwide and shows no signs of slowing down.

Since the desire of wanting to be a princess is so popular among young girls, it’s shocking that it took this long for a company to take that idea and build a successful empire with it. We believe that the key to their success lies within the sheer simplicity of their marketing campaign. They understood that girls didn’t want to spend a fortune on cosmetics and be bombarded with unrealistic images of what they were supposed to look like. Women don’t want to be treated like they were just kids either; they simply wanted to live the fantasy of being a princess. Majolica Majorca, brilliantly I may add, were able to make that dream a reality.

When you take a closer look, the story of Majolica Majorca’s rise to success is a fairy-tale in and of itself. How many companies can say they’ve met their yearly sales goal within six weeks alone? The concept was simple: they sold their products in beautiful, whimsical packages, and chose a price range that the average young woman could afford ($2.50-$25). Imagine, for as little as the price of a coffee, a 16-year-old girl could start living out her fantasy of actually feeling like a princess.

The genius part of the story is that Majolica Majorca’s parent company is Shiseido, the oldest hair care and cosmetic producer in the entire world. The thinking is, once young women develop a true loyalty to Majolica Majorca they’ll make the transition to Shiseido once they’re a bit older, therefore staying under the same umbrella and becoming a loyal customer of the brand for life. And why not? Since Majolica Majorca was able to deliver on their promise to turn young girls into princesses, these same girls, more likely than not, will expect Shiseido to deliver excellent results as well.

When the fantasy brand was ready to launch their new fragrance Majo Romantica, they employed a very strategic marketing move that propelled them to even more success than they expected. They collaborated with the popular brand Haagen-Dazs, as they had a new fondant-chocolate ice cream flavor launching. Just like Majo Romantica, it was “melty” and “sweet,” deeming it a perfect partnership. Collaborating with such a mainstream brand brought the makeup brand to convenience stores and drugstores worldwide, and the company jumped to 23% market share almost immedietly.

Once the makeup brand had already established a loyal customer base, they decided to take things to the next level. Joining forces with Park Hotel Tokyo, they created a Hotel Majorca room, designed by the brand’s creative staff. It had the full range of Majolica Majorca cosmetics on display for guests to play around with. Now that the fans of the brand already felt like princesses, they could stay in this room and actually live out their fantasy of being one in a space that embodied everything the brand stood for. Eventually they created a limited-time-only Hotel Majorca suite, which went for $615 a night and sold out within minutes.

Majolica Majorca demonstrates just how successful a company can be if they’re able to access the innermost dreams of the demographic they’re reaching out to and make those dreams become a reality. This is especially true when it comes to beauty products aimed at young women, since this demographic is already so concerned about physical appearance.

We here are WomenKind love that this is a story where everyone wins. Not only does Majolica Majorca succeed financially through very smart marketing strategies, but they’ve achieved an even greater goal than that – making young women feel beautiful, confident and princess-like in a generation where so many teenage girls do not.

At Womenkind we pride ourselves on being avid readers. Whether it be the daily newspaper, books off our iPads, or simply surfing blogs each morning, our team spends a great deal of our personal time keeping up to date on current events and educating ourselves in the Marketing and Advertising field.

Recently, during one of my morning blog scans, I came across an interesting video on a favorite blog of mine: Kicking Niche. Mary Dean, the blogs creator, is best known as the Creative Director behind Curves and an expert on Marketing to Women. Among other things, Dean articulates her perspective flawlessly and in the case of the 2010 Sienna SE viral campaign, she truly delivers.

Swagger Wagon

Dean came across this video on one of her favorite new blogs, AdverGirl, who used the video to support what she sees as “a bunch of 40-somethings taking over the social mediasphere.” Dean believes that the commercial illustrates the power of a very under utilized emotion: Humor. Though I believe both women bring a unique and completely correct perspective to the table, I want to dive deeper into why this advertisement gained 10,000,000 views.

At a recent Advertising Women of New York (AWNY) Master Class titled Marketing Video Content for Luxury Fashion Brands, speakers Jessica Coghan and Emily Las from Starworks Group outlined the key methods for enriching a YouTuber’s experience. According to Jessica, including influential casting/directors, humor and a risqué tone are the three key ingredients in creating successful video campaigns.

First, it’s important to note that the use of talented actors Brian Huskey and Rachel Drummond are a key ingredient in the campaigns effectiveness. Both actors are serious improvisers with long careers and large fan bases. The idea is simple really. People like celebrities. If those celebrities say that they like a product or are willing to work for them, people will in turn like that product, too.  Celebrity endorsements, whether you believe them to work or not, build hype for video releases and boost interest in the product being showcased. If anything, people will watch the video for the celebrity and unknowingly become accustomed, aware and fans of the product overtime.

The second aspect of video that makes it so successful is the humor used. As Dean noted on her blog, humor is “woefully overlooked.” It’s clear that humor increases your chance of being remembered. When someone laughs or enjoys a viral video like this one, they are more likely to repost or send it a friend. As we know, word of mouth is key to any campaigns success. Advertising is about getting attention and the best way to get that attention is with strong visuals and humor. Just watch the commercial, I’m sure you will find some humor “hidden” in there somewhere.

The last aspect of the video that makes it a true winner is the risqué undertone. Anytime you integrate hip-hop into an advertisement you automatically insert a risqué feel. Even though the rap itself includes PC language, the physical gestures are taken directly from classic rap videos and the lyricist played with swears and women sexuality in a humorous manor. It’s creative, unexpected and draws you in instantaneously. The director was able to reference an intense amount of classically risqué aspects of rap and hip-hop videos, and due to the polar opposite subject matter, you can’t help but watch till the end.

This video is a fantastic find and a perfect example of what Jessica Coghan detailed a successful video campaign to be. It’s a perfect representation of how utilizing humor, celebrity endorsements and a risqué tone can boost your popularity as a brand and guarantee a viral following. Well done Sienna SE!

Watch the full episode. See more Women War and Peace.

PBS’s upcoming 5-part series, entitled: Women, War & Peace, is a look into the roles that women take when violence and war erupts in their countries. The trailer for the series, which begins airing October 11th, describes the circumstances where it is more dangerous to be a woman than a man when war breaks out. Its parts feature the women of Bosnia, Liberia, Afghanistan and Colombia, who have had pivotal roles in their countries’ wars. The 5th part of the series features subject matter experts, including Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Liberian peace activist Leymah Gbowee, discussing the state of women and war and challenging the notion that war is a man’s domain.

Check out Shout—a brilliant new brainchild from the seasoned Mad Women at SheSays, Alessandra Lariu and Amanda Jaskiewicz. It’s all about female digital advertising professionals collaborating to think up big, game-changing campaign ideas for real clients. This online community enables members to connect virtually and in-person through various events, courses and the occasional happy hour. The best part? Winning concepts are rewarded with cash.

How it works:
•    Register and create a free user profile
•    Scope out current projects and read their briefs
•    Connect with other women to collaborate on a submission
•    Submit an idea and/or explore others’ submissions and provide a rating or feedback
•    Earn prize money for community of client selected ideas or earn credits for participating in the rating process

Pretty neat huh? From our perspective, it’s one of the coolest extracurricular ways for ad gals to express their creativity and meet others who share their passion. So….what are you waiting for? Current projects include Karlsson’s Gold Vodka and Digiday. Let’s go girls!

Best Friend, Sister, Runner, Dieter, Housekeeper. Could you pick one word to describe yourself? I know I couldn’t. And, we don’t think marketers should either. Women are multidimensional, constantly inhabiting different roles. More often than not, marketers choose to depict one stereotypical version of a woman while neglecting her versatility and multifaceted life.

Accounting is no longer a man’s job

Attending a recent training class for QuickBooks (financial management software), we noticed that besides the female instructor, there were 16 attendees who were women, and only one man. After a bit of deeper research, we were pleased to learn that several women’s business organizations (such as the Center for Women & Enterprise and Women in Consulting) are encouraging women to learn QuickBooks in order to enhance their skills in financial management and grow in their careers.

Does the logo make the brand or does the brand make the logo? What are some of your favorites?

At Womenkind we strive to be well-versed in every aspect of a woman’s life.  Throughout the years we’ve read thousands of articles, watched countless videos, and pored over a variety of books.  Over time we have learned a copious amount of facts such as 44% of men vs. 28% of women snore, women’s voices become higher pitched during their most fertile days, and the average social gamer is a 43-year-old woman.

UConn women make sports history.

On a cold night last December the UConn Huskies slam-dunked their way into the history books with their 89th consecutive win. The UConn women now hold the title previously held by the UCLA men’s basketball program for the most consecutive victories in NCAA college basketball Division I history. This is big news. This is something that has never been done in sports before–a women’s team besting a record that was held by a men’s team. And UCLA was not just any men’s team. This was the iconic team coached by the legendary John Wooden. So why hasn’t the mainstream media made this the biggest sports story of the year?

To commemorate the 100-year anniversary of International Women’s Day, we highly recommend a viewing of this fantastic video produced by the Equals Project, a charity led by Annie Lennox. This two-minute short features Daniel Craig as James Bond, and the voice of Dame Judi Dench as “M” asking Bond to imagine what it would be like to be a woman. In true Bond fashion, he does not take his mission lightly (or in flat heels). Craig appears in drag as Dench gives us the facts of gender inequality. The statistics are harrowing but the message is clear: “Are we equals?” Until the answer is “yes” we must never stop asking.