As the name behind Australia's first advertising agency devoted to the fairer sex, Bec Brideson knows a thing or two about marketing to women, particularly when the going gets tough. Fashion brands take note, writes Belinda Smart.
If men really are from Mars - and there's every indication that this is the case - then Venus Advertising is onto a very good thing.
Capitalising on global research showing women buy or influence 80 per cent of consumer purchases, the Melbourne based agency was launched in 2004 by ad specialist and entrepreneur Bec Brideson and has since worked on a range of fashion related projects, with clients including department store Myer and Colonial First State Property Management shopping centres.
But Just Group's Dotti is perhaps its "hero" (or should I say "heroine"?) fashion client. It was Venus that recently created the very catchy "So Dotti" campaign to cement Dotti's evolution from just another girl's label to a brand that street smart chicks would kill to have. The idea was to "connect the emerging fast-fashion brand to its audience" says Brideson, adding that "So Dotti" saw the brand not only achieve remarkable sales growth, but maintain it in the current tough trading climate.
So how did Venus bring that much needed, downturn-proof edge to Dotti? To Brideson the answer is as fundamental as it is simple - men and women are different; but with most marketers still using brand strategies from the 60s that are "hierarchical and single-minded, which make them basically masculine and ineffective for marketing to women", many brands targeting women are missing a trick. Venus has cornered the market with a different approach. Summed up, this assumes that if women's view of brands and products is primarily relationship driven, businesses must fully understand that relationship or risk failure.
"Women will have a personal relationship with your brand, and like all personal relationships each one is unique, with its own particular dynamics. What this means is really understanding the reasons why your brand is (or could be) the only or the number one go-to choice for a particular audience, and nurturing this difference. Too often we see marketers who have a hazy, broad and meaningless description of their core customer which, when decoded, is no different from that of their competition. The best way to compete and gain leadership is to be different, whether that difference is real or imagined."
Meanwhile the advent of new technologies has the potential to revolutionise marketing to women, although many brands - particularly in Australia - have failed to fully capitalise on this.
"Savvy marketers understand that ideas spread through groups are much more powerful today than ideas targeted at an individual. One area where marketers really seem to be behind the curve is in online communities, which are the fastest growing area on the net and a very female phenomenon. Mums in particular are very active in this space and love to share opinions and experiences of products and brands."
Emerging 3G and broadband technology will also profoundly change communication and retail behaviour among women, she adds. "The phone will become the chief search device and a conduit for point of purchase. Watch this space."
Another critical point, given the current downturn, is that fashion brands must harness and refine information about their customers to maximise sales.
"If you are not running an effective online customer database, why not? Done properly, this will be the best ROI (return on investment) outlay your business will make in these tough times. It is also wonderfully measurable, rewards loyalty and helps drive sales. The only caveat I'll add is that you have to be prepared to do the work to understand the online basics, get some sensible help to develop a genuine customer-centric strategy, and commit to it. Nothing worthwhile is easy."
And on that point, brands would do well to stand firm in tough times rather than succumbing to gloom, she concludes.
"In short, if you cut back on your marketing to the point where you lose either share of voice or visibility, you will achieve the self-fulfilling prophecy of falling sales and share. It is vital to maintain at least your share - and ideally more than your share - in a downturn. This is how you survive, and also set yourself up to thrive when better times return."