Women buying power and men

 By John McGory

Some Like it Hot, Billy Wilder’s classic comedy featuring Marilyn Monroe, is about two men who dress as women to hide from the mob.   Jack Lemmon tries to explain to Joe E. Brown in the final scene why he can’t marry him.  After numerous excuses, he pulls off his wig and says “I can’t marry you.  I’m a man!”  To which Brown replies, “Well, nobody’s perfect.”

Men portraying women on screen goes back to Charlie Chaplin and Fatty Arbuckle and include Dustin Hoffman, Michael J. Fox, Alec Guinness, Tony Curtiss, Robin Williams, Divine, Eddie Murphy, Jerry Lewis and the Wayans Brothers.  The movies are often madcap comedies with the men playing outlandish female characters.

Today’s advertising and social media doesn’t need screwball copywriting.  It does need men who study how women think and act.  Why?   Here are three reasons:

    1.       Eighty-five percent of brand purchases are made by women. 

    2.       Surveys show 91 percent of women feel advertisers do not understand them.

    3.       Only three percent of creative directors for advertising agencies are women.

These statistics suggest the “Mad Men” stereotypes of advertising are alive and well.  Companies and organizations need to realize that women control $19 trillion of our economy.  It wouldn’t hurt to try and understand them a little better.

Here are a few physiological facts that might help a man channel his feminine side.

Women’s brains have more neuron cell bodies, giving them enhanced blood flow and better efficiency.  This may explain why women often learn language better, have a better memory for detail and can fight better than men.

A woman is generally more empathetic, expressive, articulate, diplomatic and sensitive to others feelings.

Trying to understand women is a challenge for men.  Actors playing a role will study mannerisms, facial expressions, speech patterns and body movements.  Great writers do the same.  

If your company or organization wants to reach women customers through social media and advertising, then paying close attention to how they think and feel is critical to your success.  What is funny or interesting to a man can very easily fall on deaf ears to a woman.  You need to know your customer.

Thomas Hardy, the English author, wrote in the great novel Tess of the Urbervilles “Did it ever strike your mind that what every woman says, some women may feel?”  Men, we aren’t perfect and never will be, but keeping Hardy and your audience in mind may help you be a little more sensitive and successful. 

John McGory is a partner at Webface, an original content marketing company.  We produce videos and copy that can reach your clients.