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“China’s big. So is India. But they are not as big as women.” Being a part of the fairer sex, we couldn’t help but feel slightly insulted every time we received the promotional e-flyer for our sister publication Gulf Marketing Review’s (GMR) 4th Annual Marketing to Women Conference: Were they calling us fat? Did they think our bum looks big in those jeans?
We put our insecurities aside, put on a skirt, didn’t worry about being called bigger than China and India, and headed to the day’s event with a feminist spring in our step. And we were certainly delighted as the opening remarks included: “Women want to be treated as equals, not sequels. We believe they should be treated as prequels.” Ladies certainly have control over spending.
The conference saw a full house, with many men but more women of all ages, nationalities, and professions, looking to hear all about what appeals to them, and what makes them such a critical part of the population to market to. According to Marti Barletta, the conference’s first – and most prolific – speaker, CEO of the US-based TrendSight Group, and author of Marketing to Women, women are a social good, in economic terms. “Other than pizza, men – in the US – aren’t buying much,” she said, much to the amusement of the women.
Barletta’s anecdotes and jibes at the men in the room were, however, fully backed up by a solid, close-to-two-hour-long presentation about women’s purchasing power, how to reach a time-starved segment of the population, and how in spite of the power and influence they now wield, women’s top two values remain love and family. Barletta went on to discuss what kind of advertising appeals to women, and how focusing on people rather than product is most effective. While we theoretically agree with her statement, the examples she produced had us wondering if we were, in fact, women.
We found ourselves cringing at some of the examples Barletta used, including a happy couple on a box of cereals, or a pretty and wholesome girl smiling while licking some cheese spread off her finger. Sure, we love people as much as the next woman, but that definitely did not appeal to us. Still, Barletta’s energy and enthusiasm, and use of regional examples, kept us hooked till the end.
Then Stuart Campbell-Morris, a consultant at TNS MEA, took to the stage to share some findings from ARAC (The Arab as Consumer), the research company’s look into the impact and influence of developments in Saudi Arabia on the Saudi female psyche and behavior.
Campbell-Morris described the findings as “Carl Jung meets Girls of Riyadh”, and explained that results showed six key personality types with different aspirations within Saudi females: Freedom, drive, power, control, reassurance, and belonging. While the kingdom is “progressing” slowly but surely, Campbell-Morris says the Saudi women’s market is full of opportunities, as women take on less subservient roles in their conservative society.
Robert Taylor Hughes, managing director of Beiersdorf Middle East, tackled the female tween market, all the while focusing on how “cool is everything when you’re a teenager,” and how “uncool” men wearing ties are. Taylor Hughes directed his presentation to women by stressing that while teenagers may be a group on their own, it’s important to treat girls and boys differently. “Wow the girls, and rock the boys,” he said. He wasn’t wearing a tie.
With women buying seemingly everything these days, and keeping love and family as their top two values, Barletta was right: Women are a social, and economic, good. When we read past “China is big. So is India. But not as big as women,” we saw that women in the Middle East control $246 billion of the region’s wealth, a figure that is expected to climb to $383 billion by next year. And according to the World Bank, the global earning power of women is forecast to reach $18 trillion by 2014, almost twice that of India and China, combined. That is big; and if women are that powerful, it shouldn’t matter if their bums look big in those jeans.

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