NewsBytes: Cars, Houses and Philanthropic Practices Inspired by Women, Appreciated By All
1) Cars that are designed by women, with women in mind, actually get high marks from male consumers? That’s what an Edmunds.com blog post about the 2008 Chevy Malibu says. "Designed for a demographic that is 60% female and 40% male, this
midsize family sedan has appeal across the board. But what many
consumers don’t know is that the new Malibu had women in lead design
positions." This reminds me of a recent New York Times review (reg. required) of the new Volvo XC70, where we read of design features that were likely rooted firmly in insights women contributed via their women’s concept car development a few years back. Hmmm.
2) Home designs concepted by Kennecott Land in Utah, show ideas gathered from their women’s market advisory board that would surely be appreciated by men, as well. As Marketing Director, Jennifer Hurst shared with me, these are but a few of the brilliant suggestions from those women: a) A kitchen that includes the kids. By very simply
adding mutli-level counters, the architect created a kitchen where kids can
cook alongside parents at a counter that’s the right height for
them, and b) A
“family bathroom” concept, where two bathrooms are joined via a pocket door. So, when parents are getting ready for work and kids are getting
ready for school, everyone has their space, but it’s adjoined
so parents can keep an eye on kids. (At other times, a pocket door can be closed and
locked, so each group has their own private bath.) Inspired by women, serving everyone: It is amazing what details filter up from within a gathering of female architects and female homebuyers in a very male-dominated industry.
3) Embedded charitable giving will soon, hopefully, be more regulated. According to a New York Times article by Stephanie Strom (reg. required), the U.S Senate is considering legislation to ensure that charity is not being used solely as a sales pitch. Hmmm. Do you think that all the random pink products in October, for one, got a few women riled up about questionable charitable donations? The article cites this example from beyond the pink ribbon world, too: the World Wildlife Federation - which was not aware of this - was among the charities named to benefit through items bought from the Barneys "Have a Green Holiday" catalog. Such fundraising tactics/marketing efforts are becoming much more common, and are most often very women-directed. But, if the complaints of women help to get more stringent regulation passed on embedded charitable giving, I’d guess men would be very happy, as well. Nothing like being able to trust that the promoted organizations really are in committed partnerships with the brands touting cause-related affiliation.
December 18th, 2007 at 8:56 am
There’s a reason that the phrase, “it lacks a woman’s touch” became cliche when describing a bachelor’s pad.
It looks like business is learning the same lesson - as gender balance is restored, business becomes more liveable.