Sustainable Business Looks A Lot Like Marketing To Women
Marketing can be an overwhelming topic. Do you focus on marketing to women? Do you focus on becoming more green and reflecting that side of your products/operations? Do you forget about the mature market and put all your budget into young men, age 18 – 34? Argh… Especially in these slow economic times, how can you get the most bang for your buck – and could that possibly be something that has a little goodwill attached to it?
Yes. In fact, there’s a perfect marketing storm building right now: slow economy/lower marketing budgets, an environmentally/socially responsible consumer trend and the fact that women are likely a large part of the market or your goods/services. Sustainable business is no longer some groovy, Vermont-y or Northern California thing – it actually makes incredible business sense.
In my latest HuffingtonPost piece, I write about how the triple bottom line for sustainable businesses actually aligns quite nicely with what women want from brands today. Here’s an excerpt:
If one non-gendered label could encompass the width and depth of what women want from a brand, it might just be sustainable business. The triple bottom line of good for shareholders, society and the environment fits to a “T” the “it all matters,” holistic way women are known to buy. So, as the power and visibility of womenomics continues to grow, sustainable businesses will have the advantage.
We’re already seeing the big, traditional brands backtrack a bit to change outdated practices and proclaim their new corporate responsibility (GE, Walmart and GM, for example). They have seen the writing on the wall: An authentic and established sustainable commitment resonates with women, who tend to be the largest market for many of the products they sell.
