The Social Studies Group and Learned On recently partnered to study the women who are really influencing “green mom” consumer behavior online.   As with so many other issues, women exploring more sustainable consumer practices each begin an engagement … Read on >

*This article first published in the July issue of my quarterly newsletter.

While it may be more commonly used in self-help or religious books, I’ve been seeing the word “journey” a lot in my sustainable business practice research. It strikes me that the word may, as well, be … Read on >

If marketers continue to create campaigns based on thinking that “men always do this” or “women always do that,” they are going to fall into a gender trap. In this era of the much more diligent shopper, we just can’t … Read on >

*This article first published in the January issue of my quarterly newsletter.

Ad Age recently conducted one of their mini-polls on the question of whether positive ad messages were especially important for reaching consumers in a recession. While I am admittedly a glass half full type, when I … Read on >

Sometimes the stars just align and consumer trends come together in a way that seems so natural. Consider, for instance, the women’s market and sustainable business practices. If you’ve been struggling to pursue each as a separate initiative, take heart. In many ways, you will come to powerfully reach today’s … Read on >

A few weeks ago I heard Malcolm Gladwell speak to an audience of homebuilding industry CEOs about how people make decisions or judgments. That is also the general topic of his most recent book, Blink, which explores two ways of decision-making: 1) the data-driven to the nth degree, … Read on >

There’s been a recent flurry of “women’s site” activity:

- I’ve just read news of Dove.com’s new more social media-style web site. – Mom-blog, Dooce.com also recently got big coverage for its advertising sales numbers, even given the take-no-prisoners writing style of its founder, Heather B. Armstrong. – Yahoo just … Read on >

As 2007 ended and “top trends” for 2008 were released by every marketing consultant and his/her brother, I reflected a bit. How far have we come? Has marketing to women, as a field of business study, evolved as quickly as its subject has? Are there any big new trends that … Read on >

I’ve been writing about a gender trap recently – in that lots of brands are still approaching the women’s market at the extreme of the gender pendulum (in an overly “girly” manner) when they don’t need to. One way to demonstrate this is to talk about brands that are marketing … Read on >

Part of what makes marketing to women seem so complicated is the fact that their purchase decision-making paths can be a bit winding. For most women, there is more to their decision than the bullet points on your new-community fact sheets. They are taking it all in — from the … Read on >