:: adgruntie :: Wake up!

+ Five clichés of woman (as portrayed by advertisers). Read this article. They bring up some excellent points about marketing to women.

But both Mr Mildenhall and Ms Bay believe that advertisers have failed to keep up with the rapid changes in female lifestyles during the past five years. Mr Mildenhall identifies five key changes in women's lifestyles that marketers should take into account. First, women are increasingly adopting male behaviour, for example in their approach to alcohol. Second, they are doing better than men in education, but not in the workplace - while they make up half of the workforce, there is still a massive pay imbalance. Third, while women are getting older, they are acting younger. For example, a 45-year-old might wear the same clothes as her teenage daughter - without looking ridiculous or in any way unusual. Fourth, women are having children much later and are less likely to stay at home with them. And finally, women are increasingly important when it comes to making purchasing decisions. But advertisers are still afraid to address them.

"Advertisers are lazy in their approach to consumers. They're stuck in a 1990s time warp where they think if they add a bit of emotion, they've done their job. Consumers have changed rapidly over the last five years," said Ms Bay.

+ Product Placement Prickley Predicament- an article from a consumer on product placement. Let's just say they're not thrilled with the idea. And I understand why. It goes back to the idea of "slipping in the shill" as mentioned in my last post. Here's an excerpt:

Let us now skewer a new advertising industry technique for so thoroughly concealing itself as to trick us into believing some ads don't exist. The trickery I'm referring to is called "product placement."

The average American consumer is pounded daily by ads in newspapers, on television, on radio, at bus stops and train stations, via roadside billboards, in Internet pop-ups and recorded telemarketing spiels. Ads, ads -- they're everywhere. But a much more venal form of capitalism's unwanted stepchild (the relentless pitch) has grown in use and efficacy to the point where advertising as we know it is falling from favor.