Many companies nowadays use marketing strategies based on the foundation of gender stereotypes or specific roles and needs associated with genders. In the TED talk on why gender-based marketing is bad for business, Gaby Barrios pointed at how gender was often used as a shortcut to the target audience as it was more cost-effective (TED, 2020). However, according to Ferrell, Pride, and Dibb (2019a), gender presents one of the many variables for segmenting the consumer markets. Therefore, many other variables such as age, income, education, occupation, and lifestyles could also be effectively implemented in marketing strategies. It is understandable that utilizing gender as a primary variable provides a broader target audience. However, a careful segmentation targeting strategy combined with the proper positioning could benefit the product more than a broader target audience (Ferrell, Pride, and Dibb, 2019b).
For example, most household cleaning appliances commercials feature the image of a woman who struggles to keep the house, dishes, or rugs clean. Dawn Platinum Powerwash advertisement (Dawn Dish Soap, 2020a) features a woman who cleans the dishes and close-up images of her hands and the product in action. Considering the cultural and social aspects shows that the ad is targeted at the audience of the American population as it features a diverse family. To improve the company’s approach to targeting the advertisements, it could focus more on showing the product close-ups and effects. Another Dawn Dish Soap advertisement (2020b) features videos of animals affected by oil pollution. The video shows how rescuers cleaned the animals from oil while using the Dawn dish soap. Utilizing an environmental-focused approach in this ad addresses relevant issues and allows targeting a different audience of people who care for animals, which is bigger than the gender-associated audience. Thus, focusing on relevant societal issues could be more effective for marketing than utilizing outdated gender roles.
Reference List
Dawn Dish Soap (2020a) Dawn Platinum Powerwash: Just spray, wipe, and rinse :30. Web.
Dawn Dish Soap (2020b), It gets better at Dawn :30. Web.
Ferrell, O. C., Pride, W. M., and Dibb, S. (2019a). ‘Segmenting markets’ in Ferrell, O. C., Pride, W. M., and Dibb, S. (eds.) Marketing concepts and strategies. Cengage Learning, pp. 204-232.
Ferrell, O. C., Pride, W. M., and Dibb, S. (2019b). ‘Targeting and positioning’ in Ferrell, O. C., Pride, W. M., and Dibb, S. (eds.) Marketing concepts and strategies. Cengage Learning, pp. 233-258.
TED (2020) Why gender-based marketing is bad for business – Gaby Barrios. Web.