Gender makes the world go round …

Women and men ‘do’ gender

• How we dress, speak, act is all affected by gender

• It’s a complex series of negotiations we all make

• It changes and develops over time

• It affects the products we buy and the brands we identify with

Gender relies on us understanding

a complex set of codes

Gender is not ‘nature’ and is not fixed

Same person different genders

Same sex, different genders

Same sex, different genders

Different sexes, same gender

Female sex, masculine gender

That was easy, but it gets more complicated …

Car = masculine Women = feminine

Products are gendered too …

Car = masculine Woman = masculine

Car = masculine Man = masculine

You need to understand how gender coding works, and use it to get your messages and your executions right.

Category gender

MASCULINE

FEMININE

APPEALS TO WOMEN APPEALS TO MEN

Brand gender

MASCULINE

FEMININE

APPEALS TO WOMEN APPEALS MORE TO MEN

APPEALS

Gendered relationships: people

Getting the gender relationship right is crucial

Brand/consumer relationships

INTIMATE DISTANT

WOMAN / WOMAN

MAN / WOMAN

Car = feminine Consumer = feminine

Car = feminine Consumer = feminine

Beer: hyper-masculine Woman: hyper-feminine

Gender trouble: We know the ‘woman’ on the right is really meant to be a man.

Gender trouble: Beer is ‘masculine’ yet they’ve feminised and also made it a ‘phallic’ symbol

Gender is not easy – so it’s not hard to get the relationship wrong

Feminine category / feminine product /

feminine brand …

…Masculine advertising

Hyper-masculine brand / hyper masculine advertising

“For many men, this ad goes too far”

Gender is not one thing – there are many versionsExcept in advertising …

All girls like pink, don’t they?

Our customers are all mums.They all have lazy husbands and love love cooking

and cleaning don’t they?

620Complaints from men and women

“What a load of sexist drivel” Mumsnet

Molson Coors spent 3m developing

a ‘feminine’ beer

The brand was ridiculed in the press and

pulled after 11 months

Dell’s lady’s laptop - laughable

“Some might say what Dell has done is smart marketing, but Della is just plain dumb and the audience it's geared to is not”

“You can stick your feminine hygiene product ads up your hoo haa” The Guardian

Embarrassing? For Femfresh, yes.

We can help you evaluate creative executions and avoid costly mistakes

Who wants negative feedback on social media and in the press?

We get gender. And we can help you get it too.

Madwomen workshops and training will open your eyes to gender and how you can use it to your advantage.

Learn how to use your gender lens to sell smarter to women

Brands are getting it wrong. If you get it right, the opportunity is huge.

WWW.MADWOMEN.CO.UKContact Kate Frearson on: 07986 003495

Thank you