To be a Jackie, or a Marylin?

        While relaxing this past weekend, watching Mad Men, it dawned on me how clueless some advertising agencies can be when it comes to targeting products to the female psyche. The episode focused on the Mad Men coming up with an ad campaign for Playtex that would rival that of the competitor Maiden Form. After a boys' night out brainstorming session, the Mad Men come up with the idea that all women either want to be a Jackie Kennedy or a Marylin Monroe. The client ultimately decides to continue with their current, more conservative approach.
        I had to laugh a little when I saw this episode. True, there are women out there that strive to be a Jackie or Marylin, however, with women becoming more empowered everyday, these Mad Men miss the boat on understanding who women really are and what women really want.
       The majority of women that come into my store aren't buying bras to please men (with the exception of V-day and anniversaries), instead, they are making purchases based on what they want. Appealing to this demographic is more about making her feel good in her own skin. Tapping into the female psyche is much more complex than forcing her to fit into a predetermined iconic mold. When targeting women, concentrate on who she really is, rather than what is the preconceived image of who she may (or may not) be.

Mad Men Episode Guide

1960's Maiden Form Advertisement:

Holiday Happenings

          One of the most frequent questions I've heard over the holiday is "What are your current sales?" With the economy still recovering, many consumers are being frugal with their money. Currently, our store does not offer holiday specials and this has turned many customers away. In fact, many customers have left not only disappointed, but angry.
          Offering incentives to loyal customers helps to create repeat buying and entices customers to shop your store over others. An incentive as little as a 10% discount can encourage shopping and will in turn help to increase sales over the holidays. Many companies are seeing marginal increases in sales revenue in comparison to last year, even without incentives to buy. With the addition of incentives, customers are more prone to spend within your store rather than in stores that do not offer good discounts, or any. Popular incentives include percentage discounts, gifts with purchase, purchase with a purchase (such as a discount on a purchase item with another purchase) and promotional offers such as $25 back with any $100 purchase.
          Although holidays such as Hannukah and Christmas are over, companies who concentrate on promoting incentives to customers post holiday should continue seeing increases in profits into the new year.