Two weeks ago on May 8, I gave a speech on the global power of the purse at the Marketing to Women conference in Chicago. From what I could tell from questions from the audience, discussions afterward and the applause (thank you), it was a success. But what continues to surprise me are the frank discussions I have with women who listened to my speech and then said: I never thought of women and economics that way.

What way? I often ask. The way, they say, in which education, money, and economic independence have made us what we are today. Too often as American women, we take for granted all those foundational elements--education, the right to vote, access to capital, the right to own a business--which have made us powerful consumers, powerful voting blocks, and powerful in the country's economy. It isn't until they listen to what is happening to women in other countries that they begin to see the power of what we have in American society today--and that power isn't just about what we can buy. Indeed it is far more about what we can produce from the education that we receive.

Continue reading "Education Matters, Especially for Women" »

Posted by Fara at 10:38 AM | Comments (0)

This week I'll be presenting at the Marketing to Women conference in Chicago and listening intently to my fellow presenters about the new tactics and strategies to reach women consumers. I'll be blogging from the conference on Thursday, May 8.

For this blog, I'll be taking yet another look at a country where women are increasingly important to their country's economy. India--soon to be the world's largest country--has boomed along with its Asian neighbor, China. And like China, its women have become a force as consumers and producers.

Technopak/The Knowledge Company, a management consulting firm, took a look at India"s most affluent consumers--a group of 280 million mostly urban-based consumers--to see what India's burgeoning middle-class consumers were buying. The company broke women consumers into three intriguing categories that show how important it is to understand women both in a global and a local context. Here is a link to the complete research article:

http://209.85.165.104/search?q=cache:u2JK9K4i8HkJ:www.ksa-technopak.com/pdf/DTC%2520Presentation%2520-%25201%2520August%25202006.pdf+india+women+and+consumers&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=79&gl=us

The "butterflies" make up 50 percent of the women in the urban affluent class. As the nickname implies these women are all about the looks. They are moving rapidly to luxury goods, especially high-tech products like cellphones and MP3 players. But the second largest group--"old luxury"--make up 32 percent and are not as much about the "bling." These women have grown up with luxury, as the report notes, and may tend toward more traditional luxury goods.

Notably, the third group is called "Mrs. Rationality," a nickname that reflects a more logical, less indulgent buying group. It would be easy to assume that affluent urban women would act and buy alike. But the differences in these three groups show how fast-paced change can shape and mold consumers in unusual ways.

Continue reading "India's Women--Butterflies or Mrs. Rationalities?" »

Posted by Fara at 10:28 AM | Comments (0)