Thinking Beyond Pink
The theme of this year’s AGS Conclave in Denver last week was Take the Vow and many sessions did address today’s bride. But the unofficial theme of conclave was growing power and influence of today’s female consumer and how the jewelry industry has to change to better attract and serve women. Women make or influence 80 percent of all consumer purchase decisions, that’s $5 trillion in consumer spending each year. But marketing to women isn’t a matter of making your store pink. Conclave speaker Andrea Learned, author of Don’t Think Pink, urges retailers to go beyond stereotypes to better attract and serve all customers. She advises creating a customer advisory board of ten or so of your top customers to advise you on how better to serve them and to use the power of stories to forge an emotional bond. But don’t take our word for it: listen to Andrea tell you all about it in our new video of her three secrets of Marketing to Women (just one of the cool interviews in our new Jewelry Video Network.) It’s important to remember that this isn’t about trading one customer base for another. Since women are informed shoppers who notice everything, from your social responsibility policy, the shopping experience, your store design, your staff, your website, doing a better job at marketing to women will help make your store more attractive to men too.
It was great to talk with you, Cheryl, and to meet so many savvy marketers at Conclave last week. I’m glad you made that final point in your post - women have a higher standard as consumers (and are looking for the relationship with the jeweler, much beyond a simple “transaction”), so serve them well and they’ll make sure the men in their lives buy from you every time, too.