Technology companies are missing out on a potential
£600m in the UK by failing to market products and services to
women.
Big name companies like Dell, HP and IBM are treating marketing
to women as an “add on” which is done at the final stage of
bringing a product to market. Instead, companies need to include
women at the design stage and put them, and the way they use
technology, at the very heart of production.
Belinda Palmar, an advertising consultant who has worked with
IBM and HP, is setting up a company, Lady Geek, which aims to show
companies how they can target the female market more
effectively.
Her research, done with Jupiter, showed that women are worth a
potential £0.6bn to the UK technology sector, revenue which the
industry has so far failed to capitalise on. “At the moment, men
are writing ads for men,” she says. “Creative departments are
largely made up of men who then design ads for what they think
women want, rather than what women actually want. You end up with
campaigns that are almost for a fantasy consumer.”
Companies are not taking the issue seriously enough, she says.
“It feels a bit like the green issue. Companies are treating it
like it’s a box to be ticked. There’s no real commitment.”
Most technology companies use things like pink gadgets to appeal
to the female market, but the gap in the market is actually for
professional, educated women with disposable incomes who are not
convinced by pink-based marketing campaigns. “Women do not want to
feel like they’re being patronised or targeted,” Palmar says.
She adds the experience of shopping for technology also poses a
problem, usually involving pushy salespeople and confusing
displays.
There is, however, a reason for optimism – despite the
high-profile failure of Dell’s “Della” campaign, which included
calorie-counting tips on its website, it showed that some companies
are at least starting to think about the importance of the female
market.
Parmar said, “I am optimistic about it. Della was a bold move –
I don’t think Dell are getting it right, but it feels like the
commitment is there.”