The advertising sector in our country has shown several indications of evolving for the better and gender targeting is one of the oldest forms of demographic targeting. The recent spurt of commercials for women have managed to explore different channels of media creatively not only to sell their products but also deliver a very strong and bold social message to break the stereotypical gender role in the society from only demureness and tenderness of women portrayed in ads like Surf, Hawkins, Ponds talc etc. to sensuousness and strength in ads like ‘TVS Scooty’ and Axe Deodorants.
Here are a few interesting ads targeting women because the companies have taken the risk of doing something different, shedding the tried and tested.
1)On television/ Radio- some ads just don’t let us switch channels.
The Amazon ads show women in a very progressive and positive light and capture their dilemma to start something new. They also highlight the important services like one-day delivery, easy returns and cash on delivery that women can relate to very well.
The 360-degree campaign with integrations across national television and Radio, cleverly uses the daily parlance women use. E.g. aapki apni dukan, aur dikhao, ek bar try karke toh dekho and kya pehnu. And great innovative concepts like ‘no more adjustment’ and ‘mom be a girl again’ which definitely tug at the heartstrings.
Other interesting ads targeting women from all strata of society are the Parle Monaco biscuit ads. Pravin Kulkarni, general manager- Parle products shared that the campaign was directed towards easy munching in and outside home at any time of the day and aimed at drawing parallels at the light hearted approach towards life situations. One ad shows the daily amusing haggle of women with vendors, while there is one that shows a group of women bantering in a kitty party, enjoying some exotic Monaco starters.
And how can one forget the Stayfree ‘Army’ ad which deals with a woman who wants to follow her dream to join the army despite parental objection.
Or the Nirma washing powder ad which went a step ahead in women empowerment and showed a group of women bail out an ambulance from a sticky, murky situation while the men looked on. The intent was to play with the women psychology to basically take charge (in this case, of dirty laundry) and it rubbed in the detergent as a tool. Very clever!
2)On social media- in the past, marketers had to make assumptions about the key words men and women search for. But Facebook ads remove the guess work as this platform collects a good amount of demographic information. According to Mobile Marketing Association, users spend 40% more time on native ads rather than the traditional display ones.
Sheryl Sandburg shared an interesting ad by Ariel India on her Facebook account, which went viral. It was about how gender stereotypes are passed down to generations and how things needed to change. The ad showed a woman juggling between childcare, domestic chores and a job.
This is how the men responded to the ad on social media.
Google Ad Sense is also a very interesting ad tool. This tool keeps popping up the product one has browsed on a particular site till you cannot ignore it and are compelled to click on it to buy. Who do you think will do this more often? No prizes for guessing.
Instagram is all about visuals. Glossier video ads are about best hair and make-up and are very interesting because they are more like tutorials that women come across on Instagram organically. The clever copy writing is like an icing on the cake.
3)Guerilla marketing-is an interesting ad strategy that concentrates on low cost and unconventional ad tactics for women yielding maximum results as they are totally unexpected and women love surprises. This is done creatively outdoors in malls, bus stops, stations, hoardings etc. or through a different strategy involving the target audience.
Wheel detergent was required to reach out to the media dark states like Uttar Pradesh, Bihar to create its brand awareness and sales. This had to be tied up with the fact that ‘Wheel’ gave its consumers more washes at a lesser cost and so they linked up the idea of a missed call that has a money saving element that was associated to the brand.
Some more interesting ads using guerrilla marketing are,
The Nike shoes advertisements for women on the road which women cannot miss, or the Pantene shampoo ad which enables their women customers to actually feel how their hair would be after using the shampoo. And of course the Rexona deodorant ad which actually has standees of people moving away as the customer approaches with the tag line that ‘People move away from you when you don’t use a deodorant!’
With more and more women watching ads, more brands stand to see the impact of creative marketing and interesting ads on their business. All in all, it can be said that the world of advertising is incomplete without women!
Author-Alefiyah Kapasi
Disclaimer-All images are taken from images.google.com for illustrative purposes only.
