In the last year several 'marketing to women' agencies have started. As the spending power of women has taken off, many companies need to redefine their marketing strategies, and agencies specializing in this area can be of help. We have made a list:

• Sisteract, founded by Marianne van Leeuwen, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
• Muse Communcation by Sabine Clappaert, Belgium
• Womenkind by Kristi Faulkner, New York, USA
• PrettyLittleHead, of Jane Cunningham and Phillipa Roberst, London, UK
• G23 of Omnicom, USA
• Bosley, of Eveline Posma and Jacqueline Donker, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
• Kaleidscope Group of Hoffman, NY
• XandY Communications, founded by Collette Dunkley, Mayfair, London, UK
• Wonderbranding, founded by Michelle Miller, USA
• Fe-Online, Belgian marketing to women agency, Antwerp
• NIEUW, founded by Kirsten Andres, Amsterdam The Netherlands
• LEARNED-ON, author of the book" Don't think pink".

What are these agencies doing? The FAQ on the website of Bosley provides a lot of answers to questions involving marketing to women, such as:

Does female marketing and advertising exclude men?

On the contrary. Products don't have to be painted pink and it is rarely necessary to present a proposition to the market that is designed exclusively for women. But it is crucially important to take a human and empathetic view. To pay just that little bit of extra attention to all the details. But that sounds much simpler than it is. Because it demands carrying out our profession in a fundamentally different way than we have been accustomed to over the past decades. Making a product or service more attractive for women will soon make it more attractive for everybody. Or as they say in America: 'If you please a man, you just please a man. If you please a woman, you please everybody.' And that's good news for every marketeer.

Womenkindnetwork says:

'85% of big agency creative departments are men. (And boys.) Which means most of the people writing most of the ads for women, aren't women. Maybe this is why most media images are not flattering to women, and why most messages don't resonate. Maybe it's why 91% of women in America don't think advertisers understand them at all.'
We will discuss a couple of cases in the coming weeks.