‘Gamma Women’ 55M Strong, Define New Marketing Model

‘Gamma Women’ 55M Strong, Define New Marketing Model – MarketingVOX

The number of Gamma women in America – those that influence a wide network of consumers and generate and disseminate new ideas and trends – is estimated at 55 million and growing.

Gamma personality profiles:

1. Connector: This type of woman believes people can accomplish more together than they can alone. She enjoys sharing her experiences, passions and recommendations with her network of friends and family. Fluent in social interactivity aspects of Web 2.0, her interest stems from motivation to keep in touch rather than a love of technology.
  
2. Catalyst: This type wants to impact her community, and ultimately the world at large, in meaningful ways. She finds great pleasure in volunteering her time and inspiring others to do the same.
  
3. Family-focused: This woman puts her family first; work exists to serve family needs. She looks to family and close friends to stay grounded and considers her loved ones her personal board of advisors. She uses technology to seek out information but relies more heavily on personal connections for support.
  
4. Do-it-yourself (DIY) creator: This profile lives life by her own compass and expresses herself by creating. She enjoys sharing ideas and techniques with fellow enthusiasts, and finding ways to bring creativity into daily life.
  
5. Challenge-seeker: This type of woman is always ready for a great adventure and focuses on possibilities rather than limits. She seeks out the exotic and challenging in all aspects of her life.

Filed under: innovators, Tastemakers, Women

Recession Can Be a Marketer’s Friend

Previous recessions have spawned the brand-management system, soap operas,
modern cable networks, airline loyalty programs, the IBM personal computer, the
iPod, Crest Whitestrips, Axe body spray and–for better or worse–fast-food
value menus.

Recessions also have been fertile ground for some retail
chains. Home Depot opened its first two stores near Atlanta just before a
recession in 1979. But today’s marketers don’t know much about marketing through
recessions–or how good they have it when things feel so bad.

~A

Recession Can Be a Marketer’s Friend – Advertising Age – News
BATAVIA, Ohio (AdAge.com) — The massive bailout of Bear Stearns from the brink of bankruptcy could be the first of many financial rescues needed. Despite double-digit plunges, U.S. housing is still overpriced by historical yardsticks. Retail sales have gone from slow to declining, and the consumer-spending binge that propped up the U.S. economy for years may not return for a long time.

Filed under: Consumer, economy, innovators

Boost Mobile Introduces Its Thinnest Walkie-Talkie Phone Ever

Boost Mobile has released a sleek new phone to add to its collection of walkie talkie phones. Boost’s phones are targeted at today’s style-conscience youth along with their pay-as-you-go service.
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Boost Mobile Introduces Its Thinnest Walkie-Talkie Phone Ever

RVINE, Calif.–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Boost Mobile®, a lifestyle-based telecommunications brand and wholly-owned division of Sprint (NYSE:S) has added the Boost-branded Motorola i425t and i425e handsets – the slimmest iDEN network Walkie-Talkie phones ever – to its cell phone offering. Available now exclusively from Boost, both cell phones feature a sleek, lightweight candy-bar design that is less than 1/2″ thick and weighs a mere 3.88 oz.

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Filed under: Consumer, gadgets, Gen Y, innovators, Mobile, Tastemakers, Young Adults

Networks Try ‘Twittering’ To Spread Their Message – WSJ.com

Media companies are beginning to explore Twitter – a social networking service that allows users to send messages in bursts – for promotional purposes and to extend shows online. There is a definite move in the traditional media sector to expand into more technological realms where younger generations play. It is necessary if they want to stay relevant.
C.

Networks Try ‘Twittering’ To Spread Their Message – WSJ.com

NBC, CBS, ABC Family and MTV are among several networks experimenting with the marketing possibilities of Twitter, a nascent social-networking service that sends messages in super-short bursts. Popular with young, tech-savvy consumers, Twitter lets registered users send brief updates to groups of fellow Twitter users simultaneously — via either text messages, instant messages, email or Twitter’s home page. The service is free to use.

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Filed under: Consumer, innovators, Mobile, Promotions, texting, Young Adults

A Way Cool Strategy: Toyota’s Scion Plans To Sell Fewer Cars – WSJ.com

A Way Cool Strategy: Toyota’s Scion Plans To Sell Fewer Cars – WSJ.com

By GINA CHON
November 10, 2006; Page B1

The brand is on track to beat its 150,000-car-a-year sales goal by 25,000 vehicles in 2006. That is a big reason why Toyota has surpassed DaimlerChrysler AG this year to become the No. 3 auto maker in the U.S. in sales.

But instead of riding that momentum to increase sales still further, Scion plans to throttle back production to keep sales from going above 150,000 vehicles next year. It is part of marketing strategy to keep the brand special and, above all, cool.

Filed under: advertising, innovators, living target

Virtually Cool – New York Times

Virtually Cool – New York Times
If you’re not reading this on a screen, if you don’t have a blog, if your phone is still leashed to a wall, if time has cruelly removed you from the 25-to-34-year-old age bracket beloved by advertisers, you probably missed the book party at the TriBeCa Cinemas in July. The author of the hour was Chris Anderson, who after the drinks entertained the crowd with a simulcast PowerPoint lecture on the topic of his new best seller, “The Long Tail,” which describes how the chokehold of mass culture is being loosened by the new Internet-enabled economics of niche culture and niche commerce.

Filed under: digital, entertainment, innovators, Mobile, opinion leaders, Tastemakers, trends, websites, Young Adults

Marketing Reality Check: Blogs, Pods, RSS

Advertising Age – MediaWorks – Marketing Reality Check: Blogs, Pods, RSS
The Reach Most Marketers Crave Still Comes From TV, Print and Internet Ads

By Abbey Klaassen

Published: August 20, 2006
NEW YORK (AdAge.com) — Digital properties may be VC darlings, hot on Wall Street and coveted by advertisers. But try telling that to Dave and Jean Bretzlauf, 57-year-old accountants in a well-to-do-suburb of Denver. Dave has an iPod but no idea what a podcast is. Neither is familiar with RSS. And while they read the online versions of their local papers, they also subscribe to Rocky Mountain News and several magazines — Reader’s Digest and women’s mags for Jean, financial and sports rags for Dave. They catch the morning news and never miss their favorite prime-time TV shows. And they’ve never logged on to watch online video.

Filed under: Blogroll, Consumer, content, digital, downloads, entertainment, innovators, Internet, living target, Media, Mobile, opinion leaders, podcasts, social networking, Teens, TV, Video, websites, Young Adults

Neutrogena’s Branded Video Blog Becomes a Forum for Girls

Neutrogena’s Branded Video Blog Becomes a Forum for Girls

Consumer-Generated Content Opens Dialogue Between Audience and Marketer

Published: August 17, 2006
Innovation in marketing and media is often focused on younger consumers. Hard to reach, picky about traditional media and highly skeptical about advertising, this group demands something different.

Filed under: Blogroll, Consumer, content, CPG, innovators, Internet, living target, social networking, Teens, websites, Women, Young Adults