Power of the Purse How Smart Businesses Are Adapting to the World's Most Important Consumers-Women

"Warner moves beyond theory and offers meaty case studies that should wake up any sane person--including males(!)--to the world's #1, largely untapped marketplace opportunity. There is no longer the faintest excuse for not marching quick time toward full-bore implementation." --Tom Peters, bestselling author ofIn Search of Excellence,Re-Imagine!, and many other management classics "The Power of the Pursecombines insight with practical applications from the world's biggest brands on how to reach the economic force called 'women.' Most notable are the ten questions Warner suggests marketers ask themselves as a way to reinvent their brands, products, and services. The answers to these questions should put this book at the top of your reading list." --Jack Trout, bestselling author ofPositioning,The 22 Immutable Laws of Marketing, and many other marketing classics "Women will tell you what they think when you ask them. Fara Warner lays out how easy asking can be, and how taking action on that insight can be the difference between success and failure." --Michelle Cervantez, vice president of marketing, Mercedes-Benz USA "Women represent the most complex, fragmented, and misunderstood consumer segment to target today. More than 80 percent of buying decisions are made by women. This book offers marketers refreshing and compelling insights into how to connect with women and tap into a tremendous market." --Erich Joachimsthaler, founder and CEO of Vivaldi Partners and co-author ofBrand Leadership "Anyone trying to gain market share in a consumer products business will findThe Power of the Pursea big "Aha!" delivering insight and inspiration. Fara Warner has recognized and documented an important demographic shift: individuals and family members are choosing to play to their strengths instead of following outdated traditional gender roles. The roles don't change: executive, homemaker, breadwinner, caregiver, athlete, cook, shopper, historian, financial manager, do-it-yourselfer, and so on. What has changed, which this book proves using examples that hit home, is that the roles are evolving to be gender-neutral. Smart marketing requires challenging, long-standing assumptions about who does the cooking and cleaning, who brings home the bacon, and what motivates them to buy. As this book shows, those who figure that out have a big opportunity to gain market share from those who don't." --Donna Horton Novitsky, venture partner for Mohr, Davidow Ventures, and global entrepreneurial marketing lecturer, Stanford University The Power of the Purseis an extraordinary behind-the-scenes look at how today's smartest companies are discovering the immense power of women consumers--and using it to achieve break-through results. Women's access to money and power has transformed the way they approach brands, businesses, products, and services. Women now influence the vast majority of purchasing decisions--and every year, they gain direct control over trillions in new wealth. This is a little-understood market of unprecedented size and scope: one that few companies truly know how to reach. Empty slogans and superficial changes won't work. This book shows you what will. Nothing theoretical, nothing political: this book is built around nearly a dozen extraordinary business successes. You'll learn the real stories behind McDonald's Premium Salads, Procter & Gamble's Swiffer, Hot Topic's Torrid stores...behind the turnarounds at The Home Depot, Avon, and Kodak...and behind the cuWarner, Fara is the author of 'Power of the Purse How Smart Businesses Are Adapting to the World's Most Important Consumers-Women', published 2005 under ISBN 9780131855199 and ISBN 0131855190.