From a male planner: Pink is not a strategy

When asked, "How do we target our female consumers?”, I often reply, "We don't".

You don’t need a herPod, when the iPod suits her just fine. But brands like BIC who market pens made just ‘For Her’ (in stereotypical pink and purple colours) get skewered by the very audience they failed to identify. Brands need to look beyond gender, put aside the lens of research data and build their brands from the lens of the individual. Pink, is not a strategy.

So whether you’re a man discovering a woman’s complex, non-linear thinking pattern (like you attempt to everyday with your mother, partner, sister, friends, co-workers…) or a woman digging for insights she is naturally attuned to, the fundamental truth of consumer behavior prevails. In my humble, albeit male-skewed opinion, you don’t have to BE your audience as long as you UNDERSTAND your audience.