The Homa Files

TakeAway: Women consumers are an formidable force, shaping how billions of marketing dollars are spent annually.

However, getting a deep view of their market influence, especially in a digital and social age, has been hard to come by.  A new monthly brand index aims to change that.

Women drive 85% of all consumer purchases (often by being unofficial brand ambassadors) and talk about brands constantly – about 92 per week.

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Excerpted from Brandweek, “Women’s Top Brands Listed” By Jim Cooper,September 27, 2010

A new monthly brand index that’s designed to be a comprehensive measure of the 25 brands most important to women compiles online search data, social media buzz data and online chatter.

Brands that used new media in their marketing mix were some of the biggest movers on the list. Gap, for example, which moved from No. 44 to No. 17 in August, offered a discount incentive to shoppers that checked in through Foursquare. Pizza Hut also offered a discount via Foursquare in August and saw its rank hit No. 60 from No. 73.

Brands with recently launched social initiatives also had solid gains on the index. Starbucks moved to No. 33 from No. 59 with a boost from buzz about an in-store donation program to help rebuild neighborhoods in New Orleans. And Olive Garden hit No. 92 from No. 145 with the news that it had raised $6 million for the Lymphoma and Leukemia Society through its Pasta for Pennies program.

Edit by AMW

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Full Article:
http://www.brandweek.com/bw/content_display/news-and-features/direct/e3i386774579db7c2033a69ab0af09f5664?pn=1

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This entry was posted on October 20, 2010 at 6:15 am and is filed under Mktg - Promotion. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.