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CNN Live At Daybreak

Woman Power Makes More Business Sense

Aired January 18, 2002 - 05:57   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: Woman power, I like the sound of that. Companies around the world are catching on to the fact that they've got to appeal to women to beat the competition.

CNN's Marina Kolbe reports.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MARINA KOLBE, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Calling all marketers. Want to make more money? Don't ignore a very influential buyer. Companies are discovering that to be tops in their industry, they can't take women, more than 50 percent of the population, for granted. Advertising executives say the smartest companies are marketing to women's particular sensibilities.

MARIAN SALZMAN, EURO RSCQ: Men, I think, demand a more macho treatment in the marketplace. Somehow they need to be right, not satisfied.

KOLBE (on camera): Marketing experts warn, some companies may be mostly targeting men, not capitalizing on the fact that married or single, women make a lot of the household buying decisions.

(voice-over): In fact, women are responsible for 80 percent of household spending in the United States. In 2002, they bought 50 percent of personal computers, owned 53 percent of stocks and influenced 90 percent of car purchases.

Companies that recognize this are reaping major profits. Lifetime television has soared from No. 6 on basic cable to No. 1 in viewership for both women and men in just a couple of years. Lifetime president Carole Black rose to the top of her industry by understanding the importance of what the consumer wants and delivering, especially to women.

CAROLE BLACK, PRESIDENT, LIFETIME ENTERTAINMENT SERVICES: Women care about relationships, they care about families, they care about story line. All those things are very important and you have to have them there for women to really -- to really care about what you're doing and to get any advertising message.

KOLBE: Lifetime aside, some advertising executives say the media industry in general has been slow to recognize the importance of women. SALZMAN: I think there's too much television, for example, that's targeted at a stereotypic male interest.

KOLBE: Analysts say companies like Reebok are thinking about women in a more modern way. She's not trying to be successful, she is successful. The new marketing philosophy isn't "You go, girl." It's, "You're there, girl."

(COMMERCIAL PLAYING)

KOLBE: Reebok executives say women are responding to ads that use humor, honesty and emotions to sell.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Women need to be thought about in a completely new way. We need to be thought about in a way that connects for us, not for men in an ad version for us like colored in pink.

KOLBE: One of the best performing stocks is a women's retailer called Christopher and Banks, up almost 9,000 percent in the past five years. Marketers are recognizing even in ads like these, if the man doesn't get the message, the woman will.

SALZMAN: It'd be great if he buys them for me. But if he doesn't, hmm, there's a gold card in my purse too, I'll go do the shopping.

KOLBE: Marina Kolbe, CNN.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

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