What She's Not Telling You: Why Women Hide the Whole Truth and What Marketers Can Do About It
The thought-leaders at Just Ask a Woman have an ongoing mantra when it comes to how brands should be marketing to women: “Start marketing with women, and stop marketing to them.” This philosophy moves companies past the Half Truths that women consumers tell and helps them identify the Whole Truths—which ultimately lead to bottom line success. “If you are trying to get her attention, her dollars, or her loyalty, you’ve got to avoid buying into the Half Truths that can undermine your best-laid plans. Only her Whole Truths can save you from a marketing mistake before it’s millions of dollars too late,” says popular M2W® and M2W®-HC™ speaker Mary Lou Quinlan in her latest book, What She’s Not Telling You: Why Women Hide the Whole Truth and What Marketers Can Do About It.
Women are not lying, they are simply not telling you the ‘Whole Truth.’ “The Half Truth is what women are willing to admit,” says Quinlan who is founder and CEO of Just Ask a Woman. “The Whole Truth is what they really believe, do, and buy.” So what are some of these “Half Truths” women are telling and the “Whole Truths” behind them?
Half Truth: “I’d never go back to being 35. I feel so much wiser now.”
Whole Truth: “Just because I’ve earned these lines doesn’t mean I want to wear them.”
Half Truth: “I want to eat healthy foods”
Whole Truth: “Sometimes the less-bad-for-me version of my favorite foods is good enough.”
Half Truth: “I am responsible for everyone and everything.”
Whole Truth: “I take everything on myself because I do it better.”
This book is full of great insight into how we can detect the hidden Half Truths and dig deeper to the Whole Truths “that drive brand leadership, relevance, and growth.” It is an easy read that will make marketers re-think their focus group strategies and begin listening to female consumers in a whole new way. In addition to discovering the five key motivators that drive women’s Half Truths (and how to overcome them), I really loved the case studies of Whole Truth marketers and those that never seemed to move past the Half Truths of their intended consumers (great story about Gap’s Forth & Towne debacle is in the first part of the book!). As marketers and/or female consumers, we definitely see ourselves in some of these stories and additional commentary added by Just Ask a Woman co-directors, Jen Drexler and Tracy Chapman, is the perfect touch to this must-have read.
If you didn’t get to hear Mary Lou speak during M2W®-HC™, click here for her recent interview on CBS’ The Early Show
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