The web site, touted as “a guy’s guide to marketing to women,” also claims that while 85% of all brand purchases are made by women, only three percent of advertising agency creative directors are female.
Shelf Impact! magazine has covered package design for women, but I wonder how the package design community falls out between the sexes. From the attendance at our Package Design Workshops, I would say women are equally represented. Of course, this may only mean they attend workshops in greater numbers.
Fast Company offers up five tenets of designing for women ALL packaging designers could benefit from. These include emphasizing benefits over features and crafting a cohesive story around the brand, from advertising and packaging to retail environment and customer service.
Another good point; women’s bodies have different bone and muscle structure so simply “shrinking” a man’s product is not the right approach.
Shimon Shmueli, Managing Director at Touch360, offers an interesting comment below the post. “All five are applicable to men, boys, and girls, so what is really new? Tough issue to address face on because you girls are still burdened by the politically correct, old stereotypes, modern aspirations…”
Shimon is right, of course, to a degree. But men and women, and girls and boys are different. And if the women are making the purchases, regardless of who will ultimately use the product, the package has to speak to her from the shelf. According to She-conomy, “What gets her attention is family, health, security, friends and lovers; learning and education; work and career; helping others and giving back.”
Shelf Impact! magazine has covered package design for women, but I wonder how the package design community falls out between the sexes. From the attendance at our Package Design Workshops, I would say women are equally represented. Of course, this may only mean they attend workshops in greater numbers.
Fast Company offers up five tenets of designing for women ALL packaging designers could benefit from. These include emphasizing benefits over features and crafting a cohesive story around the brand, from advertising and packaging to retail environment and customer service.
Another good point; women’s bodies have different bone and muscle structure so simply “shrinking” a man’s product is not the right approach.
Shimon Shmueli, Managing Director at Touch360, offers an interesting comment below the post. “All five are applicable to men, boys, and girls, so what is really new? Tough issue to address face on because you girls are still burdened by the politically correct, old stereotypes, modern aspirations…”
Shimon is right, of course, to a degree. But men and women, and girls and boys are different. And if the women are making the purchases, regardless of who will ultimately use the product, the package has to speak to her from the shelf. According to She-conomy, “What gets her attention is family, health, security, friends and lovers; learning and education; work and career; helping others and giving back.”
