From Booklist
"Women are the world's most powerful consumers." So begins Barletta as she presents her thesis that men's marketing doesn't work for women. We learn that in comparison to men, women have a very different set of priorities, preferences, and attitudes; their purchase decisions are radically different; and they respond differently to marketing media and messages. The purpose of this book, then, is to explain why marketing to women should be different than it is to men and to help readers avoid neglecting women in their marketing strategies, gain understanding of what makes them a worthwhile market, and develop specific action plans directed at women. Barletta presents her model for understanding women's responses to marketing efforts and then applies that model to the planning process for most markets. Also, she urges CEOs to gain an understanding of the importance of marketing to women so that necessary corporate resources and support will be provided. This book offers important insight for today's highly competitive marketplace. Mary Whaley
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved


Wharton's Knowledge@Work newsletter
"Barletta's book contains more of the kind of information that resonates with marketers, regardless of gender."


Harvard Business School, Working Knowledge newsletter
Barletta produces solid advice on how to market products that both appeal to women and increase company profitability."


Book Description
Marketing to Women shows why the women's market is the fastest track to strong business results in today's extraordinarily competitive environment, and an increasingly important and powerful market segment which companies cannot afford to ignore.
According to marketing authority Martha Barletta, companies that fail to recognize the power of the woman buyer are leaving money on the table. In her book, Marketing to Women: How to Understand, Reach, and Increase Your Share of the Largest Market Segment, marketing expert Martha Barletta presents a compelling business case for why marketing professionals, men and women alike, should allocate real dollars and undivided attention to the largest untapped market in the world: women. She then explains why and how women reach different brand purchase decisions than men, and provides a detailed field guide for creating and executing a complete marketing plan that targets women.


Book Info
Presents a compelling business case for why marketing professionals should allocate real dollars and undivided attention to the largest untapped market in the world--women. Marketing expert Barletta explains why and how women reach different brand purchase decisions than men.


From the Back Cover
A D V A N C E P R A I S E "If your competition learns before you do, what Marti Barletta knows about marketing to women—you won’t be the alpha anything. Read this book on the way home from the bookstore. And don’t spend another nickel on marketing until you’ve finished it." —Mickey Brazeal, Associate Director, Marketing Communication Program, Stuart Graduate School of Business, Illinois Institute of Technology "If you’re looking for a way to increase sales for your business, you need to read this book. Marketing to Women is an engaging, insightful roadmap to marketing success with women—full of practical advice you can implement today." —Heidi L. Steiger, Executive Vice President, Neuberger Berman, and founder of The Women’s Partnership "Marti approaches marketing to women with a zesty blend of wit and intelligence, backed up with enough just plain marketing smarts to inform and inspire you to take proper advantage of this enormous opportunity. So, after reading Marketing to Women, you may find yourself doing more than adding an element to your marketing plan. You may in fact change your whole approach." —Kirt Hibbitts, Senior Vice President, Director of Marketing Communications, Wachovia Bank "Marketing to Women reveals important insights for successfully marketing products and services to the growing women’s market. When businesses understand and meet the complex needs of women, they can successfully grow their market share. In this book, Martha Barletta provides the tools that enable businesses to do just that." —Jocelyn Carter-Miller, Executive Vice President and Chief Marketing Officer, Office Depot, Inc. "I see the forest! Marketing to Women unveils an incredible market potential that can be leveraged by almost any business today. This stuff should be standard reading for every business executive." —Janet Seese Disbrow, Vice President, National Sales and Marketing,SBC Directory Operations "Ignore this book and you could be leaving half the money on the table. Half of my customers are fundamentally different from the other half. This book shows marketers and salespeople what women want! Well researched and very readable, the book lays out some fascinating findings about gender differences and then illustrates how to translate them into savvy strategy and actionable tactics. Barletta brings real-world experience to her ideas and backs them up with countless examples. Any marketer —male or female—trying to sell to women has got to get this book!" —Paul Iaffaldano, Chief Revenue Officer, The Weather Channel Interactive


About the Author
Martha Barletta, president of The TrendSight Group, is a recognized authority on gender-focused marketing strategies for wooing women consumers. Her Wharton MBA, a distinguished career at top-flight agencies like McCann-Erickson, TLK, FCB, and Frankel, and work on blue-chip brands such as Kraft, Kodak, and Allstate helped her hone her marketing and sales talents. Barletta’s lively style, command of her subject, and passion for her topic make her a popular presenter at corporations, conferences, and business schools, including Northwestern University’s Kellogg Graduate School of Management. She has been featured in Ad Age, Brandweek, the San Francisco Examiner, the Toronto Star, and many other publications worldwide.

FROM THE PUBLISHER

Marketing to Women shows why the women's market is the fastest track to strong business results in today's extraordinarily competitive environment, and an increasingly important and powerful market segment which companies cannot afford to ignore.

According to marketing authority Martha Barletta, companies that fail to recognize the power of the woman buyer are leaving money on the table. In her book, Marketing to Women: How to Understand, Reach, and Increase Your Share of the Largest Market Segment, marketing expert Martha Barletta presents a compelling business case for why marketing professionals, men and women alike, should allocate real dollars and undivided attention to the largest untapped market in the world: women. She then explains why and how women reach different brand purchase decisions than men, and provides a detailed field guide for creating and executing a complete marketing plan that targets women.

SYNOPSIS

The numbers don't lie. In today's extraordinarily competitive environment, marketing to women is unequivocally the fastest track to sales growth, share dominance, and profit improvement.

Consider these remarkable statistics: Consumer spending accounts for two-thirds of the economy-and women make 85 percent of all consumer buying decisions. The majority of corporate purchasing agents and managers are women. And women entrepreneurs account for 70 percent of new business start-ups.

In Marketing to Women, marketing expert Martha Barletta presents a compelling business case why marketing professionals, men and women alike, should allocate real dollars and undivided attention to the largest untapped market in the world-women. A concise summary of key gender findings from fields as varied as anthropology, biochemistry, and psychology serves as the foundation for her observations. Her proprietary GenderTrends￯﾿ﾽ Marketing Model then explains why women reach different brand purchase decisions than men, and how they react differently to the 12 marketing elements marketers use to influence those decisions.

Some of the insights offered in Marketing to Women include:
Different communication patterns make traditional consumer research methods relatively ineffective in getting at women's real buying drivers. Learn how to adapt your research to reveal what you really need to know to capture your share of women's wallets. Women are motivated by different perceptions, priorities, and preferences than men are. Understand the fundamentals of female gender culture and how they should completely change your approach to advertising. Whereas male buyers are seeking "a good solution," female shoppers are looking for the Perfect Answer. Find out what the difference is and what it means for your sales strategies.

With carefully researched gender expertise, 20 years of hands-on marketing experience, and a wry sense of humor, Barletta shows readers how to use gender-savvy strategies to outsmart the competition. Loaded with real-life examples and specific "how to" techniques, Marketing to Women provides a detailed field guide for creating a tactically actionable marketing plan to bring women to your brand and boost sales and profits into overdrive.

About the Author

Martha Barletta, president of The TrendSight Group, is a recognized authority on gender-focused marketing strategies for wooing women consumers. Her Wharton MBA, a distinguished career at top-flight agencies like McCann-Erickson, TLK, FCB, and Frankel, and work on blue-chip brands such as Kraft, Kodak, and Allstate helped her hone her marketing and sales talents. Barletta's lively style, command of her subject, and passion for her topic make her a popular presenter at corporations, conferences, and business schools, including Northwestern University's Kellogg Graduate School of Management. She has been featured in Ad Age, Brandweek, the San Francisco Examiner, the Toronto Star, and many other publications worldwide.

FROM THE CRITICS

Soundview Executive Book Summaries

Marketing expert Martha Barletta writes that women make 85 percent of all consumer buying decisions, and the majority of corporate purchasing agents and managers are women. Given these statistics, she believes that marketing professionals of both genders should pay close attention to the brand purchase decisions made by women, and how women react differently to the marketing elements marketers use to influence those decisions. She also explains the perceptions, priorities and preferences that motivate women. Copyright © 2003 Soundview Executive Book Summaries

Nancy Evans

If you want to make more money, you'll want to buy this book. It's as simple as that. Barletta gives you all the right reasons to finally 'get' that women aren't a niche, they're the market. This isn't about sexual politics; it's about increasing revenue and market share.  — Cofounder and Editor-in-Chief, iVillage

Paul Iaffaldano

Ignore this book and you could be leaving half the money on the table. Half of my customers are fundamentally different from the other half. This book shows marketers and salespeople what women want! Well researched and very readable, the book lays out some fascinating findings about gender differences and then illustrates how to translate them into savvy strategy and actionable tactics. Barletta brings real-world experience to her ideas and backs them up with countless examples. Any marketer -male or female-trying to sell to women has got to get this book!  — Chief Revenue Officer, The Weather Channel Interactive

Jocelyn Carter-Miller

Marketing to Women reveals important insights for successfully marketing products and services to the growing women's market. When businesses understand and meet the complex needs of women, they can successfully grow their market share. In this book, Martha Barletta provides the tools that enable businesses to do just that.  — Executive Vice President and Chief Marketing Officer, Office Depot, Inc.

Betsy Holden

While consumer products companies like Kraft have long recognized the importance of women as gatekeepers and customers, Marti provides a fresh perspective into the power of women in the total marketplace. If you are interested in marketing to women, this book will not only show you how to do so, but why it's important for growing your business.  — Co-CEO, Kraft Foods Inc., and President and CEO, Kraft Foods North America

Barnum, Tom

I love this book. It is the first book on the women's market that looks at women in terms of what they really care about rather than in terms of what marketers think they care about. And Marti's style of mixing fact, experience, and example to develop her point of view makes it a 'page turner' with at least one 'wow' in every chapter. Clearly required reading for any marketer.  — Chairman, The Everest Group

Olsson, Hans-Olov

Martha Barletta's insights on marketing to women are plenty, often both surprising and self-evident. They are well documented, served with clarity, and quite often with a delightful sense of humour. I urge you to grasp, learn, and become inspired.  — President and CEO, Volvo Car Corporation (Sweden)

Hennessy, Julie

For so many businesses today, women consumers represent a huge market, their biggest growth opportunity, and their competitors' most significant vulnerability. This book is full of revenue-growing and profit-increasing insight on exactly how to design for and sell to the female half of the population. Better read and apply these principles before your competition does!  — Professor of Marketing, Kellogg Graduate School of Management, Northwestern University

Broekaert, Monique

I couldn't put this book down-the ideas make so much sense, the thought pattern is so clear and logical-I finally understand the WHY of women's purchasing decisions. How could marketers be so blind for so long?! I'm enthusiastically recommending this book to all my male and female colleagues. Anyone looking for some eye-opening insights as well as both personal and professional inspiration should read Marketing to Women right away.  — Information Services Officer, Marketing Information Centre, Marketing Federation of Southern Africa

Hibbitts, Kirk

Marti approaches marketing to women with a zesty blend of wit and intelligence, backed up with enough just plain marketing smarts to inform and inspire you to take proper advantage of this enormous opportunity. So, after reading Marketing to Women, you may find yourself doing more than adding an element to your marketing plan. You may in fact change your whole approach.  — Senior Vice President, Director of Marketing Communications, Wachovia Bank

Disbrow, Janet