Lady Geek

I am often asked for good examples of how tech brands should commuinicate with women: The fact is that good examples are few and far between. There is of course Apple, but praising apple is now a marketing cliche, but Apple always seems to get their tone right: They make technology simple but more importantly, they make technology inviting to women.

We might compare the minimalist elegance of Apple’s advertising with this trade ad from microsoft which so desperately attempts to appeal to women.

It fails on multiple levels:

Firstly, I am affronted by the thought that Microsoft think they have to make it feel like a fashion ad to make women interested. It smacks of a group of middle aged marketing men appealing to the same old stereotypes and assumptions, spesificaly that women do not care for technology.

I can imagine the moment in the team meeting where the oldest guy in the rooms suggests: “Why don’t we disguise the products and sell them as if they were…wait for it…SHOES!”, only to be met by raturous applause from his colleagues who are all relieved to get this messy business of female marketing out of the way.

In my own extensive research I found that women are interested in technology but are put off by exactly this kind of stereotyping.

Secondly, Microsoft need to make fundamental changes to their company that makes women feel that they are interested in talking to them rather than just paying lip service to women with one ad. This goes right from looking at ensuring women are in leadership positions (Sony now have an Executive Women’s Committee, Yahoo new president is Susan Decker and Google have promoted the first female enginner to VP status- Melissa Mayer) to designing products that are intuitive, instinctive and emotional.

Its clear that this product bundle has not been designed with women in mind. Maybe I am wrong, but this seems to be more about off-loading some excess stock than opening up new markets.

And lastly, from an advertising perspective, there is no compelling and relevant idea in this ad. What does ‘Innovation Styled for Life’ actually mean? This sounds like vacous marketese.

Where is the innovation in this product bundle? How are these products styled for my life? I can’t relate to the life of the women in this ad. She looks more like a Pop Idol contestant than a real person who might have a compelling need for these products. The women I spoke to do not want technology ‘styled for life.’ They want technology to fit in their lives not style their lives around technology.

My advice for Microsoft – encourage your agency to spend some time investigating how women really engage with these products. There’s no shame in selling a product on it’s aesthetic appeal – however Microsoft need to find a way to lift themselves above the level of nonsense established by the fashion industry.