Blind Spots. Brideson RJ

enterprising folk who work with them.

      Together, we'll bridge all levels of the organisational chart to explore how acknowledging our different perspectives can add up to more revenue.

      We'll look at how tradition has created a false myopia and why learning to see the way the world has changed can illuminate some of the blind spots that persist in corporations around the globe today. To not see gender is to limit yourself to one perspective or lens and to miss the greater opportunity entirely. If you will suspend your disbelief and keep both your eyes and your mind wide open, this book will be transformational to your future business.

      Let's begin.

      Introduction

      Women are the fastest growing global consumer economy.

      An Ernst and Young study reports that by 2028 women will control close to 75 per cent of discretionary spend worldwide.2 That's a trillion-dollar opportunity for the business world – a world that has been shaped by men and an instinctive male perspective.

      Is it any wonder that big blind spots exist in businesses and brands when it comes to forming relationships with women?

      Put simply, you are failing to seize a trillion-dollar business opportunity because you have no idea how to address this paradox by looking at your business from a different perspective.

      If you're like most CEOs, then you're looking to technology, innovation and ‘disruption' for competitive advantage, but I suggest you're getting it all wrong! The solution is devastatingly simple and right in front of you.

      You are viewing the consumer world through only one lens. A traditional, male lens. Now it's time to include a female lens.

      Many leading business execs say they already have a healthy bottom line. So why would they change their current formula if it's working well?

      Why consider ways to better meet the unmet needs or wants of women and make more money by doing so?

      The answer is really as simple as:

       ‘Why wouldn't you?'

      There has never been a better time, nor a more financially important time, to find a new prescription that ensures full visibility of each gender.

      We live in a time of exponential change and disruption. Being a business that thrives in today's landscape requires a new approach. Leaders must learn about, understand and harness the ever-changing competitive market.

      Three unrelenting forces shaping the world today are the weather, the web and women. At the same time, education and entrepreneurial opportunities are increasingly ‘fast, flat and free'. The democratising internet has broken down barriers for women, encouraging them to make their own way onto the world stage.

      Women use the web to start up their businesses, connect to one another, buy and sell, communicate their delight and dissatisfaction. Women also research businesses and spend money with them like never before, aligning with brands that share their values.

      The web has given women a platform from which they can be heard 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. They are building community and recognition, relevance and legitimacy in a space that is no longer monopolised by the traditionally dominant traditional-lensed perspective. Women own one-third of all businesses, more than half of which are in developing countries.3

      Lots of smart people out there nod knowingly, eyes widening as they lean in to hear more. You progressive forward thinkers recognise that you need to improve now to set yourself up for the future.

      The naysayers who dismiss the opportunities risk finding themselves sidelined, classified with companies that have famously failed to recognise and embrace earlier critical transitions – from steam to electric trains, from celluloid film to digital, from print to online communication.

      It's likely you employ women, probably in your marketing team, which means you already understand the female market, right?

       Wrong.

      Your female employees, staff, team, colleagues, clients and customers have spent a lifetime learning from a rulebook that was invented and passed down with that traditional male lens. But we live in a new era.

      This is fact. It's not man bashing. It's not personal.

      It's just better business.

      Whether you're a woman or a man, it's not your fault that you've been applying or acceding to an unconscious bias.

      For both women and men, this is an exciting opportunity – an invitation – to re-examine the business world from a female-lensed perspective.

      We're at the beginning of a market renaissance – a woman's revolution. It's an economic boom that could make or break your business and brand.

      To embrace this opportunity, to get it right, you must have a clear understanding of the role of gender in your market. Or, to put it bluntly, you've got to stop seeing everything through the traditional male lens and learn how to also include a female lens!

      This is what this book will show you how to do.

      We'll explore:

      ▪ how we arrived at this point in business and the lessons we need to learn to adapt to a future, forward-thinking market

      ▪ what brands have it right and what brands have it all wrong

      ▪ how the sexes really think, operate and therefore shop (hint: it has nothing to do with the colour pink)

      ▪ why having a female workforce is a great start, but not the only thing you have to do

      ▪ how to better see and engage with female consumers

      ▪ how to communicate your business and brand to boost your bottom line and benefit everyone, male and female.

      A wo-manifesto

      Sure, it's bold and audacious to suggest that there's a new female-focused way forward. But, as you'll soon see, this book is full of bold and audacious perspectives.

      I know what works and doesn't work when it comes to women. Not just because I'm a woman, but because I've worked in the communications business for over 25 years and have seen it with my own eyes. From business culture to research, product development to communication, I understand how great the opportunity is to better cater to unmet female needs, wants and wallets.

      In 2004, I opened Australia's first advertising agency to specialise in marketing to women. Through Venus Comms I've developed proven methodologies that create a whole new perspective on the lucrative and dominating market force that is women, all of which I will share with you in this book. As a mentor and coach, I've worked with businesses large and small, leading executives and CEOs (both male and female) in most industries from retail to sport, fashion to finance.

      We can all collectively benefit from adjusting the current para-digms of business based on historical ways of building successful empires. The data, tried and tested strategies, stories, examples and case studies that follow will demonstrate why the time is now and how you too can use this power. This is a shared opportunity for all who believe in the power of transformation to meet your market needs.

      Decades ago, no-one imagined a future dominated by smartphones, online commerce and artificial intelligence, despite the early signs. We are now living in a new world and a new economy.

      It's time to get businesses and marketing right when it comes to women, and their many unmet needs.

      It's time to get down to business.

2

Major, N. (2013). Women: The Next Emerging Market. [online] London: Ernst & Young Women. Available at: ey.com (accessed 10 April 2017).

3

Pofeldt, E. (2015). ‘Women's Entrepreneurship and Innovation Surge Globally'. [online] Forbes. Available at: forbes.com (accessed 10 April 2017).