I love this video! It’s actually a couple of years old, but it very cleverly shows how disconnected male advertisers are when it comes to understanding the female consumer and where to connect with her. As a matter of fact, I think it rings more true today than ever before. Although it’s humorous format is entertaining, the message is very serious:

The female consumer is breaking up with brands, and she is trying to tell advertisers why. Listen to her.

We don’t talk anymore. You’re doing all the talking.

We’re not exactly having dialog

You’re saying you love me, but you’re not behaving like you love me. It’s not genuine.

I’ve changed and you haven’t.

We don’t hang out in the same places anymore.

You’re not listening to me.

If you knew me, you’d know I don’t care anything about that…

Guys, be very careful not to assume she is breaking up with your brand because of the recession. It could be because you simply are not listening to her.

Looking for a long-lasting, trusting relationship, in this rapidly changing market? Then make an effort to know who the female consumer of today is, believe that she reacts differently than men, understand her, and know how to connect with her on the Internet.

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Stephanie Holland is President and Executive Creative Director for Holland + Holland Advertising, Birmingham, Alabama. Working in an industry that is dominated by men, she is one of only 3% of the female creative directors in the country. Stephanie works mostly with male advertisers, helping them successfully market to women. Subscribe to She-conomy by Email

I was humbled and very excited to have been asked to be a regular blogger for B-Metro.com, Birmingham’s newest magazine/online concept. Who, you may be wondering, would start a new magazine when so many others are either dropping like flies or are one-half their typical size, with little hope of improvement? The answer? Joe O’Donnell, former editor of Birmingham’s city publication for the past 22 years.

Your next question might be, why? Joe and I have had several discussions over the past year about the opportunities for those who market appropriately to women in addition to how everything was rapidly moving online. So, I was impressed to learn that he had decided to take the very progressive step of starting a new magazine with one of its main goals being to drive people to a website. The book’s casual, yet elegant lifestyle format, is appealing to women and even the ever so slightly oversized pages will not go unnoticed by the discerning female. Women still enjoy flipping through a magazine, enjoying beautiful photography and escaping into well-written prose, but they are often left longing for more.

So, what makes B-Metro different?
I believe that the biggest mistake that magazines, and all media for that matter, have made when it comes to the Internet is that they have simply repurposed their exact same content onto a website. But B-Metro “gets it.” They understand that women want to dig a little deeper. They want live interaction or connections and they are looking for fresh and updated content. They want to be able to give their opinions. They are seeking a two-way conversation. They have combined their extensive knowledge as a publisher with the changes in technology to breathe life into stories and information.

Even the print version of B-Metro evokes a conversational feel. But if you would like to see more unbelievably awesome photography of kids authentically captured  by Liesa Cole from her “Mythic Backyard” piece, you can find them online. I know, because I absolutely loved the shots and went hoping for more.

Or, if you want to know more about the impromptu tête-à-tête between Kate Nielsen, CEO of Community Foundation of Greater Birmingham and Shariff Simmons, a musician, and spoken word artist, you can visit the website for the raw, uncut video and organic transcript. [As a matter of fact, Joe, I’d like to see even more video.]

But, that too is the beauty of this flexible format. They can listen and adapt to the wishes of the consumer. A huge plus when trying to nurture a relationship with the female audience!

I think they are off to a great start. But I want to know what you think. They want to know what you think. So, check B-Metro out. Their goal is not to look the same one year from now, or even six months from now. This is your online magazine. Tell them what you want. They are actually listening!

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Stephanie Holland is President and Executive Creative Director for Holland + Holland Advertising, Birmingham, Alabama. Working in an industry that is dominated by men, she is one of only 3% of the female creative directors in the country. Stephanie works mostly with male advertisers, helping them successfully market to women. Subscribe to She-conomy by Email

As you know, I closely followed Maria Shriver’s special report: A Woman’s Nation Changes Everything, on NBC this past week. Among other topics related to females, Shriver discussed how women’s purchasing power affects bottom line. Sounds like She-conomy, right?

Jody DeVere, who I met on Twitter and got to know even better at the 2009 Marketing to Women Conference in Chicago, created www.AskPatty.com, a safe environment for women to get automotive advice tailored to their needs. She’s been following California’s first lady too. In fact, Jody was invited to be on the panel of a live blogger podcast for the online launch of A Woman’s Nation. It’s a privilege to host her as a guest blogger.

Guest Blogger: Jody DeVere,  CEO and President of AskPatty.com

As a She-Conomy reader, I’m sure you know that women control 85 percent of all brand purchase decisions. Believe it or not, that number holds true when it comes to cars.

Women influence more than 85 percent of all automotive sales in U.S. households.

Beyond the initial purchase of a vehicle, women comprise 50-65 percent of the customer base at service centers and buy 60 percent of all passenger tires. According to the Yankelovich Monitor, even though females are the majority of the market, 74 percent say they feel misunderstood by automotive marketers.

Bottom line: women say the experience of visiting an automotive retailer is akin to having a tooth pulled. I’m convinced this is a result of the disproportionately low number of females who work in the auto industry.

For example, the promotion of Susan Docherty to General Motors’ top U.S. sales position last week marks the first time a woman has held that position in the automaker’s 101-year history. Docherty’s promotion means she will become the first and only woman on CEO Fritz Henderson’s newly formed nine-person executive committee. Susan is now the highest ranked woman working at an automaker. Congratulations, Susan! (It’s about time, GM!)

Although this is a reason to celebrate, Susan is only one of the 13 percent of women top executives in the auto industry. That statistic stands in staunch contrast to findings on overall employment listed in the Shriver report. “For the first time in our history, half of all U.S. workers are women. Mothers are the primary breadwinners or co-breadwinners in nearly two-thirds of American families,” it states. So why are there so few females in leadership positions?

Unfortunately, in the past five years I have witnessed several top automaker executive women leave for non-automotive industries.

To combat their low representation, women’s automotive associations and organizations have sprung up or grown tremendously. Scholarships to fund programs for women seeking automotive careers in various roles are growing. Still, less than 1 percent of all National Institute for Automotive Service Excellence certified technicians are women. In new car dealerships, women are about 20 percent of the overall employee count and only 7 percent are working in front-line management, sales or service advisor positions. Less than 7 percent of new car dealerships are woman-owned and operated.

Automotive retailers frequently ask me how they can find and hire more women.
They tell me women just aren’t applying for the positions and they want to hire more females. The answer is simple. It starts with creating a culture where women customers and potential employees feel safe and comfortable. Offering not only full time employment but flexible work place policies such as part time, work-at-home, team selling, job sharing for everyone not just women will increase your odds of hiring more women. After all, work/life balance is an issue for everyone.

To become an “Auto Industry Women’s Nation,” the high percentage of men at the helm need to grasp that women consumers hold the automotive purse strings. They need to work to create a culture that embraces female employees, create an environment where women feel comfortable spending their dollars and reach them with advertising campaigns that are “spot on.”

I strongly recommend automotive retailers address their female audience or lose market share to competitors who are speaking to the rapidly changing landscape and purchasing power of women. ~ Jody DeVere

Thank you so much Jody for your  helpful insight into these automotive related issues. And just to recap, I have highlighted several of the significant statistics below.

Female purchasers in the car industry:

• Women influence more than 85 percent of all automotive sales in U.S. households
• Women comprise 50-65 percent of the customer base at service centers
• Women buy 60 percent of all passenger tires
• 74 percent of women say they feel misunderstood by automotive marketers

Female employment:

• For the first time in history, half of all U.S. workers are women
• Only 13 percent of top executives in the auto industry are women
• Less than 1 percent of all National Institute for Automotive Service Excellence certified technicians are women
• In new car dealerships, women account for about 20 percent of the overall employee count
• Only 7 percent of those working in front-line management, sales or service advisor positions are women
• Less than 7 percent of new car dealerships are woman-owned and operated

Data Sources: •M2W Fast Facts: http://m2w.biz/fast_facts.php •Road & Travel Female Buyer Study: http://www.roadandtravel.com/company/marketing/femaledemo.html •National Institute for Automotive Service Excellence http://www.ase.com/ •National Automobile Dealers Association http://www.nada.org/Publications/NADADATA/ •National Institute for Automotive Service Excellence http://www.ase.com/ •Tire Review Magazine http://tirereview.com/ •Forbes Auto ‘Most Influential Women in the Auto Industry’ http://www.askpatty.com/page.php?ID=1701Title=AskPatty

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Stephanie Holland is President and Executive Creative Director for Holland + Holland Advertising, Birmingham, Alabama. Working in an industry that is dominated by men, she is one of only 3% of the female creative directors in the country. Stephanie works mostly with male advertisers, helping them successfully market to women. Subscribe to She-conomy by Email

Although not mentioned in this iVillage article, which is a preview of next weeks’ coverage on NBC’s report about women’s buying power, I still remain hopeful that they plan to address one of the most overused stereotypes about women. Many male marketers assume that all women are moms. However, while all moms are women, not all women are moms. And there is no one more in tune to that than Melanie Notkin, CEO and founder of the very successful online community, Savvyauntie.com.

I met my friend Melanie on Twitter nearly a year ago and since then she’s been featured in The New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Business Week, More Magazine, NBC, CBS and is a regular on FOX News Strategy Room.

I asked if she would enlighten my readers as a guest blogger and she kindly agreed. So, please read on as she provides incredibly valuable insight into an area where so many male marketers are  missing a huge opportunity.

Guest Blogger: Melanie Notkin, Savvyauntie.com

I’m not a mom. This fact seems inconsequential to most, until you look at many of my friends. They’re not moms either. And neither are their friends. In fact, nearly 50% of American women are not mothers.

So why are marketers so in love with Mom?

If you watch commercials for anything from laundry detergent to holiday gifting, it generally stars “mom.” Now it’s true that moms are part of the most influential segment of the economy – the segment that controls about 85% of household purchases. But non-moms do laundry too. And we also buy gifts. And we travel. We buy cars. We’re homeowners. In fact, we buy just about everything moms do, except for breast pumps. And mom jeans.

It’s not the moms who control and influence 85% of household purchases. It’s women as a whole. And in my household, I control 100% of the purchase decisions.

PANK is the new pink!
I’ve dubbed the other half of women who are not mothers, PANKs: Professional Aunts No Kids. We’re the consumers marketers should be focusing on because we have the time, money and influence they are looking for.

The 2006 US Census Report on Fertility reported that 45.1% of women through age 44 do not have kids. And that number has been steadily growing over the last couple of decades. It’s pretty remarkable. And when you take an even closer look at this segment, some other interesting data bubbles up.

Key PANK statistics:
The 2006 Census data states that even fewer women are having children than in 2004 – the date of the previous fertility report.  The data from a similar study done in 2004 stated that 44.6% of women did not have kids. This 2006 study reports that 45.1% did not have children, up 0.5% over those two years.

The big highlight of the report is shocking: “20 percent of women 40 to 44 were childless in 2006, twice as high as the level 30 years earlier.”

The Fertility Reports do not include data on women ‘post’ fertility who are less likely to ever have children – women 45 and over. That’s how we get to the “nearly 50%” number. In fact, it may be more.

Here’s the “women without children” Census data, broken down by age range:

• 15 to 19 years 93.3%
• 20 to 24 years 68.6%
• 25 to 29 years 45.6%
• 30 to 34 years 26.2%
• 35 to 39 years 18.9%
• 40 to 44 years 20.4%

Remove the teens from the equation, and 36% of women 20 – 44 don’t have kids. Again, this data does not include women 45+.  We are reluctant to exclude the teens because teens have huge spending clout and are very likely to indulge their little nieces and nephews, their little cousins, and their friends’ kids – and certainly themselves! And they are looking for ways to connect with the children in their lives, just like older women are. Just because they are less likely to have kids, doesn’t mean they are less likely to be loving aunts by relation, aunts by choice and godmothers to a child in their life.

Fewer women are having children. By choice. Not by choice. Some are childless. Some are childfree. Some are waiting. Some are undecided. Some are trying. Some are too young. Some feel too old. Some are too old. Some are gay and therefore we might assume less likely to have their own kids. Whatever the case, in the end, 45.1% of women 15-44, don’t have kids.

PANKs are Savvy Aunties.
In 2008, I responded by giving PANKs a community of our own:  SavvyAuntie.com, the first online community for cool aunts, great aunts, godmothers and all women who love kids.  Twenty-three minutes after launch, I received an email from the media buyers for Hasbro. Two hours later, Sephora contacted me. Then came Warner Brothers, Disney, Turner’s TNT Network, PBS Sprout, BareNecessities.com, Beyondtherack.com, Scholastic and many more. After all, when it comes to products and services that enable Savvy Aunties to make their nieces and nephews happy as can be, aunts want to know about them. Plus, without kids of their own, aunts have more discretionary income and time than most moms. That’s why they are more likely to indulge themselves and the children in their lives.

Still, the overwhelming majority of marketing messages are focused on Mom and to Mom. It’s time marketers began focusing on PANKs. We’re powerful and we’re influential. And we’re growing year after year.

If only my mom were here to see it…

Thanks, Melanie. Well said!!

Melanie Notkin is a proud aunt and the Founder and CEO, SavvyAuntie.com. She’s been featured in The New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Business Week, More Magazine, NBC, CBS and is a regular on FOX News Strategy Room. She can be reached at Twitter.com/SavvyAuntie.

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Melanie Notkin is a pround aunt and the Founder and CEO, SavvyAuntie.com. She’s been featured in The New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Business Week, More Magazine, NBC, CBS and is a regular on FOX News Strategy Room. She can be reached at Twitter.com/SavvyAuntie.

I love this AT&T TV commercial! I have no idea what the media buy is, but I know that I have only seen it when I am watching sports. I am assuming that’s because of the focus on Tyler Hansbrough, the former North Carolina basketball hero who was recently drafted into the NBA by the Indiana Pacers. But this spot is strong even if you don’t know who he is. Don’t get me wrong. Having Tyler further his heroic persona by finding the dog in the end is very touching and a definite bonus. But the concept alone is a winner.

Not only is it very appealing to women, it reveals the power of social networking at it’s best. People are communicating and connecting together to solve a problem and quickly. Looking deeper, it shows how even celebrities can be a part of an online community, making them more transparent and approachable.

Hopefully, I have missed this spot running on channels that are either more mainstream or even geared to women. If so, major kudos for not assuming it is only sports related. If not, AT&T is missing a huge opportunity for an alley-oop.

These are my thoughts. I’d like to hear yours.

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Stephanie Holland is President and Executive Creative Director for Holland + Holland Advertising, Birmingham, Alabama. Working in an industry that is dominated by men, she is one of only 3% of the female creative directors in the country. Stephanie works mostly with male advertisers, helping them successfully market to women. Subscribe to She-conomy by Email

According to the New York Times, NBC News will devote a significant amount of time and attention, beginning the week of October 18, to the changing roles of contemporary women. Much of it is based on a study initiated by Maria Shriver titled, “The Shriver Report: A Woman’s Nation Changes Everything.” The week long coverage will include evening newscasts, several appearances on the “Today” show, Meet the Press, MSNBC, CNBC, and iVillage among others.

The Center for American Progress explains that the report will combine the work of economists and academics to address the consequences of women’s more prominent economic status in the institutions that matter most in American life including government, business, faith, education and health.

So, how does this affect marketing to women, other than the obvious?

Lauren Zalaznick, the president of NBC Universal Women and Lifestyle Entertainment networks, said that NBC will also be releasing results of a complementary study, conducted by GFK Roper, into consumer behavior of women.

Zalnznick promises the study includes “eye-opening information” about women’s buying power and its impact on “advertising and the marketplace.”

Preliminary results already released confirm a good bit of what we already know:

• women are playing a much larger role in buying big-ticket items such as cars and high-end consumer electronics than they were a decade ago.
• women are playing bigger roles in family financial planning and buying stocks and bonds

While I am anxious to learn of some exciting new research, I think that for the most part, it will likely confirm more of what we already know. So, I believe that the most important take-a-way here is that it is becoming more and more mainstream knowledge that companies must “market to women.”

As that competitive edge begins to dull, your ability to connect effectively with women will need to be sharpened more than ever.

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Stephanie Holland is President and Executive Creative Director for Holland + Holland Advertising, Birmingham, Alabama. Working in an industry that is dominated by men, she is one of only 3% of the female creative directors in the country. Stephanie works mostly with male advertisers, helping them successfully market to women. Subscribe to She-conomy by Email

Last week Google launched SideWiki, which allows people to contribute their thoughts or comments on any webpage. That’s right. ANY webpage on the Internet. Google SideWiki appears as a browser sidebar, where anyone who has subscribed to it for free, can read and write entries along the side of the page.

Women communicate, connect and share. They are going to simply LOVE this. I think Jeremiah Owyang of Altimeter summed it up pretty well on his blog when he said,

“Google is turning the whole web into a social network.”

This means anyone will be able to comment on YOUR website for everyone to see, and there is very little you can do about it – except be prepared. If you have not started participating in the social space, I suggest you get started today. Your customers have beat you to it. And now they own your website. While there have been applications out there before now that allow for this capability, Google is positioned to take it mainstream and rapidly. Some great advice from Owyang:

Develop a social strategy with dedicated resources.
With every webpage now potentially social, you’ll need to develop a process, roles, and policy to ensure you’re monitoring the conversation, participating as you would in blog discussions, and influencing the discussion.  80% of success is developing an internal strategy, providing education before a free-for-all happens with customers and employees.

There are a lot of questions remaining as to how this will all pan out. Who will police the inappropriate comments, what posts will appear on the first page, will competitors actually place their logos on your page? But for now we will seemingly find out in real time as it is up and running on Internet Explorer and FireFox browsers, with Chrome expected out soon.

So, it is no longer a choice as to whether you are going to participate in Social Media Marketing, now the question becomes are you going to respond appropriately and effectively?

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Stephanie Holland is President and Executive Creative Director for Holland + Holland Advertising, Birmingham, Alabama. Working in an industry that is dominated by men, she is one of only 3% of the female creative directors in the country. Stephanie works mostly with male advertisers, helping them successfully market to women. Subscribe to She-conomy by Email

Women are continuing to flood to the online social networks. But some of you continue to ask: how does this affect her purchases?  I believe for companies that not only participate in social media marketing, but strategically listen and respond, it means increased revenue even during recessionary times.

Let’s take a look at three factors individually and then how they effectively converge to perpetually market your brand.

• Women’s Wants and Needs
• Online Social Channels
• The Buying Process

Women’s Wants and Needs
Women are responsible for 85% of all brand purchases. So what does this mean during tough economic and recessionary times? According to Women Want More, even though they are incredibly stressed, overburdened, out of balance and dissatisfied, they still want more. But more of what? Your products and services? No, not really.

What gets her attention is family, health, security, friends and lovers; learning and education; work and career; helping others and giving back. This translates to needs for:

Online Social Channels
Women are going online daily via channels to have a voice, attain advice, research, check on friends and family, make connections, collaborate and share.

And today she is meeting her needs and wants that are mentioned above through online social channels such as Facebook, Twitter, Blogs, YouTube, MySpace, Female Forum, wikis, etc. The chart below, appropriately titled The Conversation Prism, displays many of the channels available as of just a few months ago and the applications continue to grow rapidly.

Are you beginning to see the how nicely women’s needs interface with the benefits of online social networks? This is why they are spending more and more time online. Unlike men who mainly use the Internet to just make a transaction, women are there to make connections. But do not be misled by thinking this has nothing to do with the buying process.

The Buying Process
So, let’s look at the stages of the buying process. When men and women buy as partners, women control at least four out of five stages of the purchasing process.

1. Kick-off  – women     2. Research – women     3. Purchase  – men
4. Ownership – women     5. Word-of-mouth – women

And further, even though men are present and appear in control during the purchasing stage when they pull out the credit card or sign the contract, they are not really in control of that stage either – they just think they are. A lot happens way before then that actually determines the decision of what is bought.

So what happens? The other four stages. The decision to buy something, gathering of information, considering past purchases and collaborating with others.

Do these stages sound familiar? They mirror a woman’s basic needs, what she’s doing online, and how she conducts her life. This is how she thinks–Everyday. All day.

Women, networks and buying converge to create perpetual marketing
Participating in online social networks allows you to communicate, connect and build relationships throughout ALL of the stages of the buying process continuously.

If you are trying to capture her attention simply during the purchase stage, your competition will not only be getting in front of women way before you do, they will be building relationships with her. This is especially true today as everyone is so focused on price. But keep in mind, price is an obstacle, not a solution. Unless you are willing to give up your profit, you’d be wise to have a better strategy than price alone.

So, understand her needs, connect with her online as she is fulfilling them and you will be there for her when she is ready to buy. You will not only build your brand perpetually, but organically as well. You will constantly build her trust so when she is ready to buy, she will buy from you.

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Stephanie Holland is President and Executive Creative Director for Holland + Holland Advertising, Birmingham, Alabama. Working in an industry that is dominated by men, she is one of only 3% of the female creative directors in the country. Stephanie works mostly with male advertisers, helping them successfully market to women. Subscribe to She-conomy by Email

A recent study conducted by BIGresearch for the Retail Advertising and Marketing Association (RAMA), a division of the National Retail Federation, confirms there is advantage to connecting with women through social media and shows this advantage to be especially true for those longing to reach the “mom” market.

The study also noted that in an economy where price means everything, retailers who already have a presence on social networking sites like Facebook and Twitter are one step ahead of getting in front of these women.

• Women with children at home are more likely to use Facebook (60.3%),  MySpace (42.4%) and Twitter (16.5%) than average adults (50.2%, 34.4%, 15.0%, respectively),
• Additionally, 15.3 percent of moms maintain their own blog.

“Retailers who aren’t engaging customers through social media could be missing the boat,” said Mike Gatti, Executive Director for RAMA.

I would also add that when price means everything, it becomes even more imperative for companies to find their differentiation points as well as understand how women now define value. Engaging with women online is an excellent advantage. The many channels of social networking fulfill women’s needs for relationship and conversation and together converge with all five stages of the buying process: kick-off, research, purchase, ownership and word-of-mouth.

Other findings include:

• These days, women with families will spend where they feel their money is best spent – it’s no longer strictly about loyalty, and quality and value are not as synonymous as they used to be. One brand of laundry detergent might be the best on the market and have the most reputable name, but if the other brand offers more washes in a smaller bottle—saving the planet at the same time—mom is going to pay attention.
• When it comes to actually getting these busy women’s attention, there’s no guarantee that a piece of mail will end up in hands for which it was intended, and a coupon for 20% off any instore purchase could accidentally get thrown away or put in a pile and quickly forgotten. While TV is an important luxury for mom, the days of relying on television have given way to internet ads, paid search methods, Facebook and email campaigns.
• Technology has played a large role in where mom eventually shops, what she buys and how much she spends on any one item. At the same time, these are the same women who are more likely to tell their friends about a good (or bad) shopping experience, if a certain product is on sale and whether they would recommend a certain restaurant.
• It’s important for retailers to keep up with what these women want, because more than likely they are not only talking about it, they are tweeting about it, blogging about it and posting it as their Facebook status.

You can download a copy of the study as well as raw data here.

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Stephanie Holland is President and Executive Creative Director for Holland + Holland Advertising, Birmingham, Alabama. Working in an industry that is dominated by men, she is one of only 3% of the female creative directors in the country. Stephanie works mostly with male advertisers, helping them successfully market to women. Subscribe to She-conomy by Email

I’ve been reading Malcolm Gladwell’s book Blink, which discusses snap judgments and how they are formed in our subconscious. The book explains how we think without thinking. “Rapid cognition” choices and decisions are made in a decisive glance—reactions that are not a result of thoughtful consideration. That reminded me of some common pitfalls I’ve encountered when men make marketing decisions.

• Men, many of you are making snap decisions and choosing not to listen to your largest market—women. You aren’t hearing what she wants and needs. Don’t prejudge based on your own limited perceptions. Listen to the reality and incorporate it.
• An equally large number of you are being impulsive when it comes to your marketing presence in the social web. New social media technology is here to stay—embrace it. Don’t be quick to judge because you don’t understand it. These mediums have become the most effective way for you to connect to your female consumers.

I think the example from Blink, where Galdwell tells the story of Abbie Conant, further illustrates my point. Conant a professional female musician who, due to unique circumstances, auditioned with 33 other candidates behind a screen for the open trombone spot in the Munich Philharmonic Orchestra in 1980. She played so well that after her audition the board exclaimed, “That’s who we want!” sending the remaining candidates home. Once she stepped out from the screen, the conductor was floored. At that time there were very few women in the orchestra and none playing the trombone. Since she was a woman, she had difficulty getting hired with the same pay as the men due to the gender prejudices at the time. You see, conductors pride themselves on picking the best talent for the open seats in the orchestra regardless of sex or nationality. They had always said that a woman could not play the trombone, a man’s instrument, with the same strength and intensity as a man. Even with all of the long-held prejudices of the committee, nothing outweighed the first impression they had of her first performance. Throughout the next year Conant had to fight, pass tests and even settle in court to secure her position as first trombone.

Similarly, The New York Metropolitan Orchestra, one of the most respected in the world, has prided themselves in staying completely objective when choosing musicians, giving no thought to whether the person was male or female. The decision is made based on how well the person played during their audition. However, 30 years ago the New York Metropolitan Orchestra began blind auditions, putting up screens between the people who were judging the performance and the musician who was playing. In the 30 years since the screens were incorporated, the hiring of women in the New York Metropolitan Orchestra and other top U.S. orchestras has increased fivefold.

Unknowingly, the listening boards had instantly prejudged the women, thinking that they were not as accomplished musicians as the men and had counted them out in their mind before they even started to play. They believed they didn’t have the strength, attitude or resilience. Their lips were different, lungs less powerful and hands smaller. What seemed like a fact was actually a prejudice making the men sound better than the woman in the audition. It was not until the use of the screen that the committees actually heard the true talent of the musician come forth and the best performers were finally chosen.

“When the screen created a pure Blink moment, a small miracle happened, the kind of small miracle that is always possible when we take charge of the first two seconds: they saw her for who she truly was.” from Blink.

So men, I’ll leave you with this thought: Women are the market—85% of it anyway. Let a woman lead your marketing, and you just might end up making beautiful music together.

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Stephanie Holland is President and Executive Creative Director for Holland + Holland Advertising, Birmingham, Alabama. Working in an industry that is dominated by men, she is one of only 3% of the female creative directors in the country. Stephanie works mostly with male advertisers, helping them successfully market to women. Subscribe to She-conomy by Email