This past year, I have been blessed with so much from friends, family, clients and colleagues.
One of my highlights has been a series of 10 videos I’ve done with branding expert David Brier.
While he’s funny, smart and scratches beneath the surface to get at why stuff really works (or not), I like him because he’s a straight shooter and makes me look smart!
Together in each of these episodes, we’ve tackled Chipotle’s big misstep, Amazon’s marketing secret and social media to name a few in the 10 done to date (just wait for what we have planned for 2017!). If you missed them, here’s the playlist.
The latest brand new video (shown later in this post) tackles the incredible power of female entrepreneurs with one startling example that transformed an entire city.
Women: One of the Reasons We Love Them So Much
David told me of a female client who, within minutes of their very first meeting, asked him, “Have you ever designed a brand for women?”
Three years later, that rebrand increased their business 387% in 36 months.
More confirmation how outstanding women are as female entrepreneurs. (Female consumers are even more more amazing—driving 85% of all purchases made—but more about that shortly.)
She’s Your Next Door Neighbor
I am not just talking about the Arianna Huffingtons of the world.
Or J.K. Rowling or Diane Von Furstenberg or Martha Stewart or Tyra Banks or Sara Blakely (Spanx creator and youngest female billionaire in America) or Coco Chanel (who existed decades before there was ever this thing called social media).
Maybe a bit more like Michelle Phan, who went from growing up on food stamps to creating a nearly $100 million empire that began with “how-to” makeup videos on YouTube. She has yet to turn 30 years old (and got on the Inc. 30 under 30 and Forbes 30 under 30 lists) and became the first woman to reach one billion views on YouTube with nearly 9 million followers. This evolved into her own L’Oreal line of products.
Or Joanna Gaines of Fixer Upper, HGTV’s #1 rated show who, with her infectious husband Chip, transformed Waco, Texas, into a destination attracting over 15,000 shoppers to their Magnolia Market store in Waco each and every week (not to mention their book which came out in October becoming a NY Times bestseller).
When David and I recently sat down, we talked about the amazing success story of this brand with Joanna Gaines and her husband Chip:
If you’re in business, this post is about what women bring to the table that’s very different than what their male counterparts bring to the business table.
Here’s what you need to know.
85% of Sales: We are the Champions, My Friend
Is it the estimated purchasing power women bring, driving 85% of all purchases made?
Or the fact that “the global incomes of women are predicted to reach a staggering $18 trillion by 2018, according to global professional services firm EY.” (thank you Bridget Brennan)
My answer is simple: women can do something men seem to be genetically incapable of doing.
Breaking into spontaneous infomercials on any product or service no matter how seemingly off-topic, or personal, or trivial. Spontaneously, enthusiastically and authentically!
And then adding on top of that the ability of all the girlfriends’ enthusiasm to embrace that eruption of excitement.
In Honor of Female Entrepreneurs
So yes, female customers rock.
But you know what? Female entrepreneurs rock just as much if not more.
So when David and I were speaking, he told me of some of the brands he worked on including Revlon and Estee Lauder.
But only later in his career did he get to work closely with female entrepreneurs.
It’s the flip side of the female consumer. It’s the opposite side where he got to see how attentive women are to their core audience.
The biggest difference he discovered was the attention to detail women have: they love details—packaging details, textures, smells, printing finishes, choices of paper, tissue paper and more.
The more sensory expectations you can exceed, the greater your bond—experience is like the glue that cements that relationship.
If You Needed Any More Proof, Here It Is
David mentioned a few clients and projects I found of particular interest showing the savvy women have when it comes to business—from cosmetics to market research to food and hospitality, all areas David touched upon in our discussion.
One example was particularly on point which showed the power to reinvent an entire category.
It was the Napa Valley-based Botanical Bakery led by the exuberant owner Sondra Wells.
Sondra and David really connected when he first interviewed her to discover their essence.
When he summarized her brand with, “Oh, you’re like ‘shortbread cookies gone wild’ “—it was clear they were destined to work together.
That rebrand resulted in a 900% increase in sales in 24 months after the rebrand.
Women are Incredible
The fact that they add so much to life is something too many of us might take for granted. Which is why I wrote this post and shared how amazing they are in adding more quality, intelligence and fun to life.
THE KEY LESSON I LEARNED HERE IS BASED ON THAT OLD PHRASE, “GOD IS IN THE DETAILS.”
AND IF THAT’S THE CASE, GOD IS EITHER A WOMAN OR ABLE TO REALLY CONNECT TO THE FEMALE SENSIBILITIES THAT MAKE EVEN THE SMALLEST DETAILS MEANINGFUL AND NOT TO BE OVERLOOKED.
So, that gives you a bit of why we love Female Entrepreneurs and working with them to help forward their global domination.