Comments on: Single Women: Not Really a Minority

By: Leroy Brown

Leroy Brown — Fri, 06 Oct 2006 08:56:47 +0000

I’m just going to state the obvious here. If 51% of households are single wouldn’t that be (1 individual) versus 49% being married households (2 individuals)? That would mean 2 out of 3 individuals are still living in married households? Then if 50% of those are men this would leave only half of the 1/3 single women households? My point is data can be skewed depending on what you’re trying to communicate.
Personally, I think this reflects deeper change of social/religious awareness for individuals. We are no longer in the 50’s or even the 90’s for that matter. I feel perfectly happy living with the love of my life and see no reason the state or federal gov to be involved. Nor do I feel filing paperwork or having a large ceremony would deepen a relationship. My wife didn’t feel the same way…
Joking aside, I think your points are well taken and hit the mark.
As a designer/consultant I constantly push the idea of owning 1 finite market and designing materials that speak to those individuals.
Technology is allowing market segments to shrink at a surprisingly rapid rate.
Wired nextfest did a spotlight on a new service that beams messages to your cell phone that directly correlate to your preferences and geographical location! Can you imagine being a single female in a public restroom being targeted for gender specific products? Text message coupons? It doesn’t get any better then that. Or, does it get any worse then that? The future is the most beautiful, wonderful, terrible and ugly place.
Short case study:
Last year when designing fresh branding and marketing materials for a national carpet cleaning franchise I spent an afternoon secretly polling women between the ages of 25 and 50 at Lowe’s and Home Depot.
I showed 5 color chips from the paint area and told them I was working on an interior project and needed some advice on which color schemes they liked. Over 65% chose the same scheme. Needless to say we used those colors as the main elements in the campaign.
Just my 2cents…

By: Andrea Learned

Andrea Learned — Wed, 04 Oct 2006 15:50:02 +0000

Great point, Tammy. It always serves to dig a little deeper. Married women could be more “single-minded” in their shopping for a variety of reasons.

By: Tammy Strnatka

Tammy Strnatka — Tue, 03 Oct 2006 23:04:20 +0000

Great blog. I am married and my husband gave me a leatherman for Christmas about 8 years ago. I love it.
Here’s a new and growing demographic: Married women who married for the kids and the so called American dream and realize their gay. I hate to cite Oprah but this show was fascinating. I have always wondered if some moms were gay even though they’re married with kids. If this catches on there will be a whole new group of ’single’ women
Living Two Lives: Married to a Man and In Love with a Woman
By Joanne Fleisher

By: Andrea Learned

Andrea Learned — Tue, 03 Oct 2006 01:48:22 +0000

I agree, Ted.. those Home Depot “Do It Herself” classes hit the nail on the head (Uh.. I didn’t really mean the pun, but there it is). I think I read somewhere that there were guys who attended those and really learned a lot too, proving that point about how when you market to the higher standards of women, you won’t alienate men, you’ll just serve them better too.
And, Katie.. I know those numbers are pretty shocking, but I guess they snuck up on us. The female pollsters who wrote, “What Women Really Want,” pegged it when they cited “Singular Sensations” as their first women’s trend to watch. There are more interesting stats within that book/particular chapter, if you have further interest.
Thanks for all the great comments! And, don’t forget to let me know if you come across any related campaigns (that do a great job reaching unmarried women) or have personal anecdotes to share. I’m collecting all of it for my next book.

By: Ann Handley

Ann Handley — Tue, 03 Oct 2006 01:16:31 +0000

Here’s Ted’s “Do It Herself” post:
http://www.mpdailyfix.com/2006/07/diy.html
I agree about the Leatherman, Andrea. I’d actually be an ideal customer for one, but I only heard about it this past summer on a beach from a guy’s-guy friend. He talked about it so lovingly…I couldn’t help but think, “Why don’t they market those to women?!”

By: Kristen

Kristen — Tue, 03 Oct 2006 00:21:30 +0000

Great post, Andrea! Would love to check out your book, too.

By: Ted Mininni

Ted Mininni — Mon, 02 Oct 2006 17:05:24 +0000

Great post, Andrea. Back on July 5th my “DIY” post addressed this issue, but in a different way. In it, I cited how The Home Depot offers “Do It Herself” classes for women. I think that’s a brilliant marketing strategy. While these classes are for all women–married, single, with or without kids, they will no doubt appeal to many single women who own their own homes out there. I can’t help but wonder why more businesses don’t market their products or services to this very important segment. It’s not only short-sighted; it really doesn’t take into account shifting (or shifted) demographics.

By: Katie

Katie — Mon, 02 Oct 2006 15:29:39 +0000

Those numbers shocked me a little.