Mittwoch, 28. März 2012

Porns for Equal Pay Day


Equal Pay Day is a Belgian Organisation dedicated to equal payment. Since the typical woman has to work for a year and three months to make the same amount as a man makes in a year, each year on march 25th there is a worldwide Equal Pay Day and Equal Pay Day launches a new spot to draw attention.
All spots play with sexuality and provocation. Last Years spot showed sexy cougar grannies operating with tools to electro dancefloor in slow motion.

This year the Ex Porn Star Sasha Grey is staring the campaign by advising her female audience to became a porn actress in order to close the wage gap. Have a look, if you are over 18 years old.

 A spot object to discussion, since the tonality of the film is not in line with official attitude of the actress towards her adult film career. But still the spot, as well as the granny spot of 2011, demonstrates that women go beyond stereotypical gender models and are using all weapons to fight for equality.

Montag, 5. März 2012

Introducing the Mumdex

Asda the second biggest Supermarkt chain in the UK has taken a new marketing approach by introducing the MUMDEX. An instrument not only providing useful information, but also indicating the brands empathy with todays household managers.

The study is adding Asdas agressive pricing strategy, which allows customers to check receipts and receive a refund if their Asda shop is not 10% cheaper than its rivals, with a human factor.

Almost 4,000 real mums of all ages in the UK have signed up to be part of the Mumdex panel, giving their opinion on how they’re really feeling about their finances, their communities, and the outlook for the future of their family. Asda stats the vision is a ‘state of the nation’ report, which  doesn’t look to house prices or retail sales data to predict consumer confidence, but looks instead at how thousands of UK families are coping with the realities of the changing economic landscape.
Here you can download the full report. http://your.asda.com/mumdex

Click here to learn more about our study Navigating Venus.

Dienstag, 28. Februar 2012

Frauen – die wahre globale Wirtschaftsmacht



Wir haben es geschafft. Wir haben es geschafft, uns in Sachen Stereotypen und Klischees von Frauen in der Werbung von 1960 bis 2011 nur wenige Millimeter nach vorn zu bewegen.

So sehen wir Frauen immer noch viel zu häufig in der Rolle der perfekten Superfrau. In den 60er war es die adrette Hausfrau. Kinder, Küche, Kirche die Aufgaben. Heute ist noch etwas mehr hinzugekommen. Unter dem einen Arm das Kind, unter dem anderen den Laptop, den Wochenmarkteinkauf dabei und fehlen darf natürlich auch nicht die scharfe Unterwäsche unter dem Designer-Kostüm, um nach einem privat und beruflich ausgefüllten, glücklichen Tag noch einen allen Erwartungen entsprechenden perfekten Abend zu verbringen.

Ist dies wirklich genau das, was Frauen heute noch sehen wollen, nachdem sie nun schon einen so weiten Weg  hinter sich gebracht - und so viele Bewegungen und Veränderungen ausprobiert und vollzogen haben? Nach Heimchen am Herd, sexueller Revolution, gestählten, durchtrainierten Körpern durch Bodybuilding, der Ära der Supermodels, Unisex-Mode und Girls Power sollten Frauen eigentlich in 2011 angekommen sein dürfen.

Denn sie haben sich immer mehr den erwarteten Formen und Normen entzogen. Was jedoch dagegen unverändert geblieben ist, sind die Erwartungen und die Anforderungen.  Die Standards sind hoch angesetzt. Sehr hoch sogar. Frauen sollen tough sein, aber nicht zu tough. Sie sollen den Haushalt schmeißen, aber nicht ausschließlich. Sie sollen beruflich erfolgreich sein, aber bitte nicht zu sehr. Sie sollen unabhängig sein, das aber auch nicht ohne Partner an ihrer Seite. Zusammengefasst: Sie sollen rundum perfekt sein.

Und genau diesem Anspruch  wollen Frauen immer weniger gerecht werden. Klar, dass sie sich in der Welt der Klischees und Stereotypen nicht mehr wiederfinden und die werbliche Ansprache häufig eindeutig daneben liegt –oder sich gar nicht gezielt an die weibliche Käuferschaft richtet.

Dabei ist die ständig zunehmende Bedeutung der weiblichen Kaufkraft mehr als rasant, in gefühlt entgegengesetzter Gemächlichkeit dagegen steigt das Verständnis für Frauen und ihre Bedürfnisse.

Das ist grob fahrlässig, wenn man bedenkt, dass Frauen weltweit 60% der Markenkäufe tätigen und bei 80% aller Käufe den entscheidenden Einfluss haben. Auch die Zahlen, dass das weibliche Einkommen weltweit mehr als zweimal so hoch ist, wie das Einkommen der Volkwirtschaften Indien und China zusammen, sind beeindruckend.

Nur weil es die Vorzeige-Kampagnen „Omo – Dirt is good“, die leider nicht in Deutschland läuft und „Dove – Wahre Schönheit“ schon gibt, ist damit für den Bereich Investments, die Autoindustrie und die Banken noch kein Meter gemacht. Hier fühlen sich immerhin fast die Hälfte aller Frauen unverstanden. Ähnliches gilt für Versicherungen und Computer. Das weltweit größte Potential dieser gewaltigen Zielgruppe wird in vielen Bereichen noch vollkommen unterschätzt.
Und bis sich da etwas ändert, machen Frauen einfach ihr eigenes Ding. Selten perfekt, ganz anders und sehr individuell. Das mündet bei vielen in einen eigenen Weg, hin zu einem neuen Verhaltensmuster – dem flexiblen Jonglieren von Anspruch und Wirklichkeit ohne Perfektionsanspruch.

Für viele Frauen ist dieses Verhalten die richtige Antwort für viele Aspekte ihres Lebens und der einzig wahre Weg, um eine echte Frau in einem vielleicht nicht perfekten, aber dafür individuellen und vor allem realen Leben zu sein. Mit einem eigenen Lebensstil, eigenen Looks und eigenen Styles.

Sie schafft sich neue Berufsbilder und Chancen, lässt sich eben nicht in etablierte Systeme pressen und wählt einen anderen Weg für Mutterschaft, Job, Schönheit  - und den eigenen Lebensstil.

Viele Frauen haben die Mutterschaft längst neu definiert. Sie unterwerfen sich nicht mehr dem Druck von außen, ein Genie heranreifen zu lassen und die immer perfekte Mutter zu sein. Intuitive Mütterlichkeit und Akzeptanz des Unperfekten machen das Muttersein immer mehr aus.

Auch die stetige Zunahme von Patchwork-Familien ist der absolute Gegenentwurf zur perfekten Familie. Bei mehr als 10 Millionen Patchwork-Familien in Deutschland ist dies auch nicht mehr die unbedeutende Ausnahme, sondern schon fast der ganz normale, alltägliche Familienbetrieb. Da hilft nur Improvisation, Flexibilität und Offenheit.  

Das gilt auch für den Beruf. Frauen haben ihre eigenen, ganz flexiblen Wege zum persönlichen Erfolg gefunden und orientieren sich nicht mehr an dem sehr männlich ausgelegten Spiel in Wirtschaft und Politik um Erfolg und Macht. Sie sind längst aus dem Spiel ausgestiegen und in der realen Welt angekommen. Viele machen jetzt ihr eigenes Ding. 41% der neuen Unternehmen wurden in 2010 von  Frauen gegründet.

Und während die einen noch an der von Medien geschaffenen Definition von Schönheit festhalten, gibt es bereits eine ausgeprägte und sichtbare Gegenreaktion zu Schönheitsoperationen und durch Botox geschaffene Jugendlichkeit. Reale Schönheit und echte Frauen sind so populär wie schon lange nicht mehr.

Diese echten Frauen gilt es zu verstehen, und sich mit dieser sich stetig verändernden und wirtschaftlich hoch attraktiven Zielgruppe auseinanderzusetzen. Zuhören, Zusehen, Austauschen, Lernen, um das eigene Verständnis zu hinterfragen, zu korrigieren und zu verbessern.

Mehr zu diesem spannenden Thema gibt es unter www.navigating-venus.com.

Montag, 27. Februar 2012

New Label for Clarity


The fashion industry is facing increasing concerns about the production clothes, especially by women. The new radically transparent fashion concept „Honest by“ of the former HUGO Designer Bruno Pieter tries to give them an honest answer. The label claims the full disclosure of the production process, including where a product was made and by whom. It even stats the costs of marketing and label of every item on his website.



The visitors of the website can chose between environmental criteria like organic, vegan, recycled or produced in Europe. See some of the descriptions made for each item below. The first collection is solely made by Bruno Pieters, but the future plan is install “honest by” as a platform for other “honest“ designers.


 Click here to learn more about our study Navigating Venus.


Ladies in Style


The blog Advanced Style has been showing New York’s silver haired confidence since 2008. Now Advanced style inspired the Marc Jacobs Fall 2012 collection. In an article of the French Vogue, Marc Jacobs stated it as one of his main sources of inspiration for his new collection.

Have a look at a compilation of  hipgenius.com

Iris Apfel in Advanced Style: “Young woman, you’re gonna be an old woman one day. Don’t worry about it!” In an Interview with www.nowness.com, Ari Seth Cohen the writer of advanced style said: „I noticed how many young girls are appropriating style from older women: leopard print, fur, turbans and hats. In general, the older women wear these things naturally, with more confidence.“ His aim is to show people the creativity and vitality of older women, and that there is no need to be afraid of aging.

Hopefully next summer we will able to meet the cool silver ladies in the cinema and learn more about true style. Have first glance at the advanced Style Film trailer.
        Click here to learn more about our study Navigating Venus.

Granny has got the Power




Grandmas rule. German newspaper „Die Zeit“ recently celebrated the importance of grandparents for bringing up their grandchildren. Also the beauty industry realises increasingly the value of authentic granny models. Take for example Renate Gerdes, 72 year old grandma from Germany. She took part in a L’Oréal Facebook contest and got most of the votes. Finally the jury preferred a much younger contestant over her. She is now modelling for L’Oréal's competitor Henkel Schwarzkopf and adding true granny chic and (social media-) power to the brand.



Grandmas know best. In home décor, lifestyle and especially in fashion - Granny Chic is everywhere. This increasing love for outdated items that made the world a prettier place comes along with respect for ladies that know a lot about life and lifestyle. Looking at the streetstyle of young women today, we observe that young fashion has never appeared older.



Evergreen Grannny: Grandmas also are adding an evergreen aspect to fashion. The Fashion week in Berlin hosts a new Vintage Fair called „Toast and Jam“ celebrating individuality as well as the good old times. Start ups like www.myoma.de is linking the art of Granny's knitting with the sustainability aspect of their products.

         Click here to learn more about our study Navigating Venus.



Coke ties up with Benefit Cosmetics to “Get Glam”


"Queens for a day" will welcome this new collaboration. Coke UK unites with Benefit cosmetics offering a limited edition of cans based on Benefit's spring looks. With every can comes a code for a voucher of £ 5 usable on Benefit products in the Benefit online shop. Needless to say there is special facebook page including an app with tutorials and a special video chat tool.


          Click here to learn more about our study Navigating Venus.



A virtual Home for Little Miss Perfectly-Imperfect


Zooey Deschanel is the “new It-Girl” and surely everybody’s darling at the moment. Recently even President Obama wished "Happy Birthday" to her. Being a comedian, a songwriter and the co-founder of the online platform for young women “Hello Giggles”, she is a role model for real girl power and for patchwork creativity.

The platform “HelloGiggles.com” provides personal insights into the world of young women in a very entertaining way. It is celebrating with charm the imperfections of life. Well worth a perusal. http://hellogiggles.com

            Click here to learn more about our study Navigating Venus.

Hello Kitty still rules Asian Mothers

It seems that in Europe the popularity of Hello Kitty has already reached its zenith, in Asia it is still rising. The iconic cat  without a story, is still the hero for mothers and daughters in Asia. Just recently Sanrio franchised a chain of Hello Kitty Dreams Restaurants to open up in China. Sanyo's strategy is to target especially like young moms. After already opening up a maternity ward in Taiwan in 2008, new ones as well as new theme parks and hotels should follow.

 
Click here to learn more about our study Navigating Venus.

Is Lego messing up its Chance to woo Girls?

After years of catering mainly to boys Lego is now trying to court the girls with its new line LEGO Friends. According to Lego it is the result of months of anthropological research, which came to the conclusion that girls are playing differently. In fact it is a world that is aiming at girls but without the mastery and accomplishment LEGO is usually giving to boys. That is why Lego has faced critics among media, mothers and girls. Lauren Hodge the 13 year-old winner of the google science fair, which was also sponsored by LEGO, complained about the new line in an interview with TEDxWomen. Also Peggy Orenstein, the author of the book “Cindarella ate my Daughter” wrote in the New York Times that the role model of LEGO for girls seems to be “a budding Kardashian that can build herself a cafe or a beauty salon.”

"If it takes color-coding or ponies and hairdressers to get girls playing with Lego, I'll put up with it, at least for now, because it's just so good for little girls' brains," says Lise Eliot. A neuroscientist at the Rosalind Franklin University of Chicago, she is the author of Pink Brain Blue Brain, a 2009 survey of hundreds of scientific papers on gender differences in children.

Time and Sales will tell, if “most significant launch of the decade”, according to CEO Jørgen Vig Knudstorp, will be a success for the brand and as well as for the girls.

Click here to learn more about our study Navigating Venus.



How to advertise Push-up Bras

Marketing push-up bras to its target group is difficult - when avoiding clichés and stereotypes.That is certainly the reason, why Wonderbra invited only women women to perform a bungee-jump in front of a models cleavage picture on the famous Battersea Power Station in London.


The Dutch chain HEMA came up with a simple, but truly convincing idea: Advertising a product for women by using a man to prove its benefits. They chose Andrej Peli, the androgynous male supermodel, to demonstrate the attractive effects of its push-up bras - not for women only.

Click here to learn more about our study Navigating Venus.

The Beauty of Criticism

Comme des Garçons continues its collaboration with Katerina Jebb by blurring the boundaries between criticism & commerce in an unconventional campaign for “the new” Comme des Garçons Fragrance.”

Katerina Jebb, is a Paris-based, British artist who has been creating captivating fake beauty advertisement films with celebs on her imaginary TV Channel, Lucid TV.



Some Examples of her parodies

Tilda Swinton stars for Life Eraser: A life-changing skincare cream that  claims to be a revolutionary cream that will not only erase your wrinkles but your life too.

Kristin Scott Thomas promotes Je Reviens: The award-winning British actor dances in front of a fountain to the tune of West Side Story’s “I Feel Pretty” for The British Cryonics Institute. The campaign encourages the public to plan their afterlife as they bid you to wake up in 3015.

Kylie Minogue presents the Beautiful Body: The petite but perfect body of the Australian pop icon fronts the campaign of this London-based insurance company that guards your "precious assets

The the "new “Comme des Garçons Fragrance fake, art or reality? In fact it is clever move for the brand to embrace the art of criticism and it is a perfectly imperfect platform for the artist to publish her witty comments about the pressure of being young and beautiful.

http://youtu.be/s0p4NrPXQvI

Click here to learn more about our study Navigating Venus.

Beauty is on the political Agenda

For 2012 the UK Government is aiming a voluntary pledge in partnership with beauty and fashion brands in order to reduce the perceived pressure  on young women to attain an ‘ideal’ appearance.

Manipulated images in advertising are facing increasing critics among government officials. Just recently H&M got under fire by online blogger communities and the Swedish minister Lena A. Liljeroth, for putting models heads on perfect computer generated bodies.



Earlier this summer,  Lancôme and Maybelline had to withdraw campaigns in the UK after complaints by Members of Parliament about "overly perfected and unrealistic images" of women in their advertising.  Seems that the fashion and beauty industry needs to find new ways not only to communicate with consumers but also with their officials.

Click here to learn more about our study Navigating Venus.



Go for Gucci?

With an exclusive Fiat 500 limited GUCCI edition and the help of the celeb Jenifer Lopez, Fiat tries to put his brand back on the bloc in the US. Trying awaking the inner princess of its female target, FIAT shows a world full of beauty and elegance where dreams come true.





 
Click here to learn more about our study Navigating Venus.

Is Black the new Pink?

With its successful launch of  its drop dead fashion dolls „Monster High“ Mattel did not only add a new colour to girls  bedrooms but also  brought the girlfication of horror to an higher level.  Mattel's Monster High muti category toy line targets twen- and teenage girls, and is designed to bring the "hip" teenage descendants of the world's most famous monsters, like Dracula and Frankenstein, to the trials and tribulations of high school.



Not as scary, but also successful for Mattels Tokidoki Barbie collectors doll edition shows that adding some streetsmartness and toughness to the femine side raises attraction. Within one month after its launch the pink hair Tokidoki Barbie, with tattoos on back, shoulders and neck, is now sold for $500 on ebay.

 

Click here to learn more about our study Navigating Venus.



Exploring the darker Side

After celebrating the glamorous side of life with Versace, H&M is now exploring its darker side with a new women’s collection created by Trish Summerville. She is behind the costumes of the David Finchers Version of “The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo”. Easy to see, that not only the She-geek and heroine of the trilogy Liz Salander inspired this collection. But also women on the streets demonstrating their „toughness“ by adding gears like dark biker boots, hoodies and especially leather jackets to their „fashionista survival list.“ Needless to add, that also Lady Gaga just recently collaborated with the artists of AVAF to create a wearable (!) leather jacket for Schott NYC.



 
Click here to learn more about our study Navigating Venus.