Invigorating the Health Economy
From childcare and eldercare, to over the counter pharmaceuticals, hospitalization and insurance, women are responsible for almost all the decision making.
Like most professional speakers, I attend a lot of conferences. One of the perks is that I get a free pass to sit in on the other sessions, and when I’m lucky, there are several at the conference in whom I’m interested. Since my area of expertise is marketing to women, and almost every area of business could benefit from knowing more about better communicating with women, it behooves me to stay abreast of new developments across many different areas. I always learn something new and as an info-geek, that’s pretty much my idea of a good time!
Last November, when I attended M2W-HC (the Marketing Pharma & Healthcare to Women Conference), I found myself so riveted by speaker after speaker presenting new research, outlining compelling case studies and enlightening us on new media successes, I couldn’t even pull myself out of the audience to do any of the “meeting and mixing” I always enjoy so much at these gatherings.
Last year’s conference was in Washington, DC, but this year it will join its sister national events (M2W – The Marketing to Women Conference and M2Moms – The Marketing to Moms Conference) here in Chicago. I’ve been on a bit of crusade to get Chicago recognized as the center of gravity of marketing to women, given that we have a number of the leading writers on the subject here (Bridget Brennan, Holly Buchanan, Michael Silverstein and my own humble self), and that as Consumer Heartland Insights Central (CHIC), Chicago’s marketing and advertising community, has always led the industry in focusing on brand prospects, rather than product features. And who are the primary buyers for just about every consumer and business purchase? Women.
Over the past six years, the M2W core conferences have been helping marketers across all industries figure out how to build their sales, share and profitability by more effectively motivating women buyers. But Nan McCann, M2W–HC producer and co-founder, recognized that the importance, growth and timeliness of the many opportunities and challenges in healthcare marketing called for a conference focused specifically on this enormous sector.
“The most successful consumer pharma and healthcare marketing brands realize that women are the primary decision makers for almost every aspect of their business,” Nan says. “From childcare and eldercare, to over the counter pharmaceuticals, hospitalization and insurance, women are responsible for almost all the decision making. For example, according to [author and brand management consultant] Tom Peters, they make 93 percent of all OTC pharma decisions.”
Marti Barletta is the founder and CEO of The TrendSight Group, a think tank that specializes in marketing to women, selling to women and gender marketing. She is the author of PrimeTime Women: How to win the Hearts, Minds, and Business of Boomer Big Spenders and Marketing to women: How to understand, Reach, and Increase Your Share of the World’s Largest Market Segment. Visit her at www.martibarletta.com.
