At the inaugural Game Changers conference, held by Sports Business Journal, marketers gained some valuable information on how to use sports to market to women. PepsiCo Chairwoman and CEO Indra Nooyi gave insight on the need for marketers to reach out to women who love sports.
PepsiCo gives some insight
While speaking at the event, Indra Nooyi gave some great examples of how some businesses are already doing a great job marketing to women. To give some background on the topic, she includes some great facts that back the entire speech:
- According to a recent Harvard Business Review blog, globally, women control $20 trillion in consumer spending and represent a growth market more than twice as big as China and India combined. And sports are holding their own when it comes to commanding share of that growing female market.
- Female participation in sports has increased tenfold over the last forty years. More girls play soccer now than played all sports 40 years ago. Across the spectrum, there is near parity for total athletic participation. Of all U.S. adults who regularly engage in recreational sports, nearly half are women. And female participation is climbing at a faster clip than men.
- They’re also actively joining the conversation about sports. Among the major U.S. sports leagues, women make up 36 percent of Twitter followers and 43 percent of Facebook fans.
- Half of the shoppers on the NBA’s online store are women. And the NFL says that women’s jerseys are the league’s fastest-growing consumer business. Across eight major U.S. leagues, women spent nearly $1.3 billion more on sports logo apparel in 2012 than they did the year prior.
These facts alone are enough for businesses to take a step back and perhaps rethink their marketing strategies. She explains that women are more involved in sports than ever before:
“The number of women watching the Super Bowl from 2000 to 2011 went up by more than 34%. And it’s not just the big game women are watching. Over the course of last year’s NFL season, there were 80 million female fans!”
Nooyi goes on to explain that women are an ever-growing audience. A couple smart celebs are even getting into the game, with Alyssa Milano and Kristin Cavallari designing sports apparel for the style-concious.
The PepsiCo CEO says that marketing teams need to start being authentic when targeting women. One of Nooyi’s best descriptions of a marketer’s approach to women interested in sports is “pinking and shrinking.” This is humorous and at the same time is seen a lot in the sports industry. A lot of women’s jerseys look the same, only pink and a bit smaller. She explains:
What works is creating products and campaigns for consumer segments that connect with them on a personal level. That happens when we’ve gone out of our way to understand their needs and desires, and designed specifically for those.
Indra Nooyi says there are a few companies that are doing an exceptional job at marketing to women. Oakley has come out with an entire ad campaign that speaks to women as athletes. Bud light also does a nice job at reaching out to women by speaking to them as hard core sports fans.
The entire speech given by PepsiCo’s Indra Nooyi can and should be read here. Below are two ads – Gatorade and Bud Light – that are well marketed for women. Do you think most companies are doing enough to market to women in the sports world?
Photo credit – askingsmarterquestions.com