Branding reveals the gender divide

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A study just out from Buyology and uSamp takes a close-up look at the relationship of men and women to various branded products, and produced a top ten list for each gender. Only three brands managed to make it onto both lists – Southwest Airlines, Google and Dove. Southwest was the big winner, at the top of both.


This is the second edition of the report, which attempts to “…type and measure consumer relationships with brands using rigorous quantitative tools that measure people’s deepest, non-conscious connections to brands.” The current test was conducted from 2/6 through 2/10, just after the Super Bowl.

“This year’s brand ranking demonstrates that it’s essential for companies to invest in creating deeper differentiated relationships with their consumers. These relationships provide the context that either amplifies or diminishes everything the brand does to connect with its customers,” said Gary Singer, Founding Partner and CEO, Buyology Inc.

Without any further ado, let’s have a look at the two lists:

Women
1. Southwest Airlines
2. Google
3. Hallmark
4. Dove
5. JetBlue
6. Kohl’s
7. Lexus
8. Target
9. Neutrogena
10. Crest

Men
1. Southwest Airlines
2. Cadillac
3. BMW
4. Dove
5. Bed Bath & Beyond
6. Apple
7. Google
8. Sharp
9. GE
10. Macy’s

RBR-TVBR observation: Unless we were selling a gender-specific item, we’d be interested in selling well to both genders – so maybe it would be worthwhile to pay particular attention to the ads of the three brands with universal appeal to see if we could glom onto the secret of their dual-gender appeal.

Beyond that, we have to say we aren’t particularly surprised by the results on the women’s side, but the men’s list is a little surprising, at least on a personal level. Bed Bath & Beyond? Really? Macy’s? To this male, at least, Macy’s is a place one is dragged into by women and then abandoned!

Where’s the beer? Where are the sporting goods?

Personally, the item we loved more than anything was our Wilson A2004 or A2006, we’re not sure which and it now seems to be out of production. Lots of guys had an A2000, but the one we found a few numbers higher up in the product line was unique and to us, priceless. After years of hard use and great catches for numerous softball teams, it finally had to be put to rest. We still have deep and fond memories of that glove, and to this day, Wilson would be high on our personal top 10 list. But GE? We bonded with our Wilson. How does one bond with a light bulb?

All we can say is that if GE is doing something to get into the minds of other males in some way that has not worked on us, then more power to GE!