Her Voice Blog

There's been quite a buzz lately concerning breastfeeding mothers getting flack about feeding their babies in public places. A group of nursing mothers recently staged a protest they called a "nurse-in" at a Target store in Texas after one mother was made to feel uncomfortable while feeding her baby in the middle of the ladies' clothing department.

As a public relations firm specialized in marketing to women, we notice when companies send messages to their female consumers…especially when these messages are, ahem, somewhat offensive. Women have come a long way in our fight for equality, but we’ve still got a ways to go. According to Piperlime, the e-commerce site in the Gap, Inc. family of brands, we aren’t allowed to wear sweatpants in public without risking certain negative implications.

Neti pots, the popular home remedy for sinus and allergy relief, are under some harsh criticism after two women in Louisiana have died from using the devices. Neti is a Sanskrit word that means ‘nasal irrigation’ and the ancient Hindu practice has become more widely used in the last decade or so.

In the world of public relations, audience is everything. Reaching different audiences in strategic ways is a huge part of our field, but before you can reach anyone, it's first important to identify them to better understand how they communicate. A recent article addresses the issues surrounding how the misrepresentation of members of the Hispanic and other immigrant and minority communities has negatively affected these groups.

We just stumbled across a hilarious (but also thought-provoking) blog on the Huffington Post today and wanted to share. Titled "What if Men ran Christmas?" the blog addresses all sorts of things about the upcoming holiday that would be totally different if men were in charge. Oh wait, you thought they were in charge? Maybe you haven't heard that women make 85% of the purchasing decisions in this country, and more specifically 56% of household gift purchases.

A recent article in Woman’s Day Magazine addressed the issue of revenue discrepancy between male- and female-owned small businesses. Nell Merlino, a communications professional with a firm in Manhattan, was the driving force behind the establishment of “Take Our Daughters to Work Day” back in 1992. She was shocked to learn that of the 40% of women-owned small businesses in the U.S., only 2.6% make at least $1 million in annual revenue. Compared with male-owned firms, 6.7% bring in that much or more.

With the success of home improvement shows, DIY blogs and design magazines, it’s no surprise that the industry has experienced a burst of growth this year. Part of this can be traced to the efforts of big box home improvement chain Home Depot rethinking its methods of marketing to women.

Japan’s popular Shiseido cosmetics brand now has a new magical makeup line. The new line, called Majolica Majorca, is being marketed to young women by appealing to the princess in all of us. Products are packaged like jewelry and each has detailed backstory that is reminiscent of a fairytale.

Female consumers in Canada have gotten an extra special apology in the form of a marketing campaign from O.B. Tampons. The brand, under the parent company of Johnson & Johnson, was off the shelves in the U.S. and Canada last year, but returned this year, minus its Ultra line. The plan was to discontinue Ultra, but the company never expected what happened next.

Women play the games and use the gadgets to transform their lives, so why is the technology industry still marketing to them as if they slept with fuchsia-clad, faux-diamond-studded Barbie dolls tucked under their arms?

The above question was posed by Belinda Parmar, founder of Lady Geek TV. In her recent blog entry over at the Huffington Post, Parmar examines the tech industry and how it’s missing the mark in its efforts to reach women.

A recent Huffington Post blog article discusses the “Must See” Holiday films and how they stack up when it comes to female characters. As a public relations agency specialized in marketing to women, we were interested in what these numbers show. According to the list of seventeen films (as recommended by Common Sense Media), only 1 out of 17 has a female lead character. In fact, the article cites data revealing that the ratio of male characters to female characters in films hasn’t changed since 1946.