What women don’t want
Tuesday, October 21st, 2008 by Jon Clements
What is the way to a woman’s heart or, of rather more concern to politicians, her vote?
Tory leader, David Cameron, has hired all-woman PR company, Pretty Little Head, to help him and his party crack this enigma - much to the disgust of Daily Mail readers, who have been less than enamoured with the idea.
The idea of tapping into a PR company, which claims to have expertise in helping marketers deliver “what women really want”, has Mail readers incandescent with rage:
“Well, he’s just lost my vote,” says Ann of Wimbledon, adding “I can’t stand people who think women need special treatment”. Ex-pat, Sue, booms: “We are not stupid, we don’t need to be wooed…”
So, has Cameron badly misjudged the female voter? An informal (and far from scientific, but bear with me) survey of more than 40 of my female colleagues revealed that 47% found Cameron more appealing than Brown as the next Prime Minister, with 57% admitting the Tory leader had become “more appealing” in the past 12 months. So far, so good for the Tories and their PR campaign. But a crushing 92% said that politicians showing a feminine side was irrelevant in winning their vote.
Apart from other Mail readers’ comments along the lines of “why can’t politicians think for themselves?”, is there a fundamental problem about style over substance? As Oliver Blanchard’s Brand Builder blog states: “No matter how you look at it, successful branding always starts with a product”. He goes on, “No matter how cool your packaging is…if your fragrance isn’t appealing you aren’t going to get many repeat customers.”
Does Cameron believe that looking good and showing empathy with the female population is more important than talking about actual policies - his party’s core “product”?
Last word to another ex-pat Mail reader, Karen, who says: “You silly man, most women are intelligent and don’t need pandering to.”
Probably a good tip for most men.
