According to a study done by NBC Universal, there's a new trend in advertising that is proving very effective at capturing the female consumer. According to the January data from Women at NBCU’s Brand Power Index, brands that embraced the “softer” side of men in their marketing campaigns generated significantly more buzz among women.   Now that's interesting - it's something I hadn't even thought about, but after I read the NBC Universal press release, it made a whole lot of sense.  Men in modern advertisements are definitely "Mr. Right" - sensitive, family-centric, and the polar opposite of the 'alpha male' we've seen in ads as recently as five years ago.  It's a big shift, and it happened mostly without my notice! Head past the jump for my take, and some stats.

Now, here's a nitpick.  NBCU calls this trend "gender bender marketing" - a moniker I'm not really fond of.  Come on guys - is portraying men as sensitive, family focused, and well, nice - equivalent to portraying them as women?  Really?  This is not a gender bend, it's just no longer feeding the alpha-male stereotype.  I have it on good authority that nice guys did exist before these ads, they just weren't featured in them.  Anyway, rant over.  

The reason I'm blogging about it here is that according to NBCU, the biggest shift in ad focus came from - you guessed it - the auto industry.  Now this is something I've mentioned before here - gone are the days of bikini models selling convertibles. Here are the stats:  Chevrolet jumped 27 spots to #24 on the index for the first time, after the release of it’s “Guy’s Night Out” commercial, which showcased a new dad whose night out with friends is crashed by his toddler’s sing-a-long CD. Kia shot up the index 137 notches to #143 after airing its “Sweet Dreams” spot that put men back in touch with their most innocent childhood fantasies.

Even some of the already female-targeted brands saw a positive increase in buzz among women after softening the men in their ads, including Minute Maid and Sprint.  This is important because it means that corporations in general, and the auto industry in particular, is finally starting to sit up and notice that the woman holds the family purse-strings, drives the family car, and is ultimately the 'target audience' for any sort of advertising when it comes to the things her family needs.  

Head over to the NBCU Media Village for the whole press release and statistics.

Kaeli Gardner AskPatty.com, Inc.

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• Media/Marketing

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• nbc
• television
• women
• Around the Auto World
• marketing
• Advertising
• men
• female friendly
• Commentary
• Women Speak!
• super bowl ads
• gender bender
• super bowl commercials
• universal
• women at nbcu

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