Discussion Responses

Response #1

The Female Economy

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I want to highlight two successful companies that are leading the beauty market at present and better serve its female clientele. One is the brand Pond’s by Unilever. The second is the brand Olay by Procter and Gamble. These two companies have both used science, technology, and research to develop products for beautiful skin. It is interesting to know what does these two industry giants do to solve perpetual skincare issues in the modern day. For instance, Olay, to serve its female clientele better, invested a lot in dermatological research. From a single product, Olay developed a range of solutions for different types of issues based on age groups, skin types, and ethnicities (Proctor & Gamble, 2020). The goal is to create a family of products that help in achieving great skin. Not only that, they were the ones that introduced the technology of Skin Tone Analysis System in selected mall establishments to educate the consumer as well as assist beauty consultants in recommending the best matched product for the customer’s skin type (Rodman Media, 2020). Furthermore, the company championed the interest of women worldwide through their marketing campaigns geared towards women empowerment such as #FaceAnything. Like Olay, Pond’s, a 150-year old company, uses science, technology, and research to develop beauty products. It hails as the “world’s first skincare brand” whose goal is to “help women keep their skin radiant and feeling soft” (Unilever, 2020 qtd). The company inaugurated the Pond’s Institute in the early 90’s as its arm for diagnostics and skincare research. This enabled Pond’s to serve its customers better by: 1) learning more about skin types and skin evolution through the lifespan; 2) designing patented formulation that addresses skin issues; and 3) uncovering consumer insight on people’s perception about skin and beauty. Similar to Olay, Pond’s championed the interest of women worldwide. This is through marketing campaigns geared towards both inner and outer beauty (Unilever, 2020).

 

References:

Rodman Media (2020). Olay skin tone analysis system arrives in boots. Retrieved https://www.happi.com/contents/view_breaking-news/2007-11-08/olay-skin-tone-analysis-system-arrives-in-boo/

Procter & Gamble (2020).Olay. Retrieved https://www.olay.com/#

Unilever (2020). The pond’s institute. Retrieved https://www.ponds.com/us/en/about-ponds/the-ponds-institute.html

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Response #2

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The most interesting information that came out of the survey for me would be uncovering and learning where the opportunities lie in the female niche. Identifying the types of consumers to target can guide manufacturers to develop solutions for a particular customer profile. For example, if your business is in food and grocery, you might want to pull in your efforts into learning what would appeal best to, let’s say a working mom. This is what two of the most successful grocery chains had done. For example, Tesco stores are marketed as a one-stop-shop for busy female consumers who want convenience and competitive process in their shopping. Whole Foods on the other hand, are marketed to customers looking for fresh produce as well as the experience of being assisted by helpful and well-informed staff. Another promising industry is in fitness. According to the study, the challenge for companies is to make fitness more accessible to women (Silverstein & Sayre, 2009, qtd). The typical fitness center caters more to the needs of men with the type of services and equipment being offered to customers. By learning more about what women are actually interested in such as cardiovascular health, getting toned, and shedding a few pounds, a company can grow quickly. This is the same in the beauty industry where female consumers are willing to buy and invest on new formulation and technologies that can help them look healthy and youthful (Silverstein & Sayre, 2009)

Reference:

Silverstein, M.J. & Sayre, K. (2009). The female economy. Retrieved https://hbr.org/2009/09/the-female-economy

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Response #3

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Class,

Wanted to address the question on how my company (Murphy Oil) is better serving female clientele.  Murphy is an oil exploration, drilling and production company so I will speak to how Murphy is evolving to help better serve the female employees (internal clients).  The pandemic has changed how we do business and deal with home life. As mentioned in my previous post, families are now dealing with helping educate their children through online school. The company has allowed flexibility for women employees to continue to work from home if they do not feel comfortable sending their children to school and daycare.  Furthermore, the company has instituted a permanent telecommuting policy where everyone is allowed to work from home two days of the week and work three in the office.  This helps the bottom line in that families have to spend less for daycare, dry cleaning, gasoline and car repairs.  In some instances money is saved when eating lunch at home versus going out for the lunch hour when one is working from the office.  An added benefit is being able to write off a portion of the home as business expenses.

Now that families are working from home there is renewed focus on tutoring services for the children and construction services to reabilitate a home to make it more work friendly. Cleaning services are another aspect of the female economy that can grow if done safely along with home delivery, another large market that is expanding. There is more demand for these services and a large gap to fill as more families are working from home.   The pandemic is forcing orgnaizations to focus on womens jobs at home and how much companies will miss out on when women’s responsibilities at home limit their ability to contribute beyond it (Lafont, 2020). The solutions lie with governments, employers and families committed to doing things more equitably (Lafonte, 2020).

Thanks,

Susan

References:

Lafont, E. (2020). Coronavirus: how the world of work may change forever. BBC. Retrieved from https://www.bbc.com/worklife/article/20201023-coronavirus-how-will-the-pandemic-change-the-way-we-work

Silverstein, M.J. & Sayre, K. (2009). The female economy. Retrieved https://hbr.org/2009/09/the-female-economy

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