Ever notice how life lessons come when and where you least expect them? Sometimes, the best insights really do emerge, and the person becomes more engaged, when a negative (I could never do that!) transforms into a positive (I had no idea it would be that fun!).


It's the same when you are learning about marketing to women. The best examples of effectively reaching female consumers often come from unexpected places - like sports magazines (ESPN: The Magazine) or credit card companies (American Express). Human behavior seems to nudge people to engage more with something that starts out as a disconnect, and then slowly emerges as completely applicable. An obvious approach to women might get missed, but one that, in a way, keeps women visibly out of the equation, gets some attention.
Take, for example, the new Scotts Miracle-Gro ad campaign, which was recently profiled by Stuart Elliott of the New York Times. Here are just a few of the under the radar, but clearly women's market-oriented, elements of the story:
First - No mention of "women's market" or the word "women" by Elliott or the Miracle-Gro people he interviewed. Hmmm.
Second - As Elliott wrote: "The campaign is emblematic of efforts by advertisers to periodically update how they peddle their products, reflecting the continuous changes - demographic and psychographic - that are taking place among consumers." (Reflecting the continuous demographic and psychographic changes among consumers should NOT be big news. )
Third - As mentioned in the article, the brand's ads had, for years and years, sold the product on its attributes and benefits alone - a more functional message. The new and crystal clear message is more emotional, and represents the intangibles of gardening.
Fourth - Integrated media. Miracle-Gro gave special emphasis to a micro-site (built by Resource Interactive, a company that does incredible work), with the intention of building a groundswell around the activity of gardening -not so much the specific product. Their goal is to become the go-to consumer resource on all things garden-related.
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While I personally approach gardening from the "less fertilizer, more compost" perspective (need I remind you I live in Vermont?), this campaign was well-done and will likely reach its target audience - young and old, male and female, and new or long-time gardening fans. It could be a textbook case for effectively marketing to women under the radar.
All this from a very traditional brand in a traditional industry. Kudos.