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5 Things About Your Website that will send Jane Screaming in Frustration

Jane Thinks Pink

Pink. As a color, it's not one of Jane's favorites. We prefer red -- maybe you noticed. Red is powerful. Red is strong. Red is commanding. Unlike...pink -- which is a washed-out red, at best.

But, the world, even today -- strange as it seems -- wants to equate women with pink, as evidenced by a Google search on the words "pink" + "women" which returns a whopping 25,800,000 hits!

Consequently, we surrender. You will not see us change our colors, but...we accept that others feel pink is a nice color, a satisfying color, a worthwhile color to represent women. We merely request those using pink to depict us stop allowing this little-girl, color of dolls hue to dictate their content.

We refer, specifically, to the new magazine, PINK. We brought you news about this magazine back in May. We had high hopes for it. A few days ago, we received  the August-September issue. Issue #2. With this headline on the cover: "TOP WOMEN on MADISON AVENUE."

Jane adores showing off the accomplishments of women executives. We support ALL women, we expect you to market to ALL women, but, headlines such as the one above, make us grin in eager anticipation.

When our anticipation is dashed, as it was after reading the article, we get...a little tense. While this article has some bite to it -- the six women from Madison Ave. seem to be powerful representatives of women who never let the so-called glass ceiling stand in their way, the article did not give Jane any insight into -- how Madison Ave is going to help improve marketing to women, online or off. (BTW, we would link to the article, but the PINK website has not caught up to its print edition. More's the pity. We will cut them some slack...but check back come August to see if they've updated.)

To quote from the article in a section "on why women are being tapped now" one woman answered, "Most consumers of media --and almost any product or service imaginable -- are women." Yawn Last year's news.

And, "on advertising and women" this answer was given, "Women have always figured very prominently in the leadership in most all of the agencies I've worked for, so I guess  I've never really thought so much about any inequity for women. However, as I observe competitors in the industry, certainly that's not necessarily the case in top management." Nice of her to 'observe' something so obvious. Murphy Brown she isn't.

Last, "on driving up profits," one woman's answer was, "Our goal is to increase our business with our core clients in several different ways. One is by doing wonderful marketing work that increases their sales, thus they invest more in marketing." Hello? Is this vague enough for you?

Before anyone gets their knickers in a knot (we've been dying to say that!), the magazine contained  an absolutely fabulous article about baby boomers that talks about women with the urge to "repot" or, start over.

Writers Diana Holman and Ginger Pape are to be congratulated on hitting their mark. In "Introducing the baby boomer" they cover all the bases; the article starts, "Women are at a watershed moment. Across the country, women are embracing a no-boundaries mindset as they rewrite their lives, often multiple times, to create lifestyles that bring their values and passions to the forefront." (to the editors, it would be nice if you would give your writers more than a by-line. Readers want to know more about them. It's a girl thing. Oh, you already know that, I'm sure.)

Hallelujah! Two women who get it! The article includes specifics, examples, and even includes a "Repotting Readiness Index" to help readers determine if they are ready to "repot."Audrey_hepburn

We have to give PINK a heavy sigh for their Madison Ave article, but a great big Thank you! for the insight into baby boomers. (signing off...in red...with true Audrey Hepburn style.)

Surely, there's nothing not to like about that!

Comments

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Steve Mertz

Just saw an interview with the CEO of Jarden, the card maker, and yes they are bringing out their newest card color...Pink!

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