Gender Stereotyping in Marketing - A Curious Double Standard

We hear a lot about Gender Stereotyping in Marketing. The 'princessification of children's toys', for example, where toys that used to be relatively gender neutral, are 'princessifying' themselves for little girls, or making themselves hyper-masculine for little boys. Social Anthropoligsts such as Erving Goffman have made the argument that in gender stereotyping, we are socially constructing the concept of two distinct, mutually exclusive genders - ascribing roles and codes of behaviour to impressionable, developing children.

Similarly, in the Beer industry, a growing interest in women drinkers led many brewers to target women drinkers with overtly feminine new beers designed to look like an accessory or some form of make-up bottle they could easily put in their purse. 

While the intention may have been to make the traditionally male-dominant beer industry more accessible to women, the products themselves seemed largely contrived. Will using a cursive font and plastering the colour pink onto a product really make women buy it? Unsurprisingly, many of these products were not welcomed with open arms as many women found the designs mildly sexist.

In a curious double standard, men seem to be welcoming efforts by the traditionally female-dominant grocery foods industry to reach out to the grocery shopping "Manfluencers" (Wall Street Journal). Yogurt, for example has traditionally been characterised in grocery store aisles by their feminine, light (pastel, white, pink) coloured packaging. Chobani, an American yogurt company, has recently addressed this issue, designing a male- targeted yogurt 'Powerful Yogurt' 

Featuring a bull mascot and red and black packaging, Powerful Yogurt boasts more protein than its 'feminine' alternatives. While it is overtly gender stereotyped to appeal to men, Chobani's Powerful Yogurt seems to be gaining quite the following - lovingly nicknamed "Brogurt".

These varying reactions to the same concept of gender stereotyping lead me to question. Is there a double standard? Is it somehow okay to use the hyper-masculine stereotype to appeal to men and not okay to use overly feminine stereotypes to appeal to women? And if so, does the problem lie with the product decisions or is it some form of commercial realism, presenting what we as our respective genders generally prefer?

Nike Studio Wrap Pack.

Starting from the 1990s, Nike defied traditional sportswear advertising, taking advantage of the relatively untouched women's market. From their "If you let me play sports" advertisement with Wieden + Kennedy, Goodby, Silverstein & Partners, Nike was able to extend a highly successful brand traditionally associated as a men's brand to women. Just over 20 years later, their women's sportswear empire continues to challenge norms.

The Nike Studio Wrap Pack is easily one of the most intriguing product line extensions Nike has ever made. Marketed as 'Five shoes in one', the product is designed for activities traditionally done barefoot - yoga, pilates, etc. At $74.97, Nike claims the Studio Wrap Pack is: 

A better-than-barefoot experience in a three-part footwear system (wrap, ribbon and flat), the Nike Studio Wrap was designed to give women an elevated workout in the studio that takes them back to their daily lives in style.

Personally, the ability to see the trend towards studio-based exercise, and leverage that in order to create and market a shoe for a sport that is traditionally done barefoot is ballsy. It defies convention in a way that only Nike can. And creates a demand where there was none.

Evian.

'Short film' advertisements are quite the enigma. Given the increasing digitalisation of media, traditional 30-second television advertisements should, in practice be less prevalent. But if the uses and gratifications model in advertising literature has proved anything regarding this, it is that advertisements have become much more than just information processed from sender (advertisers / corporate clients) to receivers (consumers). 

One of the most fascinating things I find about the remaining prevalence of the 30-second television advertisement is that it does not fail to address trends towards digitalised media and social media. If anything, this 'confluence culture', coined by Kim Sheehan and Deborah Morrison, is addressed by advertisers through well-planned integrated marketing efforts that take advantage of the various types of bought, owned and earned media in today's media landscape.

The Evian 'Baby&Me' campaign is easily one of my favourite advertising campaigns of late, due to its ability to leverage both the information processing and social uses of advertising. Staying true to Evian's slogan 'live young', Evian reinforces its youthful image, literally, by featuring an ad of actors meeting and interacting with their "inner baby". Not only was this short film ad sticky/catchy, the ubiquity of the ads - which were featured outdoors (billboards), on television and cinema, and digitally (online)- allowed for the subtle re-association of the brand to an exciting youthful drink. An OOH campaign using photobooth, along with a mobile app were created to satisfy the social uses of advertising, allowing users to create their own "inner baby" to share on social media. 

The truly remarkable thing about this campaign is its ability to be applicable not only on various platforms, but also its ability to be applicable to the everyday consumer. Everyone can relate to the feeling of being young, regardless of whether it is from the past or present. Plus, it's adorable. Well done, BETC Paris!