My recent article in Leadership Insights for Leaders. ODALTERNATIVES BY SANTHOSH BABU

A Few Good Women Women Leadership | Women at Workplace | Anisha Motwani -By Anisha Motwani, Director & Chief Marketing Officer, Max Life Insurance Classic fairy tales are intended to teach a ethical lesson to children. They would tell the story of powerful, bold and handsome men who would rescue the damsel in distress. The women would be naive and defenseless while the world around connived to subjugate them. ‘They Happily Lived Ever After’ would mean that these defenseless women would have gallant men come to their rescue and would be married. However, in the modern day fairytales, such as Snow white and the Huntsman, Shrek 3 there is a twist in the tale. In Shrek 3, the character Princess Fiona and characters such as Sleeping Beauty Snow White and Cinderella come together to achieve a goal without the help of men. They are captured by Prince Charming and held prisoner in a castle. When Fiona asks all of them to think of a way out, Sleeping Beauty falls asleep, Snow White lays down and Cinderella keeps sitting. When Fiona asks what they are doing, they say they are “Waiting to be rescued.” This shows that the princesses are prepared to assume their traditional gender roles of being passive and waiting for a male figure to save them. Their gender roles are suddenly shaken and re-evaluated when Fiona’s mother, the Queen, head butts the brick wall and creates an escape route. After this point the princesses feel empowered because they realize they can control their own fate without depending on a male figure. For years women have played by the rules and kept their heads down. As if being ‘rescued’ is a natural phenomena. But today, women take their own decisions about the way they want to live, how they want to carve their career and lead from the front. The reason they are ready to take on the ‘traditional’ role of the man being a ‘bread-winner’ is due to ‘self belief’. Thisbehavioral change is making them leaders. Women who become leaders have the same ‘self belief’ to ‘rescue’ themselves and dealing with the situation head-on – like Queen mother in Shrek 3. There are women leaders across industries, who have triumphed by just following their heart and pushing themselves to the limit because they believed, like men, they too can achieve. Many more are yet to come, but the numbers are increasing every day. And all women leaders have a common trait – in spite of adversity they believed in themselves and had the courage to go ahead to achieve their goal. We are burdened by the history of our past. But then opportunity to create and build a new world is only limited by our inability to enact in the future we seek. There are some unique qualities in women that make them work differently in work places than men. Women are more collaborative in their approach, hence are great team players. Their ability to balance work and personal life makes sure that they do not go overboard with anything. Lastly, women are more intuitive, have better EQ and hence pre-empt a lot of issues. Women should merge these positive qualities with “self-belief”, to be able to leave a legacy behind. I will list down 5 pointers that may help women who are looking to lead in the years to come.  Love what you do, there cannot be more fun in anything else Women who want to grow as leaders should also take ownership of their professional development. Embrace opportunity – women must often take sharp detours and that the risks of unexpected changes that may seem more obvious than the benefits. Becoming self-reliant and confident by accepting opportunities. Expand your horizons and gain the resilience to move ahead even when things do not go the way you want it.

Pink is not a strategy.

What women don't want!

Women like pink. Women are not good with numbers. Women are not good drivers. Women love shopping. Women are…. These stereotypes about women are so common not just amongst men but also marketers. And mind you such perceptions exist even in the developed world. Has the image concerning women remained in a time warp while the whole world around them has changed?  Or is it that, the roles defined by genders do not change so easily, which means men will remain the so called ‘provider and protector’ and women will always be ‘preserver and support’ to the dominant force?

Evidently, there is reason to believe that women today are becoming both decision makers for big ticket items and also importantly consumers of previously male-dominated categories. Data and research evidence the same. 45% of life insurance purchase decisions by working women and one third by housewives have been taken in their sole capacity. (Source: Nielsen Women Syndicated Study).  Similarly, the number of women having a savings bank account has increased by 33% in the last 10 years (from 2002-2012)- and so have women with credit cards - 10% in 2012 vs. 4% in 2001 (Source: IMRB Research study). While 59% women are actively consulted on car brand related decision, 31% aspire to buy their own SUVs. (Source: Nielsen Automotive Syndicated Study)

Expect categories with typical male-dominated consumer base, e.g. automobiles, financial services, telecom, to adapt to the opportunity in the female market - not just as influencers but specialist target groups. Here are a few tips and trends that will shape the success in this 46% of the consumer market.

Desire for responsible consumption

Old stereotype that women are insatiable, impulsive shoppers of frivolous things is giving way to desire for smart management and advanced planning of household budget. Women are only becoming more responsible towards money consumption.  Marketers have realised this and specifically target women e.g. Big Bazaar has created special occasions like Independence Day where women are specifically targeted or their Wednesday shopping which targets non-working women to make the best of the prices for those days. Season end sales even for aspiration brands have become a part of a thought through strategy as more and more women postpone purchase for a great bargain.

Appreciating multi-dimensionality

With 37% increase in graduate women (period 2008-12) women have started contributing to household income, the lines of inequality and role differentiation have diminished. As more and more women are becoming financially independent, cultural norms have steadily started softening and rigid boundaries prevailing in traditional Indian life are beginning to fall. With this convergence of roles women have taken up many such responsibilities which were traditionally the men domain e.g. financial planning, payment of taxes etc. Brands have to leverage this multi-dimensional identity of a women’s role in the household which has moved beyond that of singular identify of a care-giver. Banks with credit cards specifically designed for women, Insurance players launching women specific plans are clear examples. 

From effort-saving to lifestyle assistance

Women tend to lap up products that don’t just help them save effort but enhance their overall well-being, something they are constantly seeking. For the truly time starved women, tech apps that enable consolidation and hyper-tasking such as checking mails, school updates, holiday planners, wealth management, diet charts and overall well-being should ring a bell.  This is also what may be explaining why women buyers of smart phones have increased by 175% in last one year as compared to 100% in case of men (Source: Nielsen Informate Mobile Insights).

More for less guilt

The pursuit of a better life is tinged with a desire to keep the best of the past. There are cultural and personal expectations to fulfil the traditional role of restrained value-conscious homemaker. Brands have to find ways of communicating the negative impacts of discarding the old product and upgrading or replacing the new. Assuaging her guilt is the key to enhanced consumption. Saffola as a brand has done this well to take a commodity cooking medium to high involvement health product. Durable brands like refrigerators and washing machines can do this by bundling service contracts just like automobiles have done successfully. This should work as women are ultimately responsible for the running and maintenance of most of the household goods and also because women’s expectations of customer service are far more than her male counterpart. 

Transparency as a virtue

72% of educated women rate the value of being honest and transparent as an essential guiding principle of life. And this value translates to her as a ‘consumer’ too. For example, food brands that display nutrients and calories clearly and overtly are preferred. Brands should have nothing to hide and should proactively show and prove that they are transparent. More and more brands are now giving product demos, sampling their products to women to build confidence in their products and offering a return if products do not meet expectations – personal care products being a case in point.

True ‘Feminity’

Women want to live their lives on their own terms, explore new possibilities, push boundaries and win admiration of female colleagues more than that of male colleagues. The ultimate barometer of achievement for today’s women is to become a role model for many other women. The new definition of ‘Feminity’ is about personal competency and intellectual depth rather than her external manifestation of beauty. Brands need to take cognisance of this change and portray confident women who will help fight the cultural stereotypes and shape the new future. Nike Voices beautifully captures this new woman through the phrase ‘if somebody’s got to be the best, why not me’.