The She Spot: Why Women Are the Market for Changing the World-And How to Reach Them

"Marketers have always honed in on women, the primary household consumers, but charitable and political organizations have long been less savvy. Target women to garner donations or votes, urge Witter and Chen; female consumers and citizens are not a niche audience but the audience to reach and win over. Women's economic clout grows larger every year, and though they tend to be distrustful of the political process, they vote in large numbers and can tip elections. They are also characteristically altruistic, volunteering more significantly than men and contributing to twice as many charities. Since word of mouth is strong among women, women who care about a particular cause will bring in more contributors. The authors present their material efficiently and engagingly, tackling the motivation — both social and neurological — behind women's contributions and interest, and the methods to appeal to them, from news media to online. Bolstered with helpful 'chapter takeaway' lists and concrete examples of companies that have successfully reached the female audience, Witter and Chen have crafted a thoughtful, helpful guide to nonprofit marketers. (June)" Publishers Weekly (Copyright Reed Business Information, Inc.)

Public communications professionals Chen and Witter consider trends on American women with regards to all sides of politics and non- profit efforts and discuss how social change organizations can better appeal to and address women's concerns. Studies include women's use of online media sharing and social networking sites, the long discussion of reproductive choice as the women's issue, demographic trends with regards to donating and volunteering, and the power of simply not assuming that women want to hand over control of important parts of their lives. Case studies from corporate entities and non-profits demonstrate techniques in practice. Annotation ©2008 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

Women vote more, volunteer more and there is every indication that they will be giving more than men since they control over half of the total wealth in America. Women aren't a niche--they're the primary change-makers. The She Spot offers a practical — and provocative — primer on how nonprofit and advocacy organizations can strengthen their outreach to this highly motivated and engaged segment of the population.

Witter and Chen reject the narrow "pink" approach to gender marketing, showing readers how to leverage the fact that nearly all issues are women's issues. Drawing on their expertise as consultants in public interest communications, they explain the sometimes counter-intuitive nuances required when engaging in gendered marketing and include real-life case studies of corporate and public sector marketing campaigns that successfully broadened their appeal so that they connected strongly with women as well as men.