UPDATE: WOMEN IN A CHALLENGE ENVIRONMENT
As global economies freefall, credit crunches and jobs implode, women are on the front lines of the battle to keep it all together: home, career, kids, finances, relationships – and themselves. How are they responding? And what does this mean to marketers who are trying to connect with women in this challenging environment?
When faced with obstacles and an often uncharted path, women are not just fighting back, they’re giving back. Based on our recent national survey of 321 American women age 25 and older, the facts show that women are responding by not only focusing on their own personal situation, putting their family first, but by reaching out to others in a way that is unprecedented in decades.
Giving Back has Made a Bigtime Comeback
Philanthropy has always been an integral part of women’s lives, but, in recent times, it hasn’t always come first. Our UPDATE: WOMEN™ study has tracked women’s attitudes for 25 years. For the past two decades, philanthropy and giving back took a back seat to other concerns, as women struggled to cement their role in the work force and break through the glass ceiling. Beset by stress brought about by juggling multiple roles, women became more altruistic and self-focused. The second decade, however, has brought about a sea change, which we call The Giveback Comeback. Fuelled by a force of ultra-philanthropic Generation Y’s, women’s focus has shifted to a new triple bottom line—planet, profit, people. Social responsibility has risen to the forefront of the value chain, and women are endorsing their beliefs by proactively giving back.
It’s Not Just the Money, Honey
Checkbook philanthropy can join the Antique Roadshow as a relic of the past. While making a donation is one way to give back, for today’s women, dollar donations are just one way they are showing their philanthropic side. Giving time, volunteering skills, even voluntourism are all part of this new Giveback Comeback. Women are making social responsibility into their lifestyle, as opposed to saving it for a special occasion. Brand support is a key way women are integrating social responsibility into their lives. Women are proactively screening for brands that are as socially responsible as they are. Younger women, in particular, will prefer a brand that shows evidence of social responsibility, avoid brands that do not, or even boycott a brand that they feel has socially negative connotations or behaviors.
The New A-Team
Today’s women are not going it alone. Social connectivity is the glue that is holding the Giveback Comeback together. Women are reaching out online and off, joining social networks, teaming up, expanding their circles as they spread the buzz and interconnect to leverage their skills and resources. When you reach one woman today, you reach her entire network. And a new delivery system is born.
You are fortunate enough to
be
present at the birth.
Now—how are you going to
raise this newborn?