Just Ask a Woman: Cracking the Code of What Women Want and How They Buy [Hardcover]

"Mary Lou Quinlan’s Just Ask a Woman is a fascinating and important study not only for marketers, advertisers, and brand managers, but for the general public. The big message of this book is: Understand the woman you want to reach or she will align herself with someone who does. Here is a terrific guide to achieving that understanding that should be required reading for any business manager." –Sharon P. Smith, Dean, School of Business Fordham University In Just Ask a Woman, top marketing consultant Mary Lou Quinlan shows marketers and business leaders how to tap into America’s most powerful consumers: women. Although they comprise just over half of the U.S. population, women buy or influence the purchase of eighty–five percent of all products and services sold nationwide. Yet, far too often, products marketed specifically to women fail to address their needs or connect with them on an emotional and motivational level. Just Ask a Woman will tell you why. The founder and CEO of the premier consultancy dedicated to women’s marketing, Quinlan has personally interviewed 3,000 women–uncovering profound and enlightening truths that can’t be learned from traditional research. She’ll tell you why focus groups don’t work, and help you learn new ways to listen to women, understand their needs, and meet their expectations for customer service. She explores topics such as how women judge brands and advertising, how they make decisions, and how stress affects their consumer behavior. In Just Ask a Woman, marketers, brand managers, and advertisers–and anyone selling to women–will find actionable answers to difficult questions and real–world strategies that work–from a woman who has walked in a marketer’s shoes. Throughout this book, you’ll read the stories of women consumers in their own words. Then Quinlan translates those opinions and concerns into ideas marketers can use. You’ll also read the stories of nineteen CEOs and marketing executives, many of them arguably among the most successful marketers to women today. They share their struggles and the lessons they learned that led to marketplace success with women. Just Ask a Woman is your chance to get to know your most important customer–personally. The days of marketing products TO women are over. These are the days of marketing WITH women–treating them as business partners and listening to them throughout every step of the marketing process. So, if you really want to succeed with the most powerful consumer group in the world, all you have to do is ask.

Praise for JUST ASK A WOMAN "Just when you think you know it all, Mary Lou Quinlan helps you with your thinking in a new and wonderful way. If you want to capture a larger piece of your market, read this book." –Gordon Bethune, Chairman of the Board and Chief Executive Officer Continental Airlines, Inc. "Mary Lou’s fascinating book delving into the commonsense insights of women toward products both mundane and high tech is a watershed event. Mary Lou shows that women are both procedural and disciplined (many even use an ‘informal board of directors’ to confirm their own opinions), and marketers who don’t take them seriously do so at their own peril." –Rance Crain, Editor–in–Chief, Advertising Age "A deeply insightful and actionable articulation of how women live today, their deepest feelings and hopes and desires. There’s a depth of understanding here that clearly reveals the enormous experience that Quinlan has had in marketing and advertising." –John Pepper, Chairman, Executive Committee of the Board Procter & Gamble "Think you know how to make women buy your product? Think again. Mary Lou Quinlan surprises and delights with insight into what it takes to sell almost anything to any woman." –Melanie Wells, Senior Editor, Forbes "Mary Lou Quinlan harnesses her decades of experience to provide powerful insights into how to not only ‘ask a woman’ but also to listen to her. Highly readable, this book speaks cogently to practicing and aspiring marketers about tapping into the minds and pocketbooks of women. Quinlan provides a guide to smarter and better marketing." –Stephen A. Greyser, Professor of Marketing and Communications Emeritus Harvard Business School