The Pontiflex Blog

Agency Spotlight: Leapfrog Interactive

July 16, 2010 at 5:46 pm Arun Krishnan Leave a comment

Pontiflex is thrilled to put the spotlight on Leapfrog Interactive. LFI’s thought leadership in social media marketing to women for major brands like Graco, Home Goods, Lily of France, and Sun Tan City is just one example of what makes this agency shine.

To introduce them properly, we’ve invited Emily Carroll, Manager of Strategic Planning + Consumer Insights to write a guest post on our blog. We asked her to share why marketing to women is so important to brands, and how they can use social media and community sites to do it right.

Here’s what she had to say:

When it comes to buying power, brands would be wise not to underestimate the power wielded by women.  It has been estimated that women now influence 85% of all household purchases.  Women have the income and are spending it on what’s important to them.  It’s more than just clothes or food.  It’s big ticket items like cars and consumer electronics.  Women are often now the family travel planners—deciding where to go on vacation and how long to stay and booking all the necessary arrangements.

Women aren’t just purchasing for themselves.  They do a lot of purchasing for their friends, family and spouses.  A smart brand would be wise to use creative messages to reach and connect with women, even if the product being pitched isn’t necessarily intended for a female audience.  Take, for example, the Old Spice “The Man Your Man Could Smell Like” ad.  It targets women using deliciously clever scripting coupled with gorgeous eye candy even though the women themselves won’t be the ones ultimately wearing Old Spice. Genius!

Social media plays an important role for a brand wanting to connect with women.  Women use their social space to discuss the things they like, in particular the products they use and advocate.  They will also share coupons and spread the word about sales in progress with their circle of friends.  A wise strategy for any brand would be to get its target female consumer base talking about it enthusiastically on their Facebook and Twitter pages.

The Internet has become a valuable resource for these purchasing empowered women.  Women are influenced by the advertising they encounter online and also by the product information and reviews they find there.  According to the June 2010 UNICast What Women Want from the Web Report, 64% of women plan to use the Internet to find sales and compare prices whenever they plan to make a purchase, for small and big ticket items alike.  In fact, women 18 to 24 are much more inclined to do this kind of comparison shopping research solely online.

Plainly put, women are utilizing the Internet as a resource for simple and complex purchasing inquiries.  They enjoy, arguably more so than men, educating themselves through the use of the Net.  They’re looking for more shortcuts to save time and money.  In doing so, they’re searching more, browsing more, consuming more content, and seeking input from their trusted friends and confidants online. They tend to be more loyal to brands and because they possess a great deal of the buying power, brands are foolish not to speak directly to them.

More about Emily:

Emily completes the legwork needed to make clients’ media campaigns successful.  With an expansive network of publishers and vendors, Emily is able to find advertising solutions that drive results for brands.

Reach her at ecarroll@leapfroginteractive.com

Entry filed under: Agency Spotlight, Industry Thought Leader, Social Marketing. Tags: .