For a long time women have been ignored by the automotive industry. Although it is estimated that women make, or influence, up to 75% of all car purchases, car companies persist with their arsenal of misguided messages and male-orientated feature listings (not many of my girlfriends bought their car because of its 160kw fuel-injected engine or its 250 Nm torque).

Today, many women have the money, desire and confidence to walk into a car yard and drop upwards of $50,000 on a car. Many car manufacturers have spent upwards of $50,000 on research to find that out. As a result, we are seeing more and more campaigns specifically targeted at the single, affluent, 30-something female (the ‘independent princess’ segment as we have named them).

These women are strong, self-sufficient and know what they want out of life. They are career-minded, confident women and although they would like to settle down one day, for now they are quite happy living an ‘it’s all about me’ lifestyle.

But I’m wondering how the strong, liberated, independent princess became a dominant, aggressive, masculine alpha-female who appears in the new Holden Tigra campaign.

Women have come a long way as a result of sexual liberation and equal opportunity and we have achieved parity in many areas. But the word ‘equal’ has somehow been translated to ‘same’. Newsflash to all-male creative teams: Females are still female. We actually like being female. We may be holding our own in the boardroom, but we are achieving that without losing our sense of femininity.

Unlike some men, women simply don’t ‘hunt’ down members of the opposite sex before moving onto their next conquest, proudly displaying their prey as they go. I’m sure it’s a scenario that men fantasise about us doing, but I’m sorry guys, it’s just not real.

Our recent Butterfly Effect Research study revealed that one of women’s pet hates when it comes to advertising is campaigns that portray a situation that isn’t believable. “I just wouldn’t do that”, they say. “As if that would happen”, they argue. Or, (note to the marketing team at Pantene) “that product just doesn’t work like that.”

I’m guessing that the concept behind the campaign was designed to make women feel empowered. But in the real world, it got lost in translation.

As a thirty something female, it sometimes crosses my mind that my next age milestone is forty. It probably sounds scarier than it really is and I will no doubt embrace my fortieth birthday with loads of enthusiasm, and champagne. Nevertheless, the mere word ‘forty’ still conjures up associations with ‘no longer young’, ‘ten years from fifty’ and ‘the start of grey hairs and wrinkles’.

As the youngest of five girls (my eldest sister is 43) I have seen first-hand how women’s sensitivity about their age grows as they get older. But the interesting contradiction is that they seem to be loving life and embracing their youth more as the years go on. They are breaking society’s rules about how a 40-year old woman is supposed to behave. This creates a further disconnect; the less they act their age, the less they associate with it.

This is supported by our current segmentation study into women which is revealing that post-forty women often don’t see themselves as the age they are (show a fifty-year old woman a picture of a fifty year old woman and she will perceive that person as someone older than herself).

Which is why I cringe when I see product extensions such as Macleans 45+ and Uncle Toby’s ‘Healthwise for Women 40+’.

Sure, the needs of women in both these categories are different at different life stages. But targeting older women so overtly as ‘40+’ will not lead to segmentation success.

As my eldest sister so aptly put it : ‘how rude! I don’t want to be reminded that I fit into ‘40+ category’ when I am buying my breakfast cereal!’

It makes sense to segment and market to women based on life stage, but it calls for a covert operation. Speak to her unique needs and tell her you’ve developed something for her. Use euphemisms and imagery to elude to the fact you have a product range tailored to different life stages. Flatter her by focusing on the youthful, aspirational aspects of your product and how well it suits her. Make her feel young and beautiful without suggesting it’s going to achieve completely unrealistic results and don’t remind her she fits into an ‘older’ age group.

Instead of age-bracket segmentation, think ‘mindset marketing’ … communicating with women in an aspirational, ‘forever young’ way that taps into how old they feel and want to feel, not how many birthdays they’ve had.

Book Now for the popular two-hour SheMarketing breakfast seminars in Febraury and March. The seminars are being held in Sydney on March 7 and Melbourne on February 28. There is new content and case studies but book early because seating is strictly limited.

Click here to learn more and book online

Splash Consulting Group is Australia’s leading communications consultancy specialising in SheMarketing™, the science of marketing to women. In fact, we coined the term SheMarketing in 2000 after a two-year research study into how the neurological differences between men and women affect responses to marketing.

We work with clients who predominantly market to women, or clients who realize they have a competitive opportunity to more effectively market to the female segment.

We have offices in Sydney and Melbourne and are backed by the strength of our investment partner, Drake International.

Our services include unique research methods, consulting, creative and public relations. To find out more, visit shemarketing.com.au or call us toll-free on 1800-SPLASH.