Marketing Analysis : Marketing Management

When it comes to the social construction of gender, the way toy stores advertise their product play a huge role in the contribution. Sitting on the floor looking at the Walmart toy selection, I noticed a few things that I never really paid close attention to before. First, when did the colors pink and blue become a tool used as a gender binary? Second, why does it seem to be a pattern of the professions that the toy emulate in regards to each gender? Third, what does this all mean?

Since the emergence of advertising in American culture one thing that has remained constant is the visible truth that men and women are portrayed differently. In consideration to the evolution of man kind gender roles have evolved immensely throughout time, although advertisements have not kept up with this process of evolution. Companies to this day use their tactics and skills to reach out to specific genders such as pretty fonts with a stylish message, while advertisements towards men portray the character as strong and intimidating. The typical viewer can easily spot the difference in the portrayal of genders. Men are portrayed this way because the viewers look up to these characters, they want to be

Contemporary visual media contributes to the social construction of gender in that the way that men and women are portrayed in advertising is vastly different.

The splitting of products into two genders stemmed from fiscally conscious businesses; those who had two products to sell to different people made more money than those who sold only gender neutral clothing, razors, and drinks. In modern times, almost everything in the media and in advertisements is biased based on gender. Ads for fragrance are no longer equitable; they are for cologne and perfume separately. As the businesses made money, a latent consequence arose. Those who grew in the days of binary gender products and segregated items became socialized to fit what was advertised. Boys targeted by monster truck commercials became conditioned to believe that they could only play with monster trucks and should compete with their friend’s monster trucks. Girls became conditioned to believe that dollhouses and horses were the only toy for them. These influences from the media have affected gender socialization, relationships, and expectations throughout the life course of almost every American.

As before stated, children as young as age four already have the ability to comprehend whether a specific item is market towards males, or marketed towards females, just by the external appearance. That statement means that concepts as seemingly abstract as masculinity and femininity, have already been clearly defined to these children,

In the world of toy marketing, choices are made with direction put in place for both genders (girl and boy). For example, as I walked down each toy aisle, I felt the gender conformity among the parents as they were with their children. With multiple aisles and two dominant colors (pink and purple) designated for girls, the message (in my perspective) marketed on the toy package yelled: “Your ambition is to be stylish, while a nurturing mother who partakes in domestic works!” In addition to the toy packages being in pink, the words (on the toy) were predominately frivolous and amusing. On the contrary, the boys’ aisle contained wide varieties of colors, although the color blue caught my eye the most. The boys’ toys entailed sports, building sets, as well as action figures. Conversely, the message in my perspective, marketed on the toy package screamed: “You have the power to do whatever you want; however, it is imperative that you build yourself physically, as well as train yourself in order to properly excel.” This type of act, referred to as the social role theory—“a gender difference that mainly results from the contrasting roles of females and males” (p.165),—gives a great cause of difference in gender regarding power, nurture, and

Advertisers have been using masculinity and femininity to sell since the early 1900’s and it doesn’t seem to be slowing down. This is a controversial topic and has been heavily discussed within recent years.

Although it is not expected that women be marketed to in the exact fashion that men are, it is understandable that a woman would like to be treated as more of an equal. When asked about her opinion on marketing to different genders, Shelley Rider stated, “although a talented professional should be capable of successfully marketing to both sexes, it is vital to a company that both sexes are represented in a board room where decisions are made. From my experience in marketing athletic apparel for Champion, I have found that the most successful and effective marketing strategies come from groups with both men and women present.”

Besides that, I will also be looking out for writing in the magazines’ editorial content that suggest gender stereotype. Lastly, ads will be looked as the type of product and lifestyle associated with said product that is being depicted may show gender stereotypes.

Diversity among our society is part of what makes it so unique. This is necessary to incorporate into the creation of any public programs or project, especially in the media business. This can include movies, tv, commercials, games, apps, websites, and so on. Some of the concepts necessary to creating such products include the diversity in ethnicity, culture, gender, social class, and age. Managing the audience your product will appeal to is huge in determining the success of any product. Diversity in gender is easily one of the most basic concepts to consider. If you make a commercial that is targeted towards men, but not women, you will lose at least half of your audience. Hardee’s commercials for their burgers are a good example of what

The fact that media is blind to gender means that women and men are only perceived according to their interests. This allows us to realize that, with increasing frequency, women and men have similar interests - not that, as we've always thought, women have an interest in chick flicks and shopping. So, in that way, the fact that advertising is blind to gender means that women and men will be less likely to fit into the stereotypical personalities that are normally thought to be inherent of a particular gender, and women and men will become more liberated in the choices that they make about their own lives and interests.

In the marketer’s eyes, in order to attract people’s attention on what they want is to first segregate the commercial in to which type of person the product is going to be sold to, then break it down in an obvious way – showing major differences in the general public’s interests, sorting ‘the consumer’ down to a more focused group of people; as if one were looking past a continuous stream of red squares, then notice’s a blue square, he or she will notice the blue square standing out from the red squares; the blue square being the advertisement that fits to that person’s personality. For example if there was a commercial for a truck produced by a typical American organization, the advertisement shows masculinity and manliness in extensive ways, with mud, heavy weights, and other things. With a Victoria’s Secret advertisement, the milieu is very sensual and scandalous, showing light colors such as pink or white, all while having a soft, fluffy tone to it. There is no escape in gender roles and profiling when it comes to marketing; people who want to sell their product will use the most effective means necessary, no matter if it is morally sound or not . If companies were to have general broadened commercials, then summarize a product and ends up not narrowing down to specific consumer needs, then in most cases it would not interest the customer and could quite possibly render the purpose utterly useless.

Going into different stores, one can easily pick up on the major gender roles each store supports. Even the morals of an innocent toy store, such as KB Toys, is tainted by the gender-differentiating dolls for girls, and trucks for boys. Upon entering the store you can tell right away which aisles attract which kids. To the left there is pink fluffy bears, pink Barbie and friends toys, white teddy bears etc. To the right there is a less vibrant color setting, coordinating army green, black, and gray color schemes. I think it is apparent to anyone who enters these stores that the pink pretty isles are meant to attract little girls, and the dark green and gray isles are meant to attract boys. Upon the packages of toy trucks and guns, there are pictures of young boys playing with them and/or cartoon male figures controlling them. On the packaging of Barbie and her friends there are also other girls on the packaging. I was unable to pick up on a single female on the package of any toy truck or gun throughout the entire store. The

Through the decades there has been an emphasis on making sure that the lines between gender don't get smudges. An example of this is with toothpaste. Everyone uses toothpaste and all toothpaste has the same job, to help keep your mouth clean. In recent year advertisers have started to create different toothpaste for boys and girls. The girls can range firm being in pretty colors such as pink to having sparkles in it, while the boys may be a matte blue. Even the packaging is different. This type of separation become unfair when someone looks at the price. Girls health items, in general, are much more expensive than boys. And for people who don't identify with either gender may feel that they are left out of the equation. Being a girl myself, I know I feel the need to buy girlier products just because they are prettier, not because they work

Gender Marketing is not about male versus female. It is about understanding your customer and his profile thoroughly. Marketers generally adopt the approach of neutral marketing to play safe; by and large both men and women feel that they have not been targeted by the marketers properly. The marketers should continuously strive for competitiveness and take benefits from the ever changing environment which can be facilitated by the realization of the concept of gender marketing. In this article I will discuss about the changing role of women today and how it has an impact in marketing of products like online selling, car purchase, garment purchase and food & drinks.