1. Are Women Better Marketers?
The future of all successful businesses would be driven by right-brained thinkers; the
connectors and communicators who possess the six critical senses of design, story,
symphony, empathy, play and meaning. And it is scientifically proven that women are
more right brained than men and have these qualities as part of their natural make-up.
Hence, it may follow that women may take lead in running a successful venture across
all categories of businesses.
The Indian marketing landscape too, is witnessing growth of an inclusive culture giving
impetus to women professionals to break leadership barriers. Companies today are
looking at hiring diversity candidates on account of the following: a) the need to
represent more fairly the gender breakup in management, and, b) the different
perspective that they sometimes bring to the category or management decisions.
Gender-bender
Does that suggest that marketing management styles are gender associated when it
comes to women‟s success in the marketing domain? It is the individual‟s capacity and
capability that makes one a better marketer irrespective of the gender. Every individual
marketer has his/her own operational style, which is usually influenced by the culture of
the company rather than the gender.
Marketing is all about the ability to present one‟s marketing skills to the consumer and
making the right connect with them. And that is universal for both men and women and
is not gender based.
With socio-cultural barriers having come down, family and personal obligations having
changed and women now being able to manage both home and business efficiently, we
are seeing more women in the marketing fold. Factors like government policies,
financial assistance from public and private institutions helps women excel in decision
making process.
In today‟s world education and open-mindedness in accepting women as equals, is the
reasons for women‟s success in marketing.“Today people have come to accept women
as an integral part of the workforce and discrimination based on gender has reduced
substantially.” “There are more women in the corporate world; and a proportionate
number of these are successful marketers. The potential of women is being more
appreciated today owing to the growing sensitivity to the fairer sex.” Parle Agro is
considering setting up a day care centre so as to be able to help a woman manage the
work life balance.

2. Are Women Better Marketers?
Close fit
Is there a natural fit when it comes to women opting for marketing jobs? We all know
that marketing requires good communication skills, which women often possess. “But it
may look like women are more successful in marketing because a larger number of
them join this field. And you can approach it with either a left or right brain, qualitative
or quantitative approach,”
Certain sectors like FMCG do have a higher number of women in marketing positions
compared to other sectors. And it works well, because most FMCG purchases or major
buying decisions are generally made by women consumers.
The competency requirements for a job should not and do not distinguish between
genders. “However if women form a huge chunk of say the workforce, or of the
consumers of the organizations products, then, having an adequate representation on
the board or in the senior management cadre would definitely be of advantage in
understanding some of the issues better.
As per a survey there will be a surge in women professionals across FMCG, Durables,
Services, Entertainment, Healthcare, Digital and Fashion industries in India in the
coming days.
Think Pink
Women are better talkers and hence by default, better marketers. Women have intrinsic
qualities to express and communicate and marketing requires one to be extremely
articulate and diligent in terms of perceptions.Retailers have much more at stake when
dealing with women as majority of the money is being spent on purchases for women
and by women. In terms of preference or consumption patterns, women tend to deal
with things slightly differently and this is where an insight from a woman marketer would
become extremely critical.
In most of brand stores, they try to display women‟s products up-front because of the
higher impulse purchase nature of a woman. So that when they engage with a woman
marketer, specifically with regard to retail space management, the success would be
higher because of the connect. There is no one better equipped to understand how to
market to a woman, than another woman. The chances of a woman listening when a
woman marketer talks, are very high. She feels that this synergy between the marketer
and the consumer exists because of the decision-making and management styles, as
well as because of the personality traits of a woman. However, she too like the others
does not generalize that women are better marketers, but they certainly have qualities
that may set them apart.

3. Are Women Better Marketers?
Women „listen‟ better. Marketing is all about understanding your consumer, which can
only happen if you listen.
Women favour a „collaborative‟ approach, and desire to „influence‟ which are the best
ways to produce a successful marketing programme. They like to build consensus
before taking a decision.
Women are more likely to be cautious and be concerned about the long term effects of
a programme.
Women are more „flexible‟ and are more likely to alter a plan if needed.
Women intuitively understand that the „one size fits all‟ approach doesn‟t work in
marketing.
Roadblocks
Most women marketers feel that challenges are similar to both genders in this domain.
We know that dynamics of Indian economy are changing and hence challenges are
similar to both men and women because of the nature of the field of marketing.
There are, however, certain challenges facing women marketers in India. Among the
most important ones is the difficulty to manage the work and family balance. Most of
these marketers believe that managements should provide for better HR policies for
women like flexi-time, better maternity policies, and work from home options.
Traditionally too, women have been averse to taking transfers on account of their
spouses jobs being the primary ones, but that is history now. More spouses are
following their wives and acceding to their need for progression in careers.
It might be something that we all have noticed that the most senior and best-paid
member in a marketing team is a man, but it's equally likely that the best marketer in
the team is actually a woman. As per a survey girls score higher than boys from the
age of seven years old. Women are also more sensitive to and better at decoding non-
verbal communication, picking up the most subtle nuances from tone of voice or
facial expression, and judging character.
Nonetheless, I remain convinced that when it comes to marketing, women add
considerably more skill, potential and overall value to an organization.Women are
superior when it comes to marketing because their brains are better suited than their
male peers.
So perhaps a fitting place to end this is to ask a philosophical question: am I really
arguing that women are better at marketing, or is it more a case of men being worse
at it?

4. Are Women Better Marketers?