So you think you know women?

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More than skin deep. The act of beautifying oneself unites women the world over as an important driver of self-expression and identity. Unsurprisingly, advertising and media exert pressure on women to conform to idealised images of beauty. But at the same time women value inner beauty: the feelings of softness and gentleness that are unique qualities to being women.

Respect me. Although the culture of the arranged marriage still exists in a few of the countries that Added Value researched, women hope to fall in love with their partner. They want a man to woo them, spoil and protect them, but also to respect them.

Fight the power. Women still fight against society’s perceptions. Many women feel that they are seen as weaker by society and that they have to constantly prove that they are able to be successful in all spheres of life. 

All things to all people? Perhaps most interesting of all is what Added Value describes as the ‘dilemma of duality’: the pressure upon women to be all things – mother, lover, career women, etc. This dilemma is crystallised by the struggle that women facebetween juggling the responsibilities created by their careers and their sense of independence versus the traditional roles of managing the home and family, which is typically expected of them. Exploring this is in detail, Added Value found women accumulate more responsibilities as they mature without being able to release or share traditional ones. Put plainly, women shoulder more burdens than ever before.

However, far from holding young women back, they are quite prepared to take on these extra roles and responsibilities in order to forge their own identities and freely express themselves.

Added Value believes that young women have already moved a significant step away from their mother’s generation, driven by an awareness of their potential. Despite the pressure to be all things, women seek not only to do things in the right way, but to do things in unique ways.

Added Value has identified six core principles that marketers can build upon to create more meaningful connections with women. And interestingly what Added Value found was that in working towards satisfying women’s needs, brands can potentially increase sales among women and men. That’s because women are more demanding than men. Therefore, if a brand captures women’s interest, it is also likely to successfully engage men.