This post is in response to a great article by Steve Olenski about his claim that women are the most powerful brand ambassadors in the world.
Olenski quotes BlogHer CEO and co-founder Lisa Stone as saying “…there’s no one a woman trusts more for advice, recommendations and guidance than another woman in her circle.” He then cites one of our favorite stats about how women account for 85% of all consumer purchases including everything from autos to health care. 
He goes on to draw the conclusion that women are the most powerful brand ambassadors because we try new things based on friends’ suggestions via social media (citing the above stat).
Olenski says “This particular finding speaks directly to the power of suggestion and the power of peer pressure in many ways for it shows just how truly powerful a brand ambassador can be and how much influence these folks can carry with their friends.”
He advises brand managers and brand marketers to engage and empower brand ambassadors who are women. He goes on to suggest they create and foster relationships with the people who are making the bulk of the purchasing decisions….aka women! We agree with his ideas completely. In fact, this is what we’ve been trying to say for a long time now here on the Her Voice blog.
As a public relations agency specializing in marketing to women, we think Olenski is onto something huge. His idea of brands doing exclusive offers and “insider” types of info about contests and promotions? Genius! Brands must take notice of how women are doing a great deal of their marketing work for them and help make this easier. This could be anything to reaching out to bloggers and offering exclusive information to hosting special events and inviting brand ambassadors to get a behind-the-scenes look.
No matter what specific strategies and tactics are employed, brands must do something or else they will miss out on a wonderful opportunity to engage and new audience in new ways.
FletcherPR is a national communications firm that specializes in reaching women through the power of media. Headquartered in Knoxville, TN with staff in Nashville & Los Angeles, we are a full-service agency providing strategic public relations, social media and marketing communications services to our clients throughout the U.S.