Research claims women are better brand ambassadors based on the fact they account for the majority of purchases and women trust other women for advice and recommendations. The simple fact is that great people help amplify remarkable brand stories and ideas. Passion, enthusiasm and brand belief is more important than gender in most cases.

Creating remarkable live experiences is not about female versus male

For decades advertising campaigns have been undeniably dominated by attractive women however this doesn’t necessarily translate into the best fit for live experiences. It’s not all about sex on your brand.

It is the power of combining talented female and male brand ambassadors that understand the brand and the target audience that builds the best live experience.

Experiential marketing expert Erik Hauser thinks the notion that men are not qualified to market to women is a faulty premise. He says “In fact, I find it very difficult to find this position even reasonably defensible. Any smart man or woman in an organisation understands the power of collaboration and the absolute need to bring people who are representative of the campaign’s intended audience into the fold. This helps make sure the team has all the proper insights to build the best campaign.”

In another article from research firm 2CV Exp they argue if a campaign is female focussed and driven by women it will also attract mostly women, despite the location being mixed in terms of gender. “Gender identity is inextricably linked with the emotional connections people will forge with a brand through experience and so should undoubtedly be considered at campaign planning stage – particularly for experiential marketing”, says the research firm.

At Hotcow we understand this challenge and this is why our focus lies on having talented male and female brand ambassadors that understand that to have impact on consumers and create ongoing word of mouth it is about how we make people feel that matters most.

18 months ago LG mobile tasked Hotcow to help them launch the world’s first 3D smartphone and the brief was to reach a predominantly male 25-35 audience. We chose a group of brand ambassadors to deliver the brand story and experiences to appeal to both males and females. The guru’s were male, as research suggested men believe that other men know more about technology than women, so the believability was the key. Women were used to draw people into the experience. This mix of gender helped to change the opinions of the brand and encourage more people to buy it.

The impact of gender should be viewed on a case by case basis

Depending on what the brand story needs to convey to its consumers, will depend on the people strategy that is deployed.

Top tips for setting this right are:

1. Plan in advance your ‘people strategy’ – the best people don’t sell.

2. Understand who you are influencing – what are consumers going to find most believable.

3. Ensure your ambassadors understand that people don’t buy what you do, they buy why you do it.

4. Have communications training in place to make sure people walk away feeling great from your experience. In their ‘Model Citizen’ campaign fashion brand Betabrand encouraged people to upload pictures of themselves with Betabrand, giving them a discount. Everyone who uploaded a picture was given a dedicated link back to the Betabrand site, starring them. Betabrand describe their brand as 1% fashion and 99% fiction. They make the consumers feel more awesome, not only in their clothes but with their talking points. Don’t assume you know what the consumer wants, build your platform on research.

5.Use common sense with who your brand is speaking to and how sensitive the issues is. There are cases where the gender of the brand ambassador is important. For a feminine product i.e. tampons the brand ambassador’s gender embodies not only the target market but also says something about the type of people that use the product.

Does the gender of your Brand Ambassador affect the perception of your brand? Tweet us your thoughts @Hotcow!

Hotcow is a multi-award winning Experiential Marketing agency. We get brands in front of consumers in ways that persuade them to buy. We fully implement our ideas; nothing needs to be farmed out. For more information or free consultation, contact us.

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