So you want your product or service to connect with a female audience? 

First off, congratulations for having such a smart idea. Women account for 85% of all consumer purchases including everything from autos to health care.

But before you get started, think about the weight of this commitment. There is a right way and a wrong way to connect with your female audience. Let's start with the wrong way.

Don't become a pinkcoater.

Pinkcoating amounts to taking a product and adding a splash of pink because that's the most obvious and easiest way to make it appear feminine.

You may have heard of Pinkwashing? These are companies that support breast cancer by promoting a pink ribboned product, but manufacture products that are linked to the disease. 

Pinkcoating is certainly less sinister but equally ill-advised. Because the bottom line is using color to feign an actual interest in making your product or service appeal to women is transparent. It says in reality you're really only in it for a quick buck. And generally, it's doomed to less than satisfactory results.

Oh, and it's been tried before.

Back in the day laundry was a woman's domain, male engineers were responsible for creating washers and dryers.  The products were sold using language that reflected a man's sensibility. Ads touted high horsepower and spins per minute. Stainless steel agitators and chrome knobs were de rigueur. The higher the heat in the dryer, the better. Of course, women cared more about the cleanliness of the finished load of laundry, how well the clothes were going to be treated, and options when it came to the types of clothes they could wash. 
Back in engineering, the men we're being well, men. And womens' needs never really made it into their final designs. So the guys in marketing were left with a dilemma. How to make a macho product design appeal to the little ladies of America?

Nothing a little pink couldn't take care of, as displayed by this Maytag Washer Dryer set circa 1960. By the way, because of their novelty value, these are apparently hot sellers on eBay. Stay alert at your next garage sale.

So if Pinkcoating reflects an outdated approach to marketing to women, what is the answer?

Let's see how appliance manufacturers have answered that question today.

Turns out they've given washers and dryers features that women (or men for that matter) want in a washer. Like being able to throw a garment in the washer to steam out wrinkles. Energy efficiency that appeals to her sense of caring for the environment. Smaller footprints that take up less space. 

Allergen cycles to cut down on pet dander. And designs that look at home in any room of the house, not just the laundry room.

So grab a piece of paper, think about your product and service, then think about the women in your life. What can you do to your offering to help it appeal to your wife, sister, older aunt, your mom or grandmother.

Don't stop at adding the color pink.

If you get stuck, PixInk is always available to help you as a sounding board and to make the task less daunting.