Why gender-based marketing is bad for business | Gaby Barrios

譯者: chuiry ke 審譯者: H_L Au

Like a lot of people around the world,

和世界上很多人一樣，

earlier this summer my friends and I were obsessed

今年夏季初，

我和朋友迷上了 法國舉行的女足世界盃。

with the Women's World Cup held in France.

Here we are, watching these incredible athletes,

我們在那邊， 看著這些非凡的運動員。

the goals were amazing, the games were clean and engaging,

每個射門都很不可思議，

每場比賽都很公平且踢得很漂亮。

同時，這些女運動員在場外 都在談論薪資平等的話題。

and at the same time, outside the field,

these women are talking about equal pay,

and in the case of some countries, any pay at all for their sport.

而某些國家的運動員 是完全沒有薪水的。

So because we were mildly obsessed, we wanted to watch the games live,

迷上了球賽的我們很想看現場直播，

於是就決定了美國的一個西文電視網

and we decided that one of the Spanish-speaking networks in the US

was the best place for us to start.

是我們最理想的起點。

And it wasn't until a few games into the tournament

在過了幾場巡迴賽之後，

that a friend of mine talks to me and says,

我的一位朋友對我說：

"Why does it feel like everything I'm seeing

「為什麼我覺得我看到的都是

is commercials for makeup and household cleaning products and diets?"

化妝品、家庭清潔產品 和食品的廣告？」

It did feel a little bit too obvious,

的確有點太明顯了，

and I don't know if we were sensitive about it

我不知道是我們對此太敏感，

還是因為與男人和男孩一起觀看，

or the fact that we were watching with men and boys in our lives,

但的確有點太明顯了

but it did feel a little bit too obvious

我們因為是女人而成為銷售目標。

that we're being targeted for being women.

坦白說，這未必有錯。

And to be honest there's nothing necessarily wrong with that.

Someone sat down and looked at the tournament and said,

某個人坐下來，看著巡迴賽說：

「嗯，這東西可能 會被更多女性觀眾注意，

"Well, this thing is likely to be seen by more women,

因為這是西文轉播， 這些女性應該是西班牙裔，

these women are Hispanic because they're watching in Spanish,

而這是女性內容。

and this is women content.

Therefore, this is a great place for me to place all these commercials

因此，這個地方很適合我放這些

以女性為主的廣告， 其他的可能不適合。」

that are female-centric and maybe not other things."

如果我以行銷者的角度來想，

If I think about it as a marketer,

我知道我完全不應該對此反感，

I know that I absolutely should not be annoyed about it,

because this is what marketers are tasked with doing.

因為這就是行銷者的工作

行銷者的工作就是要用 非常有限的預算來建立品牌，

Marketers are tasked with building brands with very limited budget,

so there's a little bit of an incentive

所以將人歸類是有好處的

to categorize people in buckets

so they can reach their target faster.

他們可以更快接觸到目標客戶。

所以如果仔細想想，

So if you think about this,

it's kind of like a shortcut.

這有點像是抄截徑。

They're using gender as a shortcut to get to their target consumer.

他們用性別當作截徑 以便找到目標客群。

問題是雖然這個論點看似很合邏輯，

The issue is that as logical as that argument seems,

但用性別當截徑其實並不好。

gender as a shortcut is actually not great.

在這個時代，若你還盲目地

In this day and age, if you still blindly use a gender view

把性別觀點用在行銷活動中，

for your marketing activities,

actually it's just plain bad business.

那其實是個壞主意。

我甚至不是在談廣告中 對於刻板印象的強烈反彈，

I'm not talking even about the backlash on stereotypes in advertising,

which is a very real thing that has to be addressed.

雖然這是非常真實的狀況， 而且需要解決的事。

我說它是壞主意

I'm saying it's bad business because you're leaving money on the table

是因為你的品牌和產品 本可以賺更多錢的。

for your brands and your products.

因為在市場上很容易分辨性別，

Because gender is such an easy thing to find in the market

and to target and to talk about,

很容易被設定目標和被談論，

這麼做反而會讓你沒有注意到

it actually distracts you from the fun things

一些有趣的點來讓你的品牌再成長。

that could be driving growth from your brands

and, at the same time,

同時，

這麼做只會持續用性別做區別

it continues to create separation around genders

and perpetuate stereotypes.

永遠存在著刻板印象。

So at the same time this activity is bad for your business

所以，這種行銷活動 對你的生意沒好處，

and bad for society, so double whammy.

對社會也沒好處，是雙輸的局面。

And gender is one of those things like other demographics

和人口統計一樣，

性別在過去也曾經是 很好的行銷捷径

that have historically been good marketing shortcuts.

然而，某方面來說，

At some point, however,

we forgot that at the core we were targeting needs

我們忘記了一件事： 我們的核心目標是

和烹飪、清潔、個人照護、 開車，和運動相關的需求，

around cooking and cleaning and personal care and driving and sports

and we just made it all a bucket

我們卻只把它們都歸成一類， 說：「男人和女人不同。」

and we said, "Men and women are different."

We got used to it and we never challenged it again,

我們習慣這樣，就不再懷疑過。

and it's fascinating to me,

這對我來說這真是太有趣了，

我說有趣的意思是有點瘋狂，

and by fascinating I mean a little bit insane,

that we still talk about this as a segment

我們還以性別區分，

when it's most likely carryover bias.

其實這些區分可能都帶著偏見。

其實我並非輕易得出這個結論。

In fact, I don't come to this conclusion lightly.

We have enough data to suggest that gender is not the best place

我們有足夠的資料佐證，

若你要設計品牌找到目標客群， 性別並非最好的起始點。

to start for you to design and target your brands.

讓我說得更直白一點：

And I would even go one step further:

unless you are working in a very gender-specific product category,

除非你在做的產品 是非常明確地針對性別，

要不然很有可能

probably anything else

you're hypothesizing about your consumer right now

你現在對你的消費者 所做的其他假設

都會比性別更有用。

is going to be more useful than gender.

We did not set up to draw this conclusion specifically.

我們一開始並不是 非要得出這個結論，

We found it.

而這就是所得到的結果。

身為顧問，我們的工作 是要配合我們的客戶，

As consultants, our job is to go with our clients

and understand their business

去了解他們的事業，

試著協助他們找到 品牌成長的空間。

and try to help them find spaces for their brands to grow.

And it is our belief that if you want to find disruptive growth in the market,

我們認為，如果你想 在市場上有顛覆性的成長，

you have to go to the consumer

你必須去找消費者，

and take a very agnostic view of the consumer.

並且秉持著不可知論的觀點。

你得從零開始去研究他們，

You have to go and look at them from scratch,

remove yourself from biases and segments that you thought were important,

放掉你既有的偏見和區隔方式，

just take a look to see where the growth is.

只單純地去看哪裡有增長。

And we built ourselves an algorithm precisely for that.

我們為此創造了一個演算法。

So imagine that we have a person

所以請想像有個人，

and we know a person is making a choice

我們知道這個人要做出

about a product or service,

和產品或服務相關的決定，

and from this person, I can know their gender, of course,

而我們想當然地 知道這個人的性別，

other demographics, where they live, their income, other things.

顧客族群、居住地點、收入等。

I know the context where this person is making a decision,

我們知道這個人做決策時的情境，

在什麼地方、和誰在一起、

where they are, who they're with,

the energy, anything,

個性及任何資訊，

我還可以把其他資訊結合在一起。

and I can also put other things in the mix.

我可以知道這個人的態度，

I can know their attitudes,

對於這個類別的感受，

how they feel about the category,

還有行為舉止。

their behaviors.

So if you imagine this kind of blob of big data about a person --

如果你能想像關於一個人 就有這麼大量的資料——

我要把這裡的科學過度簡化一下，

I'm going to oversimplify the science here

but we basically built an algorithm for statistical tournaments.

我們基本上創造了一個 統計巡迴賽的演算法。

So a statistical tournament is like asking this big thing of data,

統計巡迴賽就像是 去問這個大資料庫：

「資料，請問根據你 此時對消費者所知道的一切，

"So, data, from everything you know about consumers at this point,

what is the most useful thing I need to know

如果我想要更了解消費者需要什麼，

that tells me more about what consumers need?"

我需要知道什麼資訊會最有用？」

So the tournament is going to have winners and losers.

巡迴賽會有贏家和輸家。

贏家就是能夠真正讓你

The winners are those variables, those dimensions,

that actually teach you a lot about your consumer,

了解消費者的那些變數及思維，

that if you know that, you know what they need.

若能知道那些變數， 就會知道消費者的需求，

就不適合採用輸家的變數。

And there's losing variables that are just not that practical,

這點很重要， 因為在資源有限的世界裡，

and this matters because in a world of limited resources,

you don't want to waste it on people that actually have the same needs.

不要把資源浪費在有相同需求的人

So why treat them differently?

為什麼要待他們不同？

So at this point, I know, suspense is not killing you,

我知道，此刻賣關子 並不會讓大家很難熬，

because I told you what the output is,

因為我已經告訴各位結果是什麼了，

but what we found over time

但我們發現，隨著時間，

is after 200 projects around the world -- this is covering 20 countries or more --

經過全世界兩百個專案計畫—— 遍及二十個以上的國家——之後，

in essence we ran about a hundred thousand of these tournaments,

在本質上，我們測試了 大約十萬場巡迴賽，

and, no surprise, gender was very rarely the most predictive thing

不出意外，若要了解消費者需求，

性別很少會是最有預測能力的變數。

to understand consumer needs.

From a hundred thousand tournaments,

在十萬次錦標賽中，

gender only came out as the winning variable

只有大約 5% 性別變數有勝出。

in about five percent of them.

This is true around the world, by the way.

順道一提，在全世界都一樣。

我們在傳統性別角色 比較明顯的地方

We did this in places where traditional gender roles

are a little more pronounced,

也做了這個研究，

and the conclusions were exactly the same.

而結論完全一樣。

性別的重要性有高 一點點，超過 5%，

It was a little bit more important, gender, than five percent,

但也不是很關鍵。

but not material.

所以，我們先沉澱一下。

So let's let that sink in for a second.

No matter how you're looking at a consumer,

不論你怎麼看消費者，

most likely anything else is going to be more interesting to you than gender.

對你來說，所有其他變數 都極可能比性別更有意思。

There's probably something very important you need to know about them,

消費者有某些點可能 是你非常需要知道的，

and you're getting distracted because you're doing everything based on gender.

你沒注意到這些點，是因為 你做什麼都是以性別為依據。

And that's why I say you're leaving money on the table.

這就是為什麼我說 你其實可以賺更多錢。

很容易根據性別來設計廣告，

Gender is easy. It's easy to design advertising based on gender,

很容易根據性別在網路上 或電視上設定目標客戶。

it's easy to target people online and on TV based on gender.

But at the end, that's not where the exciting growth will come from.

但，到頭來，成長不會出現在這裡。

If you're a food company, for example, it's actually much more interesting to you

比如，如果你是一家食物公司， 對你來說，更有意思的其實是

to know where people are eating, who they are eating with,

人們會在哪裡吃東西、 會和誰一起吃、

are they very nutritionally oriented.

他們是否以營養為取向。

All of those things are actually significantly more powerful and useful

比起知道消費者的性別，

上述這幾點都明顯 更有效、更有用。

than knowing if a person is a man or a woman.

And that matters, of course,

當然，這是很重要的，

because then if you're putting your limited budget into action,

因為如果你要把 有限的預算拿來使用，

then you're better off creating solutions for different occasions

那你最好要為不同的場合 創造不同的解決方案，

than trying to target women versus young men.

而不是試著把目標放在 女性 vs. 年輕男性。

Another example is alcoholic beverages.

另一個例子是酒精性飲料。

Thirty-five percent to 40 percent of consumption in alcoholic beverages

全世界酒精性飲料的消費當中，

有 35%~40% 是由女性所消費的，

around the world actually happens with women,

but, you know, "women don't drink beer."

但，你知道的， 「女性不會喝啤酒。」

Those are the things that we typically hear.

我們總是會聽到別人這麼說。

But actually, when a man and a woman are, for the most part, in the same location,

但，其實，大多數情況下， 當男性和女性在同樣的地點，

the emotional and functional needs they have at that moment

他們在那個時刻的 情緒需求和功能需求

are very similar.

會非常相似。

There's only one exception, by the way,

順道一提，有一個例外，

and the exceptions exist,

例外確實存在，

where if you have a man and a woman

那就是：當一男一女約會時，

on a date,

男人試圖想讓女人印象深刻，

the man is trying to impress the woman

and the woman is trying to connect with the man,

女人則試圖想要和那個男人連結，

so there's going to be a little bit of tension,

兩人間會有一點緊張，

但很重要的是要知道。

but that's important to know.

我們要花幾次約會。

We'll take a few dates.

Financial institutions: that's something where we've heard a lot

金融制度：我們都常聽到在這方面

男性和女性有所不同，

about the difference between men and women,

但，其實，談論男女的不同，

but actually talking about men and women as different

is distracting you from the thing that is underneath.

只是讓你分心而沒有 注意到背後有什麼。

We made it so simple as "women don't like to invest,"

我們把它簡化成 「女性不喜歡投資」、

"women hate managing their money,"

「女性討厭管理她們的錢」、

"men are great and aggressive and risk-takers,"

「男性是很棒且很積極的冒險者」，

but at the end it's not about men and women.

但，到頭來，重點並非男女。

It is actually a different narrative.

其實狀況是不同的。

It is about, there are people that are excited and energized

重點是，有些人很興奮、精力充沛，

and educated to manage their finances

且受過教育想要管理他們的財務，

versus people that are not.

有些人則不是。

So if you change the conversation

如果我們改變談話，

from men and women to actually what's underneath

從談男女改成談背後的因素，

then probably you'll stop being so condescending to women

那你可能就不會再貶低女性，

and you may start serving some men

你可能會開始服務一些

that are actually shy about managing their finances.

在財務管理上很害羞的男性。

I'll leave one more example.

讓我再舉一個例子。

If I go back to the women that were playing sport at the beginning,

我們回到演說一開始 那些從事運動的女性，

one of the fascinating things we found over different countries,

我們在不同的國家探索運動服裝時，

發現了一件很有趣的事，

exploring sportswear,

that if a person is a competitive person

如果一個人很愛競爭，

and they are in the moment of action,

且身處在要採取行動的時刻，

the needs are not different between a man and a woman.

那麼男性和女性的需求並沒有不同。

An athlete is an athlete.

運動員就是運動員。

It doesn't matter for men and women, it doesn't matter for old and young,

不論是男性或女性， 不論年長或年輕，

你就是運動員，

you are an athlete,

在該採取行動的時候， 在極強的競爭中，

and in the moment of action and extreme competition,

你都需要這些衣服來幫你。

you need this gear to work for you.

So these soccer-playing women have a lot in common with their counterparts.

所以，女足球員 和男足球員之間有很多共通點。

在場外無所謂。

Out of the field, it doesn't matter.

在場外，他們可能喜歡 是時尚或其他東西，

Out of the field, they may be into fashion, into other things,

但在球場上，需求沒有不同。

but on the field, the needs are not different.

So these are just a few examples on categories where we found

以上只是舉幾個例子，

說明用性別來區分消費者並非最理想。

that gender was not the best place to go,

and actually the argument is

實際在這一點上，

這個論證甚至不是 女權主義的推動因素，

that at this point it's not even a feminist push,

it's just we got used to it.

僅僅是因為我們已經習慣以性別區分。

We got used to using gender,

and it's important for us to start finding ways

找其他的衡量方式， 避免回到性別問題上至關重要。

to measure other things about consumers

so that we don't revert back to gender.

I am not naïve,

我並不是異想天開，

and I know there's still going to be appetite

我知道人們對於用性別仍有胃口

還在一定程度上使用自如，

and certain ease around using gender,

但至少這值得一談。

but at least this warrants a conversation.

在你的工作中，你必須思考：

In your business, you have to inquire,

is this really the best lens for me to grow.

這真的對我的成長有益嗎？

So, if you are, like me, a person that is in business,

因此，如果你像我這樣，

是一個商人，

that I am constantly worried about what is my role

一個總是擔心自己在 更廣泛社會討論所擔當的角色的人。

in the broader societal discussions,

if you're listening to your business and you hear things like,

如果你認真聆聽你的業務

你將會聽到這樣的聲音：

"Oh, my target are women, my target are men,

「我的目標是女性群體， 我的目標是男性群體，

this goes to young girls, young boys,"

它會接觸到年輕女孩、年輕男孩。」

when it's that gender conversation,

當處於這樣的性別談話中的時候，

unless you are working, again,

除非你在做的是特定性別的產品類別，

in a very specific, gender-specific product category,

take this as a warning sign,

否則把這當做一種警告標誌，

because if you keep having these conversations,

因為如果你一直進行這類對話，

you will keep perpetuating stereotypes of people

你將會延續這種刻板印象，

and making people think that men and women are different.

令人認為女人和男人是不同的。

But because this is business, and we're running a business,

但因為這是生意，我們在做生意，

我們想它成長，

and we want to grow it,

至少突破自身使用性別的本能，

at least kind of challenge your own instinct to use gender,

because statistics say that you're probably not choosing the best variable

因為數據表明，

你或許沒有選擇最佳變量 來定位你的產品或服務。

to target your product or service.

Growth is not easy at all.

增長並不容易，

What makes you think that growth is going to come

是什麼讓你認為像性別 這樣過時的元素，

from going into market with such an outdated lens like gender?

會為你帶來市場增長？

So let's stop doing what's easy and go for what's right.

讓我們停止做簡單的事， 而是去做對的事情。

At this point, it's not just for your business, it's for society.

不僅是為了你的生意， 也為了整個社會。

Thank you.

謝謝。

（鼓掌）

(Applause)