Rating: 
Summary: Bridge the Gap
Review: . I think Marti did a fantastic job tying the science to the sell and used just the right number of examples to make it concrete. The book was well organized, moved along, had some great humorous lines. It ended with tangible ways to adjust the marketing effort. I also liked her star points and use of the diagram. Great job, Marti! What an accomplishment as a writer, marketing guru, and female leader. Someday, your granddaughters will thank you and so will executives everywhere.
Anne Adams - Vice President of Marketing
Baytree National Bank & Trust Company
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Summary: Good concept - Milestone marketing
Review: Amidst a whole lot of other extremely useful advice, Martha Barletta's book, "Marketing to Women", explores one concept that you have to be aware of if you want to market to women. And you'd better want to, as Barletta vividly points out -- they spend most of the money. The concept is "milestone marketing". Women's wants and needs and attitudes shift with age; they're in the market for different things at different stages of their lives. So you can't just target women in general, you really have to tailor a range of approaches in your marketing strategy to appeal to women at these different stages. Buy this book -- it tells you how to do that.
Rating: 
Summary: Insightful!
Review: As a consumer group, women represent an enormous opportunity, but chances are your company is missing out on them. Author Martha Barletta says most marketers fail to capitalize on this lucrative market. They don't realize its potential or understand fundamental gender differences. As a result, their marketing fails to communicate with women, let alone persuade them. Barletta, a consultant specializing in marketing to women consumers, offers a book heavy on theory and long on detail. Except for a few examples of how ads are executed, the book lacks case studies that would bring these theories to life. Still, Barletta provides good advice on practical applications of these ideas about gender culture. She sheds light on the myths and realities of marketing to women, and provides essays by female experts in the field. What a pity that it all reads like a textbook. Given that, we from getAbstract target this rather educational tome as more appropriate for people who study marketing than for people who do marketing, although thoughtful marketers might still want to take a look.
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Summary: For the men out there...
Review: As a fellow graduate of the Wharton School that Ms. Barletta attended, I found the value add of this book to be in filling the gaps that my MBA marketing coursework left. For MBA students out there who need to know more about the real, cognitive differences between men and women as far as marketing goes, I recommend this book entirely. For example, you will learn that women buy based on the whole, not on the part. So while guys prefer the "hunt and find" mode, women take the "assemble and decide" approach. This has important ramifications for both on-line and off-line marketing. You will also discover that women are far more likely to "talk up" or "talk down" your product using what comes naturally to them - word of mouth. Men exert their independence (how many women have seen their men refuse to use a map or ask for directions while driving?) whereas women just tell it how it is. Again, you get the facts and then how you can use this information for your own benefit.In summary, "Marketing to Women" will be an outstanding addition to the libraries of MBA marketing majors, entrepreneurs who are marketing to women (and men), and marketing directors of all persuasions.
Rating:
Summary: The Sweetest Spot of the Sweet Spot
Review: As a marketer and author of several books it usually surprises people when I tell them I've read perhaps three marketing books in my life cover-to-cover. Marketing books tend to peter out after the first two or three chapters, putting their authors in the position of having to pump a lot of air into their pages to get enough literary bulk to justify cranking up the printing presses. Marti Barletta's "Marketing to Women" is the fourth marketing book I've read cover-to-cover. Keeping in mind that women account directly and indirectly for an estimated 80% of buying in the consumer economy, "marketing to Women" is a proverbial "must read" for everyone in marketing. Barletta's marketing wisdom, spiced here and there with a dash of puckerish humor, if not enough to turn a person into a marketer of wizardly proportions, is surely enough to at the very least double a marketer's effectiveness. Barletta claims that "Marketing to Women" is the first book ever that deals with the "nuts and bolts" of marketing to women. She's probably right, and if so, that claim suggests how much out of tune most marketing is with reality. No serious reader of this remarkable, far-reaching though accessible book, will come to the last period of the last sentence of its last chapter without knowing a great deal more about themselves as well as how to more effectively market to the biggest market on the planet -- women! Barletta explores seminal differences between men and women that everyone, marketer or not, would do well to understand for personal as well as for professional reasons. For instance, what does it mean in terms of differences in shopping and buying behavior that when men win in a game, their testosterone levels increase, but women's testosterone levels increase whether or not they win if they played a good game? It means a great deal, and "Marketing to Women" tells you why. Clue: It has to do with customary - and crucial - differences between men and women in relationship nurturing and management. Anyone in marketing who does not know that adults over 40 have become the New Customer Majority are about as prepared for today's marketplace realities as a wheelwright applying for a job at General Motors. People aged 40 and older constitute the only high-growth consumer population. The sweet spot of this population is, of course, boomers, but the sweetest spot of all is boomer women. If you don't know how these women think, feel, shop and buy, you can only play a pin-the-tail-on-the-donkey kind of marketing that relies on trial-and-error speculative approaches.
Barletta draws on new discoveries in brain science and human genome studies to retire the controversial idea that was most in vogue during the 1960s and 70s that held that aside from reproductive systems, no essential differences exist between males and females. Au contraire; the differences are immense and this shows up decisively in shopping and buying behavior. Yet, aside from personal and household products, and despite women accounting for 80% or so of consumer purchases, differences between males and females are widely ignored by marketers. In fact, as Barletta aptly shows, marketing reflects a clear-cut bias against the feminine values that characterize most of what happens in the consumer marketplace. Go figure. No -- read Marti Barletta's book.
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Summary: An entrepreneurial and MBA slant
Review: As a recent graduate of Wharton's MBA program with a major in marketing, I was delighted to read Ms. Barletta's book as it relates entirely to a startup venture I'm undertaking. There are a lot of books out there on marketing but few manage to combine the "why"s with the "how"s and deliver useful, hands-on guidance that's backed up by solid thinking - "Marketing to Women" is, fortunately, one of these books. Although an MBA can give you a big boost in understanding the art of marketing, it is often done so on a very broad, general level. Considering that, in many areas of the economy, women account for 50% or more of the purchasing power, Ms. Barletta's book credibly restores the notion that women are and will continue to be very important targets for marketers. So how do you reach them? In the introduction, Ms. Barletta talks about the "Power of the Purse" and the "Differences that make a Difference", touching on the size and economic importance of the women's market, followed up by a discussion on some of the key differences between men and women on a sociological basis. Note that the slant is US-centric but is likely to be similar in many Western countries. Ms. Barletta then guides us through her "GenderTrends" marketing model and posits a straightforward framework within which to make marketing decisions, encompassing social values, life/time factors, communication keys, and so on, in a women-oriented context. The ramifications for advertising, web-site and electronic marketing, and products and packaging are covered as well. For example, you will learn that women generally prefer more detail than men in their pitches, an actionable, testable assertion in any marketer's language. A keystone of Ms. Barletta's book is Chapter 6 "The Spiral Path: How Women Make Purchase Decisions", which basically looks at the non-linearity inherent in womens' purchasing decisions. Men take the "I think, I decide, I buy" approach, women go for "I think, I decide, I think some more, I talk to friends, I think, I think some more, I talk a little more, OK, now I buy". Implicit within the women-centric decision making framework is a strong reliance on others' opinions, which is where Ms. Barletta highlights a key difference between women and men - word-of-mouth is more likely to impact womens' purchase decisions than mens'. Simply put, any marketer who ignores the social aspect of womens' purchasing decisions is in trouble. Finally, in the latter part of her book, "Strategies and Tactics", Ms. Barletta touches on the practical applications of marketing to women. You will find information on "Why women?", "Which Women?", and other segmentation- and research-related topics. Ms. Barletta also goes into detail on communication vehicles and getting your message across. For example, you will learn that when a salesman tries pitching to a woman, she will nod, not necessarily in agreement to the sales pitch but, in fact, to indicate respect to the pitcher and to give off "I'm listening" body language; contrast this to men, who nod in agreement because, well, they're in agreement. This has very important consequences for sales people, especially men selling to women. In summary, Ms. Barletta has written an outstanding book that not only sets a solid psychological and sociological framework for her thesis that marketing to women is different, but she backs it up with facts and figures and things you can do to start marketing to women better, starting today.
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Summary: At last a book that explain WHY and HOW to those open minded
Review: As a reveiewer of marketing and marketing related texts, I was pleasantly surprised to read a book about Marketing to Women - the whole concept is not new, but Martha Barletta approaches her subject (me, and other women worldwide!) from a unique perspective.........if you are treating women as a minority group, special interest group..........you just don't get it!! Martha explains her revolutionary concept with the technical know-how and professionalism of a woman who wants men and other women not to market according to gender-bias and ageist theories...but be specific and above all not patronizing in the way they see women!! In essence she teaches the reader to not just market to a specific woman or to some make believe superwomen.........treat us with respect and market to us before others catch on and do it better. Martha treats her topic with humour and good old fashioned common sense - I loved this book and couldn't put it down one I started reading.............
Rating:
Summary: On the Money
Review: Barletta's book cuts through the mystery of marketing to woman, right to the very heart of every woman's wallet. It's a must read for B2B and B2C marketers alike - and an enjoyable read to boot. -SRD, Chicago, IL
Rating:
Summary: Over the top
Review: Businesses trying to reach women better run right out and buy this book now. It is well documented and insightful. Brisk writing style keeps reader totally engaged. Barletta's deep knowledge about this subject comes shining through!
Rating:
Summary: The definitive analysis!
Review: Finally a text that gets right to the heart of the differences and similarities of the topic. I thought we WERE marketing to women until I read this book. Now I need copies for all of my marketing staff. Thank you, Ms. Barletta! I should share my bonus with you (but I won't).
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