For the month of February, I’m diving into a topic that we, as women, need to be active leaders of in cycling: representation. While I do strongly agree that cycling media needs more diversity, I’m giving you insights into how you can address representation through your influence to influence companies and organizations to address women’s needs in a male dominated industry. I’m calling this month Women Lead, in hopes that you are inspired by these insights and stories to think how you can reshape representation this in industry, in your community, and more.
Today’s post is all about how brands can do better to represent women. Any brand nowadays knows that it has to stop insulting women first and foremost and be much more inclusive if it wants to survive. While women control much of the world’s purchasing power, some of the top consumer markets—think sports and beer, etc.—are dominated by men. While some male-centric brands are creating products and services designed for women— they are taking things far beyond the antiquated “pink it and shrink it” thinking.
Take Adidas for example, who has exploded as a go-to brand for athleisure apparel and shoes. Where once their products were relegated to soccer fields and tennis courts, now suddenly every city sidewalk and social media page is teeming with those three white stripes. Its re-emergence wasn’t from targeting the traditionally male customer base — instead, Adidas targeted women by creating a women’s initiative to create products solely for women while also hiring women as advisers and brand representatives.
This example is very close to one of the cycling industries own, Zwift. Zwift has promoted its platform to women by utilizing its Women’s Strategy Lead to make women’s experience the best it can be by having women’s group rides, events hosted by women, and competition specifically for women. Riders also cycle with the big names in women’s cycling – not just in women’s pro cycling but also with brands that are also aiming to get more women cycling. Liv, Specialized, Rapha, SRAM, and Betty Designs are all companies leading the industry to offer products and opportunities for women. By Zwift and these brands working together, they open the doors to getting more women riding, more often.
When it comes to cycling brands expanding or changing their audience, how can they do so in a way that feels authentic and drives sales? The answer is that their approach to representing women has to be smart and luckily I have 5 ways you or your brand can do it.
1. Show Women
One of the most effective strategies is to put women—either prominently or exclusively—in your ads. That’s exactly what a once-struggling Adidas did when they unveiled commercials featuring all women in 2016. Showcasing the athleticism of a diverse set of influential women was a key way to drive sales based on not only aspiration but also relatability. Suddenly a whole new group of customers could see themselves—not just a bunch of hyper-athletic men—in the brand. By the end of 2016, Adidas managed to topple Nike’s decade-long reign as producer of the top-selling active shoe, and they’ve remained committed to their female audience ever since.
2. Create Products For Women
Take Adidas, which in 2016 introduced a major brand platform solely with women in mind. The company did its homework and created a range of products for women—including fashionable athleisure, cycling kit, and everything that fits into gym bags. To that end, the company also made a strategic hire in February, tapping former Lululemon CEO Christine Day as an adviser. Their women’s initiative led them to equip female athletes with the kit that’s right for them. Creating products specifically for female athletes goes beyond just your traditional playing field outfit though, women have different needs, biology, and mechanics of women that makes up our kit – these are the companies women want to buy and promote.
3. Place Ads Where Women Will See
As more brands realize the purchasing habits of women, they are finding ways to target the female audience through female centric media. Think women’s magazines, lifestyle programs, and websites. When trying to engage a new audience, specifically women, brands must strike a fine balance and not be overt in gender-specific messaging. Sometimes that means keeping the messaging neutral while changing up your ad placement. Placing ads for bikes or kit in women’s magazines and on websites women visit will subtly drive brand awareness and likely sales, too.
4. Find The Right Voice
Sometimes appealing to women isn’t about targeting them more as much as it’s about targeting men less. Especially in today’s market, women don’t want an overly feminine approach; they simply want to be treated as people. It’s really about connecting with basic human truths and desires—a desire for adventure, a desire for connection, for escape, for freedom. These are messages that resonate with women as well as men.
Storytelling—a hot marketing topic these days—is just as relevant. According to The Mom Complex consultancy, which works with companies like Unilever, Johnson & Johnson and Walmart: “Research shows that women want to laugh, they want a plot and a storyline, and not just someone talking to a camera and showing you how they clean their dining room table.”
5. Build A Community For Women
Zwift didn’t just appeal to women by adding more women’s specific kit to unlock by efforts. When it had launched its Zwift Women’s Week, it’s motto behind it was Fun, Fearless, Fit – bringing together notable women in the sport such as Kristen Armstrong and Zwift Academy graduate riders to inspire women. What the initiative did was create events that appealed to different types of riders which built a strong women’s community on the platform that encourages and supports women who are busy with careers, children and everything else but also want to train and compete. It also rewarded efforts with new and stylish bikes and kit – reward we often don’t get in real life.
Women have long known that even though cycling brands and media still feels like a boy’s only club, we still love the sport and don’t need those brands, shops, or exclusive clubs to participate. The market for women’s specific products, shops, and clubs are booming and with women’s interest in pro cycling picking up, brands and media can do more to pay attention to women and their community if they don’t want to lose engagement.
If you have an organization, brand, or business, I hope these tips can help you better reach and expand your audience. Tell us what you like most about brands including women and what you think the cycling industry can do better!
Image: Machines For Freedom