How to Market to the Male e-Shopper, Part 1

In 2006, a Madison Avenue advertising executive confessed to Bloomberg Business Week that they couldn't seem to 'get it right' when targeting the masculine side of consumer demographics. It's a relevant issue for e-commerce retailers even today.

In 2006, sales in men's apparel and grooming products were growing at a comfortable trot. Nothing exciting but promising; and so retailers, as is their wont, wanted things to proceed at a faster clip. Ostensibly by trial and error, they started 'exploring what worked and didn't work' with the mysterious, elusive, oh so indefinable male consumer.

But a slew of readers' responses was enlightening. Dennis Wong of Westport, Conn. said he was more than gratified that marketers were finally paying him his fair share of attention. But as a result, he complained, he was now buying stuff that he had not known he even needed. "I have been transformed," he added, "from a 'fat, dumb, and happy' man to a lighter, smarter, and insecure one."

Enter Joe Brooks (of Holland, Pennsylvania) who, you will find, certainly knew what he was talking about. He advised the good men and women of Madison Avenue that "if you want to score big with the guys, you have to market to them almost as if they were children."

Simplicity, it will be recalled, has long been a code word among behavioural scientists when they are asked what they believe men expect and want from any shopping experience.

Yes, simplicity. What the heck does that mean, you might ask. Minimalist is simple, you explain while trying not to roll your eyes, but so is dumb. Well, e-marketing experts far and wide, it may very well be closer to the latter.

Joe Brooks, bless his heart, broke it down for us. Remember, he said, men hate to shop. Remember, he added, they don't like to ask for directions when they are lostÖ AND, he concluded triumphantly, THEY CERTAINLY DON'T WANT TO ASK FOR HELP WHEN THEY SHOP!

And so, added Joe, "we need to be able to walk into a store with a satisfying level of confidence and grab a No. 7 suit, a No. 7 shirt, a No. 7 tie, etc., and walk out."

I can hear the e-commerce website owners of the world cry in one voice, "Done!"