Inside HerPretty Little Head
AnAstonishingParadox
A Wonderful Opportunity
How to unlock the female
opportunityNew information about
femininity
The composition of successful female brands: The four Feminine Codes
Human beings process information
in two different ways:
Systemising and Empathising
Systemizing: Input: Operation:
Output“Systemising is the drive to analyse,
explore and construct a system.
The systemiser intuitively figures out how things work by extracting the underlying rules that govern the
behaviour of a system. This is done in order to understand and predict the system or to invent a new one”
Empathising
“Empathising is the drive to identify another persons feelings and
thoughts and to respond to them with an appropriate emotion. It is
done in order to understand another person, to predict their behaviour,
and to connect with them emotionally”
Ways
of
thin
kin
g
Empathisers Systemisers
Outward focusHolistic
perceptionIntuitive
Depth and detailMake things work through relationships
Innate interest: PeopleExpressive
Operate out of collective concerns
Seek shared perspectivesThrive on collaboration
Focussed perspectiveLinear and logical
AnalyticalWorking out how
things workin order to predict
outcomesInnate interest: Things
Self sufficientFocus on personal
goalsFeel comfortable in
hierarchies (systems)Thrive on competition
Ways
of
beh
avi
ng
On average, men tend toward systematic
approaches
On average, women tend toward empathetic
approaches
+1
+2
+3
0 +1 +2 +3-3
-3
-2
-2
-1
-1
Syste
misin
gEmpathising
Type B
Type S
Type E
Why are women more
likely to be empathisers?The science of
femininity
Advances in medical technologies
Preparedness by scientiststo interrogate
accepted wisdoms about human nature
3 recent dramatic revelations about the nature of femininity
Endocrinology:Stress responses
i
Accepted wisdom about human
responses to stress
Defend directly against source of
stressFlee from source
Fight or flight
Feminine Stress response
Disclose and share fears
Bond with others around source of
stress
Tend and befriend
Brain structure:Decision making
ii
Two accepted wisdoms
about human decision making
It’s all rational (pre 1970’s)
It’s all emotional (post DiMasio)
Intellect
Feeling
Action
Corpus Callosum
Two accepted wisdoms
about human decision making
It’s all rational (pre 1970’s)
It’s all emotional
(post DiMasio)
Feminine decision making
It’s Holistic:
RationalEmotionalSensory
iiiEvolution:
Survival Strategies
Accepted wisdom about human gene survival strategies
Competitive impulses:
Gain access to matesGain control of
resources
Survival of the fittest
Feminine gene survival strategies
Nurturing vulnerable Risk Aversion
Create communitiesAttend to environment
Create safe havens
Two Worldviews
Solves problems by
Makes decision with
Focus in relationships
AnalysisArgumen
tPrioritisi
ng
Competitive impulses to
achievecontrol
Relative positionin hierarchy
Linear, logical,
Single-lined information
CollaboratingCo operating
Talking
What is sharedwith others
Empathetic Systematic
Motivated byCreating
safe havens(devoid of risk)
Deep, detailed, rational and non
rationalinformation
Two Worldviews
Solves problems by
Makes decision with
Focus in relationships
AnalysisArgumen
tPrioritisi
ng
Competitive impulses to
achievecontrol
Relative positionin hierarchy
Linear, logical,
Single-lined information
CollaboratingCo operating
Talking
What is sharedwith others
Women Business
Motivated byCreating
safe havens(devoid of risk)
Deep, detailed, rational and non
rationalinformation
Most (big) organisations are
systematic
Their brand promises are based on competitive advantage
They’re built on ‘if a then b’ logic
End Benefit
Product Benefit
Facts and Features
They’re after control: Locking the customer in and the
competition out
And they seek to impress
with shows of strength…
The Worlds
Favourite Airline
The Drive
of your Life
The Ultimate Driving Machine
Probably the best
lager in the
world
The Best a Man
Can Get
The World’s Local Bank
The Car in front is a Toyota
All of which is highly motivating for the
systematic audience
But when targeting empathisers, systematic
organisations expose a limited feel for
empathisers’ motivations
Four newstartpoints for
brands
Developing brands out of the
empathetic:
Altruism Code
Connecting Code
Aesthetic Code
Ordering Code
Altruism CodeAn others focus.
An interest in shared concerns.
Ordering Code
Risk aversion, the need to reducecomplexity in decision
making, the desire to create a context that feels in good order
Aesthetic Code
Heightened sensory perceptions. The need to create environments
that feel safe.
Connecting CodeThe need to tend and befriend
under stress. The impulse tocreate communities to create safe
havens.
A New Worldview For Business
AnalysisArgumen
tPrioritisi
ng
Competitive impulses to
achievecontrol
Relative positionin hierarchy
Linear, logical,
Single-lined information
CollaboratingCo operating
Talking
What is sharedwith others
Empathetic SystematicCreating
safe havens(devoid of risk)
Deep, detailed, rational and non
rationalinformation
Motivated by
Solves problems by
Focus in relationships
Makes decisions by