Watch out, here comes Wonder-Woman

Brands beware. There’s a highly powerful and increasingly influential segment of women fast emerging.

She’s confident, she’s ambitious. She’s strong-willed and well educated. She’s married. And she earns significantly more than her husband. In short, we call her Wonder-Woman. She represents a large chunk of consumer spending power. And it’s time for brands to take her seriously.

But who exactly is this Wonder-Woman and where did she come from?

Based on our cultural studies and analysis of consumer behavior at Mullen, we found that the origins of this powerful female segment date back to the mid-70’s, at around the time the comic-book inspired “Wonder Woman” TV series aired across America. During that time, this segment of women (who out-earned their husband) was relatively small, representing fewer than 1 out of 20 married households.

Fast forward to today and we see that the power base of wonder women has significantly strengthened, in that she may be present in as many as one third of all marriages. She’s most likely to be a Gen-Xer between the age of 30-44 years old, and with an average personal income of about $75,000. She’s got a good job, although she’s not necessarily in the top tier of earning power. What defines her is that she’s not just the gatekeeper – but also the primary bread winner in the household.

Essentially, she’s become the Female Head of Household. But she’s not necessarily looking to wield her power – or to gain the upper hand. Nor is she looking to make a dominant gender statement, or to put her career ambitions before everything else. On the contrary, she’s looking to attain a better life work balance, in pursuing her career and managing her matrimonial and maternal responsibilities. In this regard she’s trying to master it all and to vanquish the arch enemy of her “to-do-list” with a swashbuckling tenacity – all without compromising her sense of individuality.

From a marketing standpoint, what’s truly fascinating about Wonder-Woman is her potential impact on society as a cultural tipping point. Not only is she changing the economic dynamics within the institution of marriage, but she’s also causing the fundamentals of “socially-accepted” gender roles to be questioned. Among her friends, family, and interactions with stay-at-home moms, she’s confronted with managing self-identity and stereotype dilemmas. And certainly, from the perspective of the relationship with her husband, she’s also faced with some unique challenges within her own household. Especially for a Wonder-Woman who has children, there’s the added issue of the interchangeable nature of parenting and nurturing roles within her marriage. There’s also the high likelihood of a Mr. Mom scenario and a role reversal within the relationship dynamic: “Behind every good woman, there’s a good man.”

Given the cultural significance of all this, it would seem surprising that few brands have empathized with the challenges and complex dynamics of a Wonder-Woman household. Certainly for female-skewed brands, there would seem to be a significant marketing opportunity in identifying with and targeting this valuable consumer segment. Not just because of Wonder-Woman’s spending-power, but also because she’s a key purchase influencer, propagator of word of mouth and opinion leader. That makes her an important target audience consideration that few brands can afford to ignore.

However, for brands that do decide to overtly target Wonder-Woman, it’s important to also recognize that engaging her isn’t going to be easy. Brands will need to recognize her unique needs, be relevant in how they speak to her, and  appreciate that her advertising defense systems are likely to be on full alert. For sure, relying on a one-message-fits-all approach or resorting to the “old ways” of mass advertising is less likely to work. Intercepting and engaging Wonder-Woman is going to take a highly targeted and focused messaging approach. Taking the following insights into consideration could help to increase a brands potential to win her over:

1. She will identify with being enabled – make your brand her secret weapon
2. She’s more receptive before she goes shopping, don’t wait until she gets to the POS
3. Earn the right to be part of her world, don’t assume she’ll automatically be part of yours – she’s active in the social media space, blogs and online communities
4. She’s multi-tasking when  wearing the Wonder Woman costume. Some brands might fare better trying to engage her when she’s off-duty.
5. For a Wonder-Woman with kids, don’t forget about Mr. Mom – her husband is still a key influencer in considered purchases
6. Understand her emotional needs – and she could become your most ardent brand ambassador