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