Just Ask a Woman: Cracking the Code of What Women Want and How They Buy

by Mary Lou Quinlan

An enlightening blueprint of the secrets of reaching female consumers from the expert Just Ask a Woman is a powerful book about how to tap into female consumers' needs. Mary Quinlan, the founder of the premiere consultancy dedicated to marketing to women, has personally interviewed 3,000 women in the course of her research for Just Ask a Woman. Women are the decision-makers in an estimated eighty-five percent of household buying decisions, and yet far too often, products marketed specifically to them fail to connect with their needs. Here, Quinlan explores topics such as how women judge brands and advertising, how they make decisions, the effects of stress on their consumer behavior, and their increasing demands for service and communication. Quinlan rejects the traditional focus group approach in favor of highly energized and intimate talk sessions where women reveal their deeper feelings about products and services. In Just Ask a Woman marketers, brand managers, and advertisers will find a revelatory resource filled with ideas and action steps for building your brand with women-from a woman who has walked in a marketer's shoes. Mary Lou Quinlan (New York, NY) is the founder and CEO of Just Ask a Woman, a marketing consultancy dedicated to building business with women. Just Ask a Woman is a division of bcom3, a $15 billion global communications firm whose clients include Citigroup/Women & Co., Lifetime, Saks, Hearst Magazines, Toys "R" Us, and Time Inc. Known as a brand-turnaround expert, she has helped to remake brands like Avon and Continental Airlines. Quinlan has been quoted in The New York Times , The Wall Street Journal , Fortune , Fast Company and Advertising Age and appeared on ABC, CNN, CNBC, Lifetime LIVE, Fox and nationally syndicated news shows. Her articles have been published in Marie Claire , Good Housekeeping , Redbook , and More , among others.

272 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2003

About the author

Mary Lou Quinlan has written inspirational features for Real Simple, O, the Oprah Magazine, and MORE, and other magazines and, is the author of the books Just Ask a Woman, Time Off for Good Behavior, and What She’s Not Telling You. She is the nation’s leading expert on female consumer behavior.
As the founder and CEO of marketing consultancy Just Ask a Woman and Mary Lou Quinlan & Co., she has interviewed thousands of women about their lives. Mary Lou has keynoted hundreds of conferences around the country; has appeared on television programs such as The CBS Early Show, Good Morning America, and the Today Show; and has been profiled in The New York Times, the Wall St. Journal, and USA Today as well as many other media outlets.
Mary Lou is Jesuit-educated with an MBA from Fordham University. She also holds an honorary doctorate in Communications from her alma mater, Saint Joseph’s University in Philadelphia where she earned a BA in English.
She and her husband, Joe Quinlan, live in New York City and Bucks County, Pennsylvania along with their dog, Rocky.

Reviews

[Kavita Kavita]

It cracks the code of what women want and how they buy.

[Tyler · Rating 4 out of 5]

In "Just Ask a Woman," Mary Lou Quinlan pulls on her experience as a focus group leader to explain the generalized mindset, lived experience, and shopping behavior of women to male-dominated corporate America. The book is full of inside intel that only a woman can provide. For example, we learn that the experience of all women is defined by a feeling of stress and a high standard of performance. This stress is not limited to adults, mothers or career-minded women, but is universal to all women from the teenage years on up. It is not always placed on her by others, but may come from an innate drive to prove her feminine superiorty (Quinlon coins the term "female machismo"). Underneath the stress is a deep wish to be acknowledged and pampered for her sacrifice and hard work, and to be given the very best because she is worth it. Quinlon's term "vigilante shoppers" illustrates how women are more perceptive than men and quick to leave the scene if anything seems off. The other side of that is that their experience is greatly impacted by the five senses. She gives an example of how a certain brand of soap made washing dishes a meditative experience for one woman. Quinlon draws out for us a grid of 4 elements that go into a woman's decision process, and reminds us that what women appreciate most is useful information and immediate practical help. They dislike time-wasting, pandering, and any kind of dismissal of their concerns or feelings. Overall, it's a good read for anyone looking to market anything to women, or just understand women in general, but is in need of a revision since the world has changed so much since 2003.