• by Tanya Gazdik , December 12, 2012

Even top brands are struggling to effectively market their products to women, especially those in the financial services, insurance, automotive and alcoholic beverage segments.

A new study from Insights in Marketing, LLC’s i-on-Women team asked 1,300 women and 200 men which top brands effectively market their products and services. Of the 58 brands included in the survey, no brand received a response of more than 49% agreeing that the brand effectively markets to “her.”

The study found that consumer product brands topped the list of marketing that is considered “effective,” but those brands still failed to appeal to the majority of women. According to this study, the top five brands that market effectively to women include Dove, Amazon, Target, Febreze and Wal-Mart. The “bottom five” brands include United Healthcare, Budweiser, Mercedes-Benz, Coors and Harrah’s Casino.

“Today, women influence more purchase decisions than any other time in our history,” said Tinesha Craig, division director of i-on-Women. “And yet, marketers are clearly missing the mark on engaging and connecting with women.”

The study, which included U.S. women from a variety of age groups, incomes, ethnicities and geographic locations, also found that women with and without children agree on top brands and bottom brands when it comes to marketing to women.

Multiple generations, including Millennials, Generation X and Baby Boomers, generally agree on which top brands effectively market to women. The generations vary slightly on bottom brands.

A number of companies, including TD Ameritrade, Mercedes-Benz and Orbitz are missing opportunities to connect with baby boomer women at a time in their lives when they have the interest and financial ability to embrace these companies.