• by Lynn Russo , December 29, 2005

If you want to win the loyalty of a female consumer, don't target your message to the whole woman. Instead, understand how your product relates to one of her four inner layers: body, mind, heart, or soul. So says "The Naked Truth," a study conducted by Frank About Women, a marketing communications company specializing in marketing to women. The study, which asked women to identify what makes them feel "real," found that today's women eat healthy and exercise regularly. And, though they like feeling beautiful, they don't think beauty is synonymous with feeling "real."

According to the study, real women are strong and independent, yet also giving, self-sacrificing, family-oriented, loyal, and trusting. Striving to be a size 2: out. Being psychologically independent and standing up for what you believe: very in.

"The biggest mistake advertisers make today is stereotyping women and making broad-scale generalizations as to their lifestyles and attitudes," says Janie Curtis, managing director of Frank About Women. Advertisers, she says, think that by replacing the size 2 model with a size 12, they've done their job. But, says Curtis, "Connecting with real women goes beyond the size of the jeans."

The most important medium for reaching women? Word of mouth, Curtis says, because it satisfies a desire to share information with others.