Despite Goggle's recent admission that only about 30 percent of its labor force is female, women are still a vital part of the labor force. Women bring in half or more of the income in 55 percent of U.S. households. In corporations, women are 50 percent of managers and professionals, 58 percent of purchasing agents and managers, and 53 percent of wholesale and retail buyers. In the small business area, women have accounted for 70 percent of all privately held startups over the last 15 years. And, in most households, they are the "Chief Purchasing Officer."
PMP author, Marti Barletta, in her just re-released book, Marketing to PrimeTime Women, notes that women aged 50 to 70 have enormous economic clout, in part because many of them have kept working well into their 70s.
In a detailed profile of women in their fifties and sixties that includes not only demographic data, but also qualitative and quantitative survey data, Barletta reveals that households with people aged 45 to 64 have higher incomes than the national average as well as greater net worth.
Says Barletta, "Marketers who miss the opportunity this customer presents are trapped in outdated stereotypes." She writes, "It baffles me when I read that marketers are worried that their customer base is 'older,' that they are desperate to reach younger consumers, that they are willing to pay substantially more for media that reaches younger people, that programmers and content developers are scrambling to develop properties to deliver younger audiences. ..."
The numbers show that the real money is in the Prime-Time market. These women will have enormous economic clout for the foreseeable future, and they have the experience and wisdom to spend that money with confidence.
