the wound isn't black-and-white it's
painted and available at Australian
Geographic from the moment we're born
its frills for girls and paws for boys
it's called market segmentation the
theory goes that dividing consumers up
into smaller groups is good for business
and what easier way to divide humanity
then buy the junk between our legs
custom don't confuse sex with gender and
what easier way to divide humanity than
by the totally valid personal
self-identification as male or female
actually gender spectrum and all things
in between but we actually don't want to
get into all that we just want to know
who's really paying for gendered
marketing is it me it's me isn't it you
know always been this way
in fact it used to be the other way
round pink being a more decided and
stronger colour is more suitable for the
boy while blue which is more delicate
and dainty is prettier for the girl
by the early 1970s the split between
boys toys and girls toys seemed to be
eroding today that's all change
[Music]
that's right cute YouTube kid they
worked out that by segmenting the market
into narrow demographic groups they can
sell more versions of the same toy
that's why Lego ads used to look like
this build hotels animals people boats
skyscrapers and more but now look like
these new LEGO Friends
I just finished decorating my house time
to chill with the girls at the beauty
shop emma is styled and ready to go that
move tripled the number of girls using
Lego and scored the company a 25%
increase in global revenue but market
segmentation isn't just the kids by
making two versions of otherwise
identical products celebrity slim can
sell many more slim shakes and hair
dresses formula can sell more hair pills
and Gillette can sell more razors and
Cody's can try to sell more cordial and
fail
and it's not just about trying to sell
more it's about trying to charge more to
take this body glide an teach a farm
triathlon Lube it's a thing and it's
great for feet thighs and upper bodies
buzz OE well ladies we don't have upper
bodies we have feet thighs and prods
which is why we need body glide for her
weight
uh no bras on our upper body both so II
that's why our version costs nearly 60
percent more per gram than the original
because according to body glide we
ladies need a petite thighs product to
carry along convenient because there's
no way a woman could carry a normal body
and you don't have to be a loop using
triathlete to feel the rub of gender
marketing it comes with everything from
shaving cream and depilatory cream to
styling powder and eye gel and we might
not even realize it's happening because
we only look at our section of the store
and ignore anything that's not obviously
for us and it's not just color companies
also use shape texture packaging logos
verbiage graphics sound and names to
define the gender of a brand lighter
colors smoother edges floral motifs
softer lines therefore ladies
there's darker colors harder lines
square shapes and science we type
pictures minutes for men that's why this
pastel pack of tenor and countenance
pads for women features a pretty little
flower made of wee drops whereas the
men's packet has a grid and arrows on it
and very specific measurements go in the
7 mil I say nice now market segmentation
can backfire gender contamination is
where a product is so strongly
associated with one gender the other
gender refuses to buy it why don't they
just call it the cooties effect because
we're grownups
anyway it's much easier to get women to
buy men's stuff than it is to get men to
buy women's stuff picked of when they
entered the male skincare market they
realized the named of lacks macho
mystique especially when rendered and
slender italics and accentuated with a
stylized bird logo stylized birds are
totally for so they compensated
by printing men plus care in stand-up
capitals and by the use of a battleship
gray background
they even squared off the curves of the
iconic Dove soap bar to give it a more
manly appearance truly dudes are too
smart to just fall for girly goop and
drag no in one year they gain millions
of customers in 30 countries with a
hundred and fifty million dollars in
sales just by reminding men that Durham
haha
and aren't the only ones for men for men
for men for men for him men you'll also
see products with really stupid man
names to help encourage men to splash
them Mancow Ruger broke it brotox'
guyliner no you can't buy candles you
need mandals
in meat-and-potato gunpowder can't buy a
smoke and strippers man but don't worry
guys you're not the only ones being
patronized a couple of years ago Fujitsu
launched a computer for women the floral
kiss laptop for users with long
fingernails came with scrapbooking and
horoscopes software zirconia adornments
and a floral motif and for women who
couldn't use a computer does anybody
have a big brought out pens for her
thanks and today we have Bergen bread
for women's well-being they can call it
this because they claim it may help
maintain breast health they don't
mention mental being though despite also
claiming it may help maintain profit
health yeah but no one wants to think
about prostates when they're having a
sandwich look can't we just stop all
this dividing people Unilever found a
way to bring the genders together and
shaft them both to Unilever adjust their
french brand signal white now toothpaste
started out for the whole family but
then they launched a glittery gold
version for women and followed up with a
mannish version for men because they
said it will contribute to driving the
market up and it did although slightly
more for women so that's all kind of
depressing but it's hard to be sad in
this playpen don't worry if you don't
live in a playpen though there are some
other things you can do ask yourself am
i buying this just because it says it's
for my gender it might be worth checking
out the other half of the range if you
were willing to put up with grey
packaging and straight lines and don't
need your shampoo bottle to reassure you
that
come on
you could save a fortune
[Music]