The Christmas season is upon us and, in the rush of end-of-year dinners, work parties, drinks and seemingly never-ending shopping, I have been visiting venues in Brisbane and up and down the coast keeping track of who really takes good care of their female demographic. Over the past two months I have shared some of my views on what women really want and 10 easy tips to be the ladies venue of choice:
- (Most) Women are always on a diet
- Age doesn’t matter; it’s about life stage
- Women can be bought
- Women like clean
- Women like safe
- Women like the warm and fuzzy
- Women function on a time clock
- When women talk, other women listen
- Women like to feel special
- Target women not girls
- Women like to feel special
For most venues, appealing to female clientele is not a core purpose of their marketing or training strategy.
However, there are some venues thinking outside the box and I wanted to share some of my recent experiences at these venues.
Recently, I visited a brand new venue on the Sunshine Coast in Brightwater and, outside of the lovely setting and new facilities, the service in gaming was fantastic. I was greeted by a very charming, well presented young man who engaged in conversation and exuded friendliness. When I was seated at a machine a little later, while walking the floor, he noticed that I was floundering with the feature on the machine and talked me through how it worked without making me feel silly for not realising the machine had a touch screen!
While joining the swarm of Christmas shoppers, I visited quite a few department stores and was pleasantly surprised in David Jones. Upon purchasing a face wash, the attendant asked if I would like a few samples in case I was travelling over the holidays. Yes please!
If you have visited the Indooroopilly Shopping Centre recently, you will have noticed that they are undergoing a major refurbishment. Thankfully the new toilet facilities are right on the mark with hand towels galore, suction hand dryers, a separate powdering area, an abundance of mirrors, a space in the cubicle for shopping bags and handbag hooks, not to mention separate, spacious child changing and feeding facilities. I have noticed a few clubs putting more thought into the layout of their toilet facilities lately too. I visited a venue in Ipswich recently which had created really tasteful and well-thought out facility for female clients.
I was pleasantly surprised by a club venue north of the city when an attendant pointed out that I could pick my handbag up off the floor and place it securely on a small shelf under the table. There were also hooks available in the gaming room that were easily accessible when seated at a machine. I have also noticed a few clubs offering take away cups from their cafés to give patrons easy access to the rest of the venue. This is a simple, yet effective way to increase spending in other areas of the establishment.
Bankstown Sports Club in NSW is a venue that specifically targets female clientele and has turned marketing to ladies on its head with a spa facility and subsequent female focused promotions. The marketing at the Club features real women of all ages enjoying the facilities which have a strong family and child-friendly focus. The charity spirit is engrained at this Club, with regular publications displaying the details of cash donations, in-kind contributions and the nominated cause, and let’s not forget the cooking demonstrations to promote their new menus.
Thanks to a combination of community engagement and clever experiential marketing tactics, Bankstown Sports Club has created a venue which welcomes female patrons with open arms.
Getting to know what women want is more complex than pink napkins and yoga. The beauty of these tactics is that they are simple, inexpensive and many of them can be implemented now! Have a thought for your key female clients and, if you are still not sure what they want, try holding a focus group or formalised research to make sure that you are hitting the mark.
To find out how market research can assist your venue, contact Samantha Litfin on (07) 3878 9355.
