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The Affordable Bridal Market

October 5, 2010 By 3 Comments

What do J Crew, White House Black Market, Ann Taylor, Vera Wang know that you don’t?

They know how to capitalize on the current trends. They have seen the handwriting on the wall and are making adjustments. Business is all about giving the customer what they want, not what you want and these companies are doing just that. They are offering bridal gowns that are more affordable to the majority of brides.

What does that tell you? For one thing, these companies aren’t going to sit on the sidelines and hope that the bridal market rebounds. They are re-inventing and targeting todays more fiscally conservative brides.

I dare say that the companies above have spent the time and money to deeply analyze the market and current trends. Seriously, if Vera Wang thought that in a few more months  the couture bridal gown market would come roaring back to life would she have sold her soul to David’s?  That’s pretty doubtful.

Here is something else, Ann Taylor’s wedding line is exclusively online. Hmmm, do you think they have done any research on that? You can bet your bottom dollar on it. The marketing team behind Ann Taylor after all are the ones that have done such a remarkable job of getting Ann Taylor Loft so much traction in social media. In terms of fashion, they have mastered Facebook. This gang knows where the market is and knows how to target it. Good quality, fairly priced and easily accessible. Wow, what a concept.

What about JCrew? Yes they have some up market gowns hitting close to $3k but also a lot of gowns under $800. Again, this line is online and in the catalog. JCrew is a trusted brand to our target market, so they would have no problem ordering online. What’s more, they are sized like the rest of their clothes. Not the freakishly odd sizing that most bridal gown manufacturer use. You wear a size 8 in JCrew street clothes, you will most likely wear a size 8 JCrew wedding gown. Gee, that just makes too much sense.

So what do you have to learn from all this?

Well for one thing, if this wasn’t a smart play, I can bet they wouldn’t all be doing it. Companies of this size make the occassional mis-step but I can’t imagine that this many would be doing it if the reasearch wasn’t there to back it up. Afterall, I don’t care who you are, launching a bridal line is no cheap thing. Heck, the research we have is saying the same thing. (Hat tip to Shane and the Wedding Report.)

How do you translate this to your business.

First what you don’t do:

You don’t start dropping your prices. Look, you don’t see Vera Wang doing a slash and burn on the price tags on her Flagship line, do ya? Heck no.

What you do is create an entire new line that hits the price point and delivery system that your new brides want. No on wants you to lose money.

Just like Wang, your flagship line carries the cache of your brand but the new line puts it in reach of the fat, juicy middle of the market. The flip side of this is that as the market does start to uptick again, you’ll be among the first to know because your flagship will start pulling the weight again. Is it just me that thinks this is a no-brainer?

It’s October, the wedding season for 2010 is just about over. You are going to have some down time coming up to get your house in order.

Here is my challenge to you. By the time the January push rolls around, I want you to have a new budget friendly line in place. The January Bridal shows will be the perfect place to roll it out. (You have bought the book, right)

I really don’t care what category you are in, from stationery to floral to catering, there is a way to do this. You just have to put on your thinking cap.

If you have put in the time and really tried to think this through and aren’t getting anywhere. Give me a shout. From now to the end of December I will be offering my one on one consulting in one hour only blocks just to help get your juices flowing. Just put the word Re-invent in the subject line of your email.

Filed Under: Building Your Business, Trends, wedding marketing, What's Hot Tagged With: , , , , ,

Fairy Dust in The Wedding Industry

October 4, 2010 By 1 Comment

There has been a lot of buzz lately about the drop in the number of weddings and the move away from the over the top wedding to a new style of causualness. Certain people have been crawling out of the woodwork to shake their finger at the so called predictions of gloom and doom.

I am sorry to say that these are no longer just predictions; they are facts backed up with empirical data. Read the Wedding Report. Shane McMurray has been doing an outstanding job of getting the data and getting it out there.

I don’t bring you these facts and warnings to get you down. I do it to open your eyes. I have been predicting for the last 2 years that the climate was changing; that what the wedding industry had become was unsustainable. My goal is as it always has been, to keep you ahead of the curve.

Unfortunately there has also been a real uptick in seminars and conferences that are beating the same old drum from a few years ago. They are trying their best to sprinkle fairy dust over reality in hopes of getting you pumped up to keep doing things the same old way. They want you to leave their workshops with a cheery smile and a “the world is GREAT” attitude. That is how they get you to talk it up for next year.

Well in reality, I want the same thing for you, but I won’t do it by blowing smoke up you skirt and sprinkling the truth with magical fairy dust. I do it by arming you with the unvarnished truth and the tools to meet this new reality.

Pop your head out of the wedding bubble for a minute and read some of the hard news that is out there. The mood and the thinking of this great country of ours, and a great part of the rest of the world, is changing.  People are reordering their thinking. Life isn’t about the show anymore.

You have got to see today’s brides for who they are. You can not base your business or your marketing on who the brides of even 2 years ago were.

There isn’t a silver bullet. Social media and blogging won’t do it if you aren’t offering today’s bride what she wants in the way she wants to receive it. The key is facing reality and making the changes needed to fit the new model.

Face it, if all you are pushing are silver candleabrum and the brides in your market are all suddenly in love with daisies in mason jars, you aren’t going to book her. No matter how good your social media skills are.

Filed Under: Facts & Stat Tagged With: , ,

Prices on Your Website?

September 8, 2010 By Leave a Comment

It seems to be a question as old as the internet. Should wedding vendors put prices on their website?

My answer has always been yes for the simple reason that brides to be just wanted to know if you were in their price range. Today, that isn’t the only reason.

Take a look at this quote from Media Post:

According to the June 2010 UNICast What Women Want from the Web Report, 64% of women plan to use the Internet to find sales and compare prices whenever they plan to make a purchase, for small- and big-ticket items alike. In fact, women 18 to 24 are much more inclined to do this kind of comparison shopping research solely online.

“Plainly put, women are utilizing the Internet as a resource for simple and complex purchasing inquiries. They enjoy, arguably more so than men, educating themselves through the use of the Net,” says Emily Carroll, manager, Strategic Insights, Leapfrog Interactive. “They’re looking for more shortcuts to save time and money. In doing so, they’re searching more, browsing more, consuming more content, and seeking input from their trusted friends and confidants online.”

So, if that is the way women are shopping and using the net in thier day to day lives, they will expect to be able to do the same in thier wedding planning.

Look at it this way. When a woman first jumps into wedding planning, it is truely a different world. Take gowns, even bridesmaids dresses. For their entire lives they have gone into a store, tried things on in a variety of sizes and walked out with the one that fit best. Now, she most likely won’t be able to try on anything close to her size; she has to take the bridal salons word that alterations will make it fit, then she has to wait sometimes 3 months to see if they are right. Everything about shopping as they have known it is turned on its head.

If you can give them some familiar connection to the ways they are used to doing things, so much the better.

Before you start, I understand why things are this way, but she doesn’t. Which brings me to my second point. Education.

I read so many threads and talk to so many vendors that are bent because brides just don’t understand what a realistic budget for what they want is. $150 cake budgets, $500 for photography, $600 for the entire floral budget, $8.50 per person for the reception, the list goes on and on. Do you think it could be because no one tells them?

Flowers, all they know is how much they spend at Costco or Whole Foods to pick up a bouquet for their dinner party. They don’t understand containers or construction or the labor involved in prepping the flowers. Their only frame of reference is that dinner party bouquet. You have to tell them.

So many vendors keep their prices a deep dark secret, “It’s so important to be able to explain what all is included.” Oh hogwash! If you think the only way to do that is face to face you are either not comfortable with your prices or you really don’t understand the way today’s brides shop.

I used to advocate that you just put a ball park price on your site, but I have started to rethink that. Brides really do want to make realistic choices so why not give them the tools. Suppose, you added prices to some of the photos on your website. Something like, “This centerpiece was priced at $xxx. Your price may vary depending on the flowers chosen and the season.” “This cake was priced at $xx per serving. Prices may vary depending upon fillings.”

Yes, I understand that as creative talents that design something unique for each bride, no two wedding will ever be priced exactly the same. Just give them some jumping off point and add a disclaimer that prices listed are only an example of how your prices run.

I know, you don’t want your competetors to see your prices and then undercut you, right? Well guess what, brides are taking your bid across the street already, whether you know it or not. That is where selling them on your persoanl charm and service comes in. If they feel that they trust you more, a few pennies won’t make a difference.

Let me repeat what I said before: Anything you can do to make their wedding planning experience closer to the way they are used to doing things, the better. The more comfortable they are, the more likely they are to spend with you.


Filed Under: Back to Basics, What Brides Say Tagged With: , , , ,

Death of The Wedding Industrial Complex?

September 7, 2010 By Leave a Comment

I first heard the phrase Wedding Industrial Complex in 2004 on indiebride.com. It was and still is a derogatory term to describe what was seen by brides as an over the top, pushy industry that felt it had the mandate of dictating all things wedding. Moreover, brides felt that the WIC was out to suck every possible dollar out of anything that attached the describer “wedding” or “bridal” to itself.

At the time, it hurt me to the very core. I knew more good hearted, honest individuals in the wedding industry that were simply trying to earn a living and support their family in an industry that they loved. Oh, for sure there were a few unscrupulous idiots out there that saw brides as easy marks, but for the most part, the people I knew and worked with all across the world were just as honest and hardworking as the brides that were scoriating them.

Little did any of us know at the time what the future held. All things weddings became covered in gold. The industry started to expand like a bright shiney bubble. Every one wanted in, everyone wanted a piece of the pie. So the pie kept expanding. Oh, not like a 9” pie suddenly becoming a 12″ pie. They just kept adding more toppings. First came the meringue, then the chocolate shavings, then the nuts, then the 24k gold flakes and on and on and on until the thing was so damn tall and top heavy it started to collapse from its own weight.

How did this start and where is it now?

As I see it, since the mid 90′s we have been witness to a massive shiny bubble in the wedding industry. BIGGER! BRIGHTER! SHINIER!

It couldn’t just be a beautiful wedding gown, it had to be couture!

I wasn’t just an invitation…IT SETS THE TONE FOR YOUR ENTIRE LIFE TO COME!

The food had to be 4star and the wine has your own imprint!

Your signature cocktail(who had even heard of that in 1995) has to be made with top shelf liquor.

And the list of idiocy goes on…

My personal favorite is letterpress coasters @ $15 each. Thanks Modern Bride.

This wasn’t the bride that began this…it was propelled forward by the media each trying to one up the next.

…and then in September of 2008, the economy hit the reset button; and that bubble burst.

Oh don’t get me wrong, it wasn’t  just our industry, it was everywhere from shoes  to drink to food. Suddenly Laboutains, Kobe Beef, Diver scallops and 25 y/o scotch were mainstream. Cough, cough.  People were mortgaging their homes to carry the ‘right’ purse.

So, where are we now? this quote came through this morning from trendwatching.com1

People have grown up immersed in consumer culture – they ‘get’ it. But as savvy, streetwise consumers, they are bored, if not downright distrustful of the conventional consumer-producer relationship, and now look for brands and products that are more authentic, more human, and quite simply more mature.

In emerging consumer societies, there’s an obvious link between the broad spread of more liberal attitudes and increasing urbanization (URBANY). As new arrivals find themselves distanced from traditional social and familial structures, and are exposed to a wider range of alternative goods, services, lifestyles and experiences, their tolerance to these alternatives grows, as does their interest.

As you can see, the indie bride is now the mainstream bride. She is not willing to settle for what the magazines and popular blogs are telling her she has to have. The have been exposed to the world and are mature enough to make their own decisions about what is and is not important or relevant for their wedding. What’s more, they are having their new choices validated by other consumers online. They don’t need the planner to tell them what they are doing is OK, they just what them to facilitate it.

Two billion (!) individuals are now online, adding to and commenting on every possible topic, from politics to business and yes, brands. And they aren’t holding back, to say the least. The resulting ‘online culture’ is bold and often uninhibited, and that casual candor shapes people’s expectations. When companies find themselves the subject of discussion, their scripted, staged and cramped responses show just how out of touch many of them are.

In fact, the gap between the sanitized, litigious, politically correct corporate world and mature consumers wanting to experience something more daring and unscripted has never been bigger. Which in our book spells opportunity.2

So where is all this going?

Here is another story from last week

The Death of The McMansion

She said the trend there is more toward building green homes instead of big homes. Right now, they’re building a 1,200-square-foot uber-green home for a couple that’s downsizing from 3,000-square feet, Cheatham explained.

What’s more, many in the real-estate business say they think this trend of downsizing, or “right-sizing,” as Flint likes to call it, is here to stay.“This is absolutely a long-term effect,” he said.

The same thing is happening in the wedding industry. Just like the builders who are starting to build smaller, greener homes will survive; so too will the wedding vendors that correctly read the trends away from shiny and over the top to more genuine and meaningful.

Another trend that is going to figure in is the trend of ‘experiences’ over ‘things.’ For example, a couple may be more willing to spend several hundred dollars on a marriage workshop or course in writing meaningful vows than on a hand painted aisle runner.

As a wedding professional, you target is a moving one. You have to pay attention especially with the global paradigm shift we are experiencing. Now more than ever you have to know how your target market thinks, you have to think like a bride.

Or as I told some friends recently…

You either get on the bus or you get run over by it.

1, 2 Source: www.trendwatching.com. One of the world’s leading trend firms, trendwatching.com sends out its free, monthly Trend Briefings to more than 160,000 subscribers worldwide.

Filed Under: Facts & Stat, Marketing, Trends Tagged With: , ,

How to Collect Testimonials

September 3, 2010 By Leave a Comment

We all know how important testimonials and reviews are; but where do you get them? You probably already have more of them floating around out there than you may think. You just have to know where to go to harvest them.

Your Inbox: Go back over those emails and hunt for any positive feedback. Chances are good that your clients have told you how wonderful you, your service and/or your products are. There names are right there. It’s a good idea to just use the reply button to ask them if they mind if you use the testimonial in your marketing material. That way, even if the email is a year or two old, you will be reminding them of the nice things they said.

Wedding Wire: You can either copy and paste onto your website or just link your reviews to your site. Wedding Wire has a handy badge that puts a few of  your reviews right into your sidebar.

Yelp!: If you are getting positive reviews on Yelp! you might as well use them. Again, copy and paste.

Twitter: Check any tweets that mention your name. (You do this any way, right?) You can hit Twitter search for your company name or you can just check for tweets with @{your twitter name} If you watch HGTV, they do a brilliant job of this.

Facebook: Check your fan page for positive comments from your fans. Send them a private message and ask if you can use their comment or ask if they would elaborate  for your marketing.

Your blog: Go back through the comments. I bet there are some that attest to your design style or just general brilliance. Go with them, they are already public. You should also consider putting a tag in you signature line inviting people to comment on the post.

Google Alerts: In addition to what other Google Alerts you have set up, you should also have them set up for your name. You never know when some one is going to mention you on their blog. You can always add that to either your testimonials or your press page. This should also yield any mentions on the Knot or similar sites.

Email marketing: If you do email marketing, include a survey in your emails and just come out and ask for testimonials.

Wedding Websites: Get in the habit of asking your clients if they have a wedding website. This may yield a lot of information in addition to testimonial. What do you want to be they will post wedding pics? I don’t know anyone that doesn’t complain about not getting images of their works. Be sure to ask if you can use them first. Before the wedding, you may be able to get a deeper feel for your client and what they really think by reading their site.

Now that you’ve got them, what do you do with them.

Put them on your website.

You should have a testimonial or accolades page in you main navigation menu. More that that, pepper them through out your site. If you do a blog post about a wedding and then get a testimonial you can always go back and add it to the post. It’s a little known fact that if you have a dynamic website  your homepage is probably not where most of your traffic from search lands first. If they do a search for pink and green weddings or wedding food on skewers or escort card they will land on the page that talks about that, not your homepage. So, it pays to put testemonials in as many place as possible in addition to your accolades page.

Marketing Package

If your business is the kind that puts together a full on marketing packet, you should have a page of testimonials in it. You never know who will see these and you always want to let them know what others are saying.

Testimonial are powerful, in some ways they are another form of word of mouth marketing.

Filed Under: Back to Basics, What Brides Say Tagged With: , , , , ,

Online Wedding Planning Sites: How Many is Too Many

September 3, 2010 By Leave a Comment

In the course of 3 days, I had 4 new Online wedding planning tools/websites hit my PR file. A quick Google search for “online wedding planning tools” brought

About 6,700,000 results

(0.46 seconds)
I think there may be enough online wedding planning tools for now, don’t you?
So what’s my point? Well it really isn’t about wedding planning tools. It is about why are you a follower?
Just because everyone else is doing it doesn’t mean it’s a smart play for you. In most instances, if you are just doing the same thing with some tiny nuanced twist you are not going to be sucessful. Before you invest the time and money in developing something, you had better make sure that you are a category killer.
Here is what I mean:
Which of these online planning tools really thinks they are going to topple the Knot? Right. The Knot, for all their failings in other areas, have a dead lock on online planning tools. The have about a 7 year head start on development, VC money out the ying-yang and a solid position as the first wedding website most women hit when they get engaged.
Do you have any concept of how revolutionary those new tools are going to have to be to even touch their market share?
Some have come close, like Wedding Wire and Brides.com but they had some heavy things going for them. WW spent a ton upfront on developing their concept and website and went on the pair up with the likes of Martha Stewart Omni Media and eHarmony. Brides has the power of Conde Nast and huge brand recognition. Even with all that, the Knot is still the first place the newly engaged go. As of yet, no one has come up with anything truly revolutionary.
Why on earth do online wedding planning tools matter to you? They don’t it is just an example.

When you decide to imitate someone because it seems to be working for them, you have to evaluate your investment versus how strongly your imitation will stand out. Is it just a copy or is it really revolutionary. Is is a category killer.

Every where I turn lately the topic of apps comes up. As in ” We are developing an app for mobile phones!” Yea, good luck with that. Just why is yours going to stand out enough to get noticed in the every widening sea of apps? Or is it just to say you have one. How much do you really want to invest to be a needle in the haystack. Strike that, just another piece of hay in the haystack. Why do you continue to zig along with the rest of the pack? It’s kind of like a few years back when everyone and their duck decided they needed to produce their own bridal show.

Stop jumping on the bandwagon when it is already over loaded. You have got to learn to zig when they zag. Think differently. Be revolutionary.

I know it’s not as easy as following the pack. Just remember that old saying, “If you’re not the lead dog the view never changes.”

http://www.prweb.com/releases/2010/08/prweb4335254.htm

http://www.prweb.com/releases/2010/09/prweb4448724.htm

http://www.prweb.com/releases/2010/09/prweb4446064.htm

http://www.prweb.com/releases/perfectweddingguide/weddingplanning/prweb4457464.htm

How do you think these sites support themselves? Advertisers. Just sayin’

Filed Under: Announcement, Trends Tagged With: , ,

What Are You So Afraid Of?

September 3, 2010 By 2 Comments

Or, Cowboy Up and Get Some Damn Self-confidence.

This is going to be one of my ‘beat you up a little bit first ” pep talks.  Fair warning.

I was chatting with a new client yesterday and we got to talking about how many wedding vendors are so afraid of having their work displayed along side the work of their competitors. Why? don’t you think you are better than (or at least on a par with) them?  Aren’t you proud of your work? If you really seriously think that your work won’t hold up to the other vendors in your market at your price point you shouldn’t be in business!

Seriously.

You do what you do (hopefully) because you believe that you have talent and skills, right? So why should you be afraid to show off your talent in the company of other talented, skilled practitioners?

This seems to be most prevalent among photographers but applies to most creatives. “Oh I don’t what them coping my style” Please, if they can copy it, then it isn’t a style its a formula.

“I don’t want them copying my poses.” Newsflash, they are going to do that anyway. That is why you have to be the innovator, constantly creating new and different to stay ahead of the pack. Rather than worrying about someone copying you, start delighting in having them wonder just what the heck you are going to do next. If they are so busy watching you they don’t have time left to develop their own style.

“Oh, I would rather they don’t explore my competitors.” Second newsflash. Trust me, your brides are online and have already seen them.

If you don’t think your work will stand up in a head to head viewing than you have a lot of work to do. You either have to bring your work up to the level needed or work on your self-confidence. I’m betting it’s the later.

Let’s talk about that for a moment. Would you for one minute consider displaying something that you didn’t think was your best work? Of course not; so don’t doubt yourself.

I was taught along time ago the when we look at others we see only their shiny side and we then compare it to our dark and wrinkled side. Stop that!

I know that to this day, when I look at a  shot of one of my cakes, all I can see are the flaws. I focus on what I could have done better or maybe done differently. Yet when I look at a cake in a magazine or someones portfolio all I see is the cake and the skill needed to create it. I’ll bet that you are guilty of doing the same thing.

One of the first things to remember in marketing is to believe in the product. Doubly so since this is your product. As creatives, every time we display our work we are displaying a piece of ourselves and that’s scary. Be proud of who you are and what you create.

I’ll tell you a little secret, every time I hit publish on one of these articles it scares the bejezzes out of me. Not as much as it used to, mind you. Do you know why that is? Because of you and all the positive feedback I have received from my readers over the years.I have begun to see the shiny side. You need to do the same.

Filed Under: Ask Christine, Personal Coaching, Rants & Raves Tagged With: , , ,

5 Things That Need to Be on Your Website

August 3, 2010 By 2 Comments

The more websites I build, the more I learn. So time for a little sharing.

Here are the top five things that have to be on your website, in no particular order. These are all aimed at wedding professionals. The list may not be the same for other markets.

Images.

Your target market is visual, very visual. I once had a young lady stand up in one of my seminars as I was talking about tagging your images and how GenY mostly surfed for pictures. She stated straight up that she was firmly Gen Y and truth be told, they ONLY surfed for pictures, rarely ever reading a word. So, add them to your blog posts and include large galleries of eye candy. Be sure that you images are added in a way that the search engines can read them, in other words, don’t use Flash. Be sure to annotate and tag every single image with any relevant keywords, paying special attention to include subject matter and location.

Local Content

Most of my readers are based locally, by that I mean that even though they would love to book wedding all over the world, most of them are in their home town. With that in mind, be sure that you put a lot of local flavor in your website. If brides are looking at your site they want to know that you know all the best places and faces in your location. Remember brides search locally for their vendors. The other part of getting local on your site is that it give you an excuse to use the name of your town or neighborhood frequently. Why is that important? If you want to come up high for wedding planners in Washington, DC you need to have the actual words”Washington, DC’ appear in your content for the search bots to see. Search bots read words, only words; so the more often you can logically mention wedding & Washington, DC in you site the better off you are. (assuming of course you are a planner in Washington, DC, but then you know that)

Testimonials

As many and in as many ways as possible. Give them their own page, add pictures of either the smiling couple or the service that you provided. If they are complimenting you on the flowers and décor, add a picture of that.

Get the Wedding Wire Review widget and put that on your front page. Not only will brides read your reviews but it will make them more likely to give you a review themselves.

Add endorsements from other vendors. Those carry a lot of weight as a bride tries to decide if you are stable and reliable. Any one can get one or 2 good reviews from clients but it is the people you work with week in and week out that can really speak to what you are made of! Incidentally, I spoke with Wedding Wire last week and in their next revision they are adding a widget to add your endorsements just like the review widget. Yeah!

Prices

The number one thing that brides ask to have included in their online experience is pricing. This is something that hasn’t changed in as long as I have been at this. They want to know if they can afford you before they fall in love with your work.

Lead Generator

Right there on the front page and even in the post sidebars, you have to have a lead generator to collect email addresses. You never know when you are going to need them. Email marketing should be an important part of your overall marketing plan. Read why here. You can use it to promote any events you have coming up.

Of course there are other things that will be specific to you, but these 5 things are a must have for any wedding vendor.

Filed Under: Ask Christine Tagged With: , , , ,

Tuxedos, Old Spice and Wedding Marketing

August 3, 2010 By 1 Comment

I have been following the articles over on eWedNews concerning the demise of the formal wear industry. So, you know me, I started looking at their marketing.

First question: What marketing? Why isn’t there a gorgeous man in a gorgeous tux in every bridal gown ad? Isn’t there usually a groom at most occasions to wear a bridal gown?.

Second, the ad I do see most is the Men’s Wearhouse ad that speaks directly to men. Pffffft! If you want men to wear tuxedos you have to pitch the brides.

Which brings us to the Old Spice Man. If you haven’t caught this bit of viral brilliance then you have been living in a cave. What started as an ad on the Super Bowl transformed itself into a social media phenomenon with the Old Spice man responding to tweets in YouTube video spots. Brilliant social media marketing, but that isn’t the point I want to make.

*pause for random opportunity to include gratuitous half naked hunky guy video

This is: 80% of the purchases made in the US are made by women. The Old Spice campaign is aimed at women. Yes it is a product for men, so are tuxedos. However, body wash isn’t something that most men think about, neither are tuxedos. They are both something women think about. Whether it is a wife or partner that does the shopping and decides which body wash to buy or a bride deciding what to dress the men in the wedding party in, it is the women that make the decision. That is why you need to pitch to her.

Seriously, do you really think that an ad with a hunky half naked man was created to appeal to MEN? I didn’t think so. But what happens to the single guy that sees his date pay attention to said hunky half naked guy? He is going to pick up that product thinking that he may get her to pay that kind of attention to him. Either way, it was the woman’s influence that drove the sale.

Back to formal wear. If you want men to start wearing tuxedos, you are going to have to sell women on the idea first.

Say for instance, when the most recent Bond movie came out, why wasn’t there a tie in with how sexy Daniel Craig looked in formal wear? I mean come on, he had on a tux in the poster for Casino Royale!!! Sexy man> sexily dressed. Pitch perfect for a campaign directed at women.

Here is another, I ran across a couple of beach wedding pictures that had the bride in a traditional formal gown and the groom in cargo shorts and a bowling shirt. How about a picture like that with the tag line, “Don’t you deserve better?” Maybe if the tuxedo manufacturers produced a line specifically for the beach weddings, after all the gown manufacturers have.

Back to the gown ads. Those ads I do see in magazines with men in tuxedos usually have him looking disaffected and women fawning over him. That is pitching to men. Let’s turn it around, how about have him looking on adoringly at her? Every girl is crazy about a sharp dressed man, but on her wedding day the last thing she wants is all of her bridesmaids fawning over her new hubs. The better story is “Look at this gorgeous man that only has eyes for me.”

More important than the end user of your product, think about who is most likely to influence that purchase. That’s where you aim the pitch.

Filed Under: Announcement, wedding marketing, What's Hot Tagged With: , , ,

The End of Marriage?

August 2, 2010 By Leave a Comment

It has been a long held belief that the wedding industry is recession proof; couples would always marry. I’m not so sure that is always going to be true.

Let’s start with some simple things. Several years ago it was predicted that as Gen Y started hitting the prime marrying age (27 for women) that the number of weddings would see a steady increase for at least a 10 year span. This was the largest generation since the baby boomers and all things pointed to golden days for the wedding industry based on the power of the sheer number of individuals.

Instead, the number of weddings has fallen. Of course the standard answer is “It’s the economy, stupid.”

Well, that’s true, but maybe not just for the reasons that you think.

Yes some couples are postponing their weddings to wait for better economic times but there seems to be some recent data that says women are beginning to fore go marriage altogether. A read of this recent article in The Atlantic, The End of Men, will give us a few clues.This article expands on some of the data uncovered in the University of Virginia report, The State Of Our Unions

Today’s generation of marriage age women come from a much different framework than women of past generations. These women were raised in a post-feminist era. They were raised to believe that there were no limits on what they themselves could accomplish.

Past generations were concerned with choosing the right mate to anchor their financial situation and allow them to provide a stable environment in which to raise a family. For most everyone, marriage was an expected life-stage and two parent families were the expectation. As a generation that became accustomed to seeing the ravages of divorce, they no longer trusted that model. Today’s women are more likely to pursue a career that will provide them the level of financial security they desire rather than seek a husband. They have been taught to put their trust in themselves and that has come to include having and raising children.

Here is one more point to look at. What was the traditional nuclear family of the pre-feminist era? The man was the primary breadwinner, the woman was the caretaker. The man went out into the world and earned a living and the woman stayed home and took over all the functions that allowed him to do so:keeping the home, raising the children.

As our society has changed and seen the rise of the service industry, there is nothing to do with keeping the home that can’t be hired out. Children are customarily raised by nannies and daycare, even the education system is pushing children into formal education at younger ages.

In short, creating a home in which to raise a family no longer needs two people; just one with a good enough paycheck. If you have read the Atlantic article, then you know that the effect the current recession has had is that increasingly, it will be the women that will be the ones best suited to earning that paycheck. They are educating themselves at a higher rate than men and of the 15 job categories projected to grow the most in the next decade in the U.S., all but two are occupied primarily by women.

Which brings us back around to marriage and weddings. What does this hold for our industry?

I don’t think that weddings will go away, but they will be more thought out and will happen for different reasons than traditionally.

Traditionally weddings were to mark a change in life stages. I see them becoming more and more a public declaration of a commitment to travel life’s road in tandem.

Saying that, yes, I think that there will be fewer weddings, but boy, will they be special. They will be more personal, and less conventional. We are already seeing that begin to manifest itself in the spurning of some traditions and the additions of new ones. Brides are no longer holding on to any pretext of the past. Couples are finding their own meaning and crafting their own celebrations. What’s more, I think that couples having these new types of weddings will be willing to spend more to get what they want simply because they are now doing something they truly want to do rather that something that is expected.

As wedding professionals, to survive, you will increasingly have to look and think outside the box.

Start out by reading both of the articles. Yes I know they are long. Then do some thinking on your own. The celebration of two people choosing to publicly declare their love for one another isn’t going to go away, but I feel that it sure is going to change. How are you going to roll with it?

Filed Under: Facts & Stat, Horror Stories Tagged With: ,
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