0:00:01.595,0:00:03.518 Like a lot of people around the world, 0:00:03.542,0:00:06.143 earlier this summer[br]my friends and I were obsessed 0:00:06.167,0:00:08.643 with the Women's World Cup held in France. 0:00:08.667,0:00:11.518 Here we are, watching[br]these incredible athletes, 0:00:11.542,0:00:15.101 the goals were amazing,[br]the games were clean and engaging, 0:00:15.125,0:00:17.893 and at the same time, outside the field, 0:00:17.917,0:00:19.893 these women are talking about equal pay, 0:00:19.917,0:00:23.518 and in the case of some countries,[br]any pay at all for their sport. 0:00:23.542,0:00:27.059 So because we were mildly obsessed,[br]we wanted to watch the games live, 0:00:27.083,0:00:30.851 and we decided that one of[br]the Spanish-speaking networks in the US 0:00:30.875,0:00:32.893 was the best place for us to start. 0:00:32.917,0:00:35.851 And it wasn't until a few games[br]into the tournament 0:00:35.875,0:00:38.393 that a friend of mine[br]talks to me and says, 0:00:38.417,0:00:40.559 "Why does it feel[br]like everything I'm seeing 0:00:40.583,0:00:43.833 is commercials for makeup and[br]household cleaning products and diets?" 0:00:44.917,0:00:46.768 It did feel a little bit too obvious, 0:00:46.792,0:00:49.018 and I don't know if[br]we were sensitive about it 0:00:49.042,0:00:52.184 or the fact that we were watching[br]with men and boys in our lives, 0:00:52.208,0:00:54.184 but it did feel a little bit too obvious 0:00:54.208,0:00:57.226 that we're being targeted for being women. 0:00:57.250,0:01:00.809 And to be honest there's nothing[br]necessarily wrong with that. 0:01:00.833,0:01:04.018 Someone sat down and looked[br]at the tournament and said, 0:01:04.042,0:01:07.684 "Well, this thing is likely[br]to be seen by more women, 0:01:07.708,0:01:10.601 these women are Hispanic[br]because they're watching in Spanish, 0:01:10.625,0:01:11.893 and this is women content. 0:01:11.917,0:01:15.268 Therefore, this is a great place[br]for me to place all these commercials 0:01:15.292,0:01:18.393 that are female-centric[br]and maybe not other things." 0:01:18.417,0:01:20.101 If I think about it as a marketer, 0:01:20.125,0:01:22.768 I know that I absolutely[br]should not be annoyed about it, 0:01:22.792,0:01:26.059 because this is what marketers[br]are tasked with doing. 0:01:26.083,0:01:29.726 Marketers are tasked with building brands[br]with very limited budget, 0:01:29.750,0:01:32.184 so there's a little bit of an incentive 0:01:32.208,0:01:34.184 to categorize people in buckets 0:01:34.208,0:01:36.059 so they can reach their target faster. 0:01:36.083,0:01:37.434 So if you think about this, 0:01:37.458,0:01:38.934 it's kind of like a shortcut. 0:01:38.958,0:01:42.167 They're using gender as a shortcut[br]to get to their target consumer. 0:01:43.292,0:01:47.226 The issue is that as logical[br]as that argument seems, 0:01:47.250,0:01:50.559 gender as a shortcut[br]is actually not great. 0:01:50.583,0:01:53.809 In this day and age,[br]if you still blindly use a gender view 0:01:53.833,0:01:55.393 for your marketing activities, 0:01:55.417,0:01:57.542 actually it's just plain bad business. 0:01:58.333,0:02:01.893 I'm not talking even about the backlash[br]on stereotypes in advertising, 0:02:01.917,0:02:05.101 which is a very real thing[br]that has to be addressed. 0:02:05.125,0:02:08.434 I'm saying it's bad business because[br]you're leaving money on the table 0:02:08.458,0:02:10.226 for your brands and your products. 0:02:10.250,0:02:13.351 Because gender is such an easy thing[br]to find in the market 0:02:13.375,0:02:15.268 and to target and to talk about, 0:02:15.292,0:02:17.601 it actually distracts you[br]from the fun things 0:02:17.625,0:02:19.851 that could be driving growth[br]from your brands 0:02:19.875,0:02:21.184 and, at the same time, 0:02:21.208,0:02:23.851 it continues to create[br]separation around genders 0:02:23.875,0:02:25.643 and perpetuate stereotypes. 0:02:25.667,0:02:28.851 So at the same time[br]this activity is bad for your business 0:02:28.875,0:02:31.125 and bad for society, so double whammy. 0:02:31.875,0:02:35.393 And gender is one of those things[br]like other demographics 0:02:35.417,0:02:38.101 that have historically been[br]good marketing shortcuts. 0:02:38.125,0:02:39.726 At some point, however, 0:02:39.750,0:02:42.226 we forgot that at the core[br]we were targeting needs 0:02:42.250,0:02:46.976 around cooking and cleaning[br]and personal care and driving and sports 0:02:47.000,0:02:48.726 and we just made it all a bucket 0:02:48.750,0:02:50.851 and we said, "Men and women[br]are different." 0:02:50.875,0:02:53.476 We got used to it and[br]we never challenged it again, 0:02:53.500,0:02:55.101 and it's fascinating to me, 0:02:55.125,0:02:57.851 and by fascinating I mean[br]a little bit insane, 0:02:57.875,0:03:00.393 that we still talk about this as a segment 0:03:00.417,0:03:03.601 when it's most likely carryover bias. 0:03:03.625,0:03:06.434 In fact, I don't come[br]to this conclusion lightly. 0:03:06.458,0:03:10.226 We have enough data to suggest[br]that gender is not the best place 0:03:10.250,0:03:13.684 to start for you to design[br]and target your brands. 0:03:13.708,0:03:15.726 And I would even go one step further: 0:03:15.750,0:03:20.226 unless you are working in[br]a very gender-specific product category, 0:03:20.250,0:03:21.559 probably anything else 0:03:21.583,0:03:24.143 you're hypothesizing[br]about your consumer right now 0:03:24.167,0:03:26.083 is going to be more useful than gender. 0:03:27.917,0:03:30.851 We did not set up to draw[br]this conclusion specifically. 0:03:30.875,0:03:32.143 We found it. 0:03:32.167,0:03:34.643 As consultants, our job[br]is to go with our clients 0:03:34.667,0:03:36.143 and understand their business 0:03:36.167,0:03:39.684 and try to help them find spaces[br]for their brands to grow. 0:03:39.708,0:03:44.059 And it is our belief that if you want[br]to find disruptive growth in the market, 0:03:44.083,0:03:45.851 you have to go to the consumer 0:03:45.875,0:03:48.101 and take a very agnostic view[br]of the consumer. 0:03:48.125,0:03:50.393 You have to go and look[br]at them from scratch, 0:03:50.417,0:03:54.809 remove yourself from biases and segments[br]that you thought were important, 0:03:54.833,0:03:57.809 just take a look to see[br]where the growth is. 0:03:57.833,0:04:00.768 And we built ourselves[br]an algorithm precisely for that. 0:04:00.792,0:04:03.351 So imagine that we have a person 0:04:03.375,0:04:05.643 and we know a person is making a choice 0:04:05.667,0:04:07.601 about a product or service, 0:04:07.625,0:04:10.684 and from this person,[br]I can know their gender, of course, 0:04:10.708,0:04:13.934 other demographics, where they live,[br]their income, other things. 0:04:13.958,0:04:17.143 I know the context where[br]this person is making a decision, 0:04:17.167,0:04:19.184 where they are, who they're with, 0:04:19.208,0:04:21.018 the energy, anything, 0:04:21.042,0:04:23.101 and I can also put[br]other things in the mix. 0:04:23.125,0:04:24.476 I can know their attitudes, 0:04:24.500,0:04:26.143 how they feel about the category, 0:04:26.167,0:04:27.559 their behaviors. 0:04:27.583,0:04:32.184 So if you imagine this kind of blob[br]of big data about a person -- 0:04:32.208,0:04:34.268 I'm going to oversimplify the science here 0:04:34.292,0:04:37.684 but we basically built an algorithm[br]for statistical tournaments. 0:04:37.708,0:04:42.143 So a statistical tournament[br]is like asking this big thing of data, 0:04:42.167,0:04:46.768 "So, data, from everything[br]you know about consumers at this point, 0:04:46.792,0:04:49.476 what is the most[br]useful thing I need to know 0:04:49.500,0:04:52.518 that tells me more[br]about what consumers need?" 0:04:52.542,0:04:55.101 So the tournament is going[br]to have winners and losers. 0:04:55.125,0:04:57.518 The winners are those variables,[br]those dimensions, 0:04:57.542,0:04:59.893 that actually teach you a lot[br]about your consumer, 0:04:59.917,0:05:02.184 that if you know that,[br]you know what they need. 0:05:02.208,0:05:05.184 And there's losing variables[br]that are just not that practical, 0:05:05.208,0:05:08.393 and this matters because[br]in a world of limited resources, 0:05:08.417,0:05:11.809 you don't want to waste it on people[br]that actually have the same needs. 0:05:11.833,0:05:13.893 So why treat them differently? 0:05:13.917,0:05:16.518 So at this point, I know,[br]suspense is not killing you, 0:05:16.542,0:05:18.434 because I told you what the output is, 0:05:18.458,0:05:20.893 but what we found over time 0:05:20.917,0:05:25.434 is after 200 projects around the world --[br]this is covering 20 countries or more -- 0:05:25.458,0:05:29.309 in essence we ran about[br]a hundred thousand of these tournaments, 0:05:29.333,0:05:34.393 and, no surprise, gender was very rarely[br]the most predictive thing 0:05:34.417,0:05:36.167 to understand consumer needs. 0:05:37.292,0:05:39.184 From a hundred thousand tournaments, 0:05:39.208,0:05:41.601 gender only came out[br]as the winning variable 0:05:41.625,0:05:43.125 in about five percent of them. 0:05:43.958,0:05:46.018 This is true around the world, by the way. 0:05:46.042,0:05:48.559 We did this in places[br]where traditional gender roles 0:05:48.583,0:05:50.934 are a little more pronounced, 0:05:50.958,0:05:53.018 and the conclusions were exactly the same. 0:05:53.042,0:05:55.976 It was a little bit more important,[br]gender, than five percent, 0:05:56.000,0:05:57.268 but not material. 0:05:57.292,0:05:59.476 So let's let that sink in for a second. 0:05:59.500,0:06:01.851 No matter how you're looking[br]at a consumer, 0:06:01.875,0:06:06.226 most likely anything else is going[br]to be more interesting to you than gender. 0:06:06.250,0:06:09.643 There's probably something very important[br]you need to know about them, 0:06:09.667,0:06:13.351 and you're getting distracted because[br]you're doing everything based on gender. 0:06:13.375,0:06:15.976 And that's why I say you're leaving[br]money on the table. 0:06:16.000,0:06:19.059 Gender is easy. It's easy to design[br]advertising based on gender, 0:06:19.083,0:06:23.476 it's easy to target people online[br]and on TV based on gender. 0:06:23.500,0:06:26.851 But at the end, that's not where[br]the exciting growth will come from. 0:06:26.875,0:06:31.101 If you're a food company, for example,[br]it's actually much more interesting to you 0:06:31.125,0:06:34.726 to know where people are eating,[br]who they are eating with, 0:06:34.750,0:06:37.184 are they very nutritionally oriented. 0:06:37.208,0:06:40.934 All of those things are actually[br]significantly more powerful and useful 0:06:40.958,0:06:43.393 than knowing if a person[br]is a man or a woman. 0:06:43.417,0:06:44.809 And that matters, of course, 0:06:44.833,0:06:48.101 because then if you're putting[br]your limited budget into action, 0:06:48.125,0:06:51.184 then you're better off creating[br]solutions for different occasions 0:06:51.208,0:06:53.375 than trying to target women[br]versus young men. 0:06:54.917,0:06:57.226 Another example is alcoholic beverages. 0:06:57.250,0:07:00.601 Thirty-five percent to 40 percent[br]of consumption in alcoholic beverages 0:07:00.625,0:07:02.768 around the world[br]actually happens with women, 0:07:02.792,0:07:04.768 but, you know, "women don't drink beer." 0:07:04.792,0:07:07.583 Those are the things[br]that we typically hear. 0:07:08.583,0:07:12.601 But actually, when a man and a woman are,[br]for the most part, in the same location, 0:07:12.625,0:07:15.559 the emotional and functional needs[br]they have at that moment 0:07:15.583,0:07:17.143 are very similar. 0:07:17.167,0:07:19.268 There's only one exception, by the way, 0:07:19.292,0:07:21.059 and the exceptions exist, 0:07:21.083,0:07:22.809 where if you have a man and a woman 0:07:22.833,0:07:24.143 on a date, 0:07:24.167,0:07:26.518 the man is trying to impress the woman 0:07:26.542,0:07:28.851 and the woman is trying[br]to connect with the man, 0:07:28.875,0:07:31.101 so there's going to be[br]a little bit of tension, 0:07:31.125,0:07:32.601 but that's important to know. 0:07:32.625,0:07:33.893 We'll take a few dates. 0:07:33.917,0:07:36.976 Financial institutions:[br]that's something where we've heard a lot 0:07:37.000,0:07:39.059 about the difference[br]between men and women, 0:07:39.083,0:07:41.601 but actually talking about[br]men and women as different 0:07:41.625,0:07:44.226 is distracting you[br]from the thing that is underneath. 0:07:44.250,0:07:47.476 We made it so simple[br]as "women don't like to invest," 0:07:47.500,0:07:49.184 "women hate managing their money," 0:07:49.208,0:07:51.601 "men are great and aggressive[br]and risk-takers," 0:07:51.625,0:07:53.768 but at the end it's not[br]about men and women. 0:07:53.792,0:07:55.601 It is actually a different narrative. 0:07:55.625,0:07:58.893 It is about, there are people[br]that are excited and energized 0:07:58.917,0:08:01.476 and educated to manage their finances 0:08:01.500,0:08:02.934 versus people that are not. 0:08:02.958,0:08:04.684 So if you change the conversation 0:08:04.708,0:08:07.518 from men and women[br]to actually what's underneath 0:08:07.542,0:08:10.851 then probably you'll stop being[br]so condescending to women 0:08:10.875,0:08:12.559 and you may start serving some men 0:08:12.583,0:08:15.643 that are actually shy[br]about managing their finances. 0:08:15.667,0:08:17.268 I'll leave one more example. 0:08:17.292,0:08:20.476 If I go back to the women[br]that were playing sport at the beginning, 0:08:20.500,0:08:24.101 one of the fascinating things we found[br]over different countries, 0:08:24.125,0:08:26.434 exploring sportswear, 0:08:26.458,0:08:28.518 that if a person is a competitive person 0:08:28.542,0:08:30.768 and they are in the moment of action, 0:08:30.792,0:08:33.393 the needs are not different[br]between a man and a woman. 0:08:33.417,0:08:34.726 An athlete is an athlete. 0:08:34.750,0:08:38.184 It doesn't matter for men and women,[br]it doesn't matter for old and young, 0:08:38.208,0:08:39.476 you are an athlete, 0:08:39.500,0:08:41.976 and in the moment of action[br]and extreme competition, 0:08:42.000,0:08:43.726 you need this gear to work for you. 0:08:43.750,0:08:47.309 So these soccer-playing women have[br]a lot in common with their counterparts. 0:08:47.333,0:08:49.143 Out of the field, it doesn't matter. 0:08:49.167,0:08:52.101 Out of the field, they may be[br]into fashion, into other things, 0:08:52.125,0:08:54.684 but on the field,[br]the needs are not different. 0:08:54.708,0:08:58.434 So these are just a few examples[br]on categories where we found 0:08:58.458,0:09:01.226 that gender was not the best place to go, 0:09:01.250,0:09:03.559 and actually the argument is 0:09:03.583,0:09:05.934 that at this point[br]it's not even a feminist push, 0:09:05.958,0:09:07.434 it's just we got used to it. 0:09:07.458,0:09:08.851 We got used to using gender, 0:09:08.875,0:09:12.018 and it's important for us[br]to start finding ways 0:09:12.042,0:09:14.226 to measure other things about consumers 0:09:14.250,0:09:16.684 so that we don't revert back to gender. 0:09:16.708,0:09:18.018 I am not naïve, 0:09:18.042,0:09:20.226 and I know there's still[br]going to be appetite 0:09:20.250,0:09:22.101 and certain ease around using gender, 0:09:22.125,0:09:24.184 but at least this warrants a conversation. 0:09:24.208,0:09:26.101 In your business, you have to inquire, 0:09:26.125,0:09:29.101 is this really the best lens[br]for me to grow. 0:09:29.125,0:09:32.643 So, if you are, like me,[br]a person that is in business, 0:09:32.667,0:09:36.643 that I am constantly worried[br]about what is my role 0:09:36.667,0:09:39.726 in the broader societal discussions, 0:09:39.750,0:09:42.726 if you're listening to your business[br]and you hear things like, 0:09:42.750,0:09:44.893 "Oh, my target are women,[br]my target are men, 0:09:44.917,0:09:47.601 this goes to young girls, young boys," 0:09:47.625,0:09:49.518 when it's that gender conversation, 0:09:49.542,0:09:51.059 unless you are working, again, 0:09:51.083,0:09:55.226 in a very specific,[br]gender-specific product category, 0:09:55.250,0:09:56.726 take this as a warning sign, 0:09:56.750,0:09:59.601 because if you keep[br]having these conversations, 0:09:59.625,0:10:02.143 you will keep perpetuating[br]stereotypes of people 0:10:02.167,0:10:04.851 and making people think[br]that men and women are different. 0:10:04.875,0:10:07.684 But because this is business,[br]and we're running a business, 0:10:07.708,0:10:09.018 and we want to grow it, 0:10:09.042,0:10:11.851 at least kind of challenge[br]your own instinct to use gender, 0:10:11.875,0:10:15.393 because statistics say that you're[br]probably not choosing the best variable 0:10:15.417,0:10:17.309 to target your product or service. 0:10:17.333,0:10:19.559 Growth is not easy at all. 0:10:19.583,0:10:21.934 What makes you think[br]that growth is going to come 0:10:21.958,0:10:25.351 from going into market[br]with such an outdated lens like gender? 0:10:25.375,0:10:28.059 So let's stop doing what's easy[br]and go for what's right. 0:10:28.083,0:10:31.601 At this point, it's not just[br]for your business, it's for society. 0:10:31.625,0:10:33.018 Thank you. 0:10:33.042,0:10:36.042 (Applause)