Marketing to Men- Karin Riefkohl

On Dec. 5th a Marketing to Men Summit took place at the MGM hotel in Las Vegas, NV. A diverse group of people and speakers were present at this event, where the conclusions were that, when it comes to marketing to men, most simply have it wrong; the either 'diss' men, or view them as 'defective women', etc. It seems that many simply 'redesign women's product for men.' Yet, a few have been able to capture the elusive 18-34 year-old male market. These include: Michael Jordan and Ludicris. They both seem to focus on the fact that when it comes to this market you have to keep your goals aligned to your brand. For Michael Jordan this means maintaing his credibility and appeal to a young market. For Ludicris this means staying ahead of trends and focusing on "the growing union between marketing and rap." Yet, why have these two icons been able to tap into this market and focusing marketing efforts to this group so effectively when others have not? Does this mean you have to be a man in order to effectively market to this group of consumers? And, since when is understanding what men want harder than understanding what women want?

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