Dividing men and women into different categories and adopting gender-based marketing techniques seems to be the past in this ever-changing world. With evolving societies, marketing patterns have also changed. In this blog post, you will learn the transition from gender-based marketing to gender-neutral marketing. As well as you will learn some of the best gender-neutral marketing examples from around the world.
The blog is divided accordingly;
How gender-based marketing has changed?
Traditionally, men used to be breadwinners and women were considered as caretakers. To complement this ideology companies and brands targeted their customers with gender specific marketing strategies.
However, things have changed over time. The idea of gender equality and the talk about nonbinary groups is erasing gender differences in today’s world.
Women are no longer restricted to being housewives. They are important pillars of the economic activities of a society and are financially independent.
Similarly, men’s lifestyles have changed a lot. Despite earning money, they tend to do household tasks such as cooking, cleaning, and washing. Hence, the traditional gender roles are changing for both men and women. With this changing world the stereotypical gender differences are becoming obsolete.
Despite these changes, the new generation also doesn’t embrace gender differences. In fact, 50 % of millennials consider gender as a spectrum. Whereas, 81% of Gen Z don’t believe that gender can define a person the same way as it could in the past.
Companies and brands across the world are recognizing these changes. They are trying to adopt gender-neutral marketing strategies to target binary and nonbinary people and capture a larger audience.
Below you will read some of the well-known brands that have adopted gender-neutral marketing strategies. But first, let’s touch bases on the idea of gender-neutral marketing.
What is non-binary or Gender-Neutral Marketing?
Gender-neutral marketing is capturing customers by embracing advertising campaigns that eliminate gender differences and address binary and non-binary people.
It opens new possibilities for customers by focusing on their needs, values, lifestyle, and personality traits. For companies, it’s about selling products and services that do not enforce traditional gender roles on their customers.
Gender-neutral or nonbinary marketing allows customers to consider a product or service free of gender constraints. This marketing strategy is more inclusive and reflects our changing world.
The world today, especially Gen Z, embraces individual expression and uniqueness. So the product or service they buy is a way of self-expression. It matters to today’s generation what companies are selling to them and how they are selling to them.
You might also like;
Six Advantages of Gender Neutral Marketing? and How to Adopt It?
What is Gender Marketing and How to Adopt a Gender Marketing Strategy?
What are the Negative Impacts of Gender Neutral or Non-Binary Ideology?
7 best Non-Binary or Gender-Neutral Marketing Examples
1. Toys R’ Us
The first brand represents our young generation. Toys R’ Us, a children’s toys brand categorizes its toys based on age, product category, and brand. They don’t categorize their product “for boys” and “for girls”.
image: ToysRus
Children learn about gender roles and biases at an early age. These values and attitudes are difficult to address later in life. Therefore, sorting gender-neutral inventory by Toys R’ Us breaks traditional stereotypes.
By going gender-neutral Toys R’ Us also broadens the range of their consumers. Now boys can play with toy dolls and cooking ranges and girls can have toy trucks and guns in their toy collection.
2. Milk Makeup
The second example of nonbinary advertising comes from the cosmetic industry. The brand Milk Makeup adopted a gender-neutral marketing campaign #BlurTheLine in 2017.
They targeted non-binary people of seven different gender identifications, including straight, trans, and genderless. The idea was to break traditional thinking patterns that are confined to a limited number of people.
Milk makeup adopted a completely different path and targeted a group of audiences who existed yet were never approached by cosmetic brands.
Apart from promoting nonbinary and gender-neutral campaigns, Milk Makeup offers a product design that comes with unisex packaging. How cool is that!
3. Calvin Klein
Calvin Klein went a step further despite adopting gender-neutral marketing strategies they have introduced nonbinary gender-neutral products.
Embracing gender neutrality, Calvin Klein introduced CK Everyone, a genderless perfume. The idea of this global campaign “I Love Everyone Of Me” was to promote self-love and self-acceptance.
They advertised their product through individuals with different gender orientations.
Image: resources.latana
Despite CK Everyone fragrance, also known as CK2 fragrance, Calvin Klein also has a collection of nonbinary clothing lines. It captures the segment of the market that embraces gender neutrality.
4. Dollar Shave Club
Dollar Shave Club is an American company that is focused on delivering razors and other personal grooming products to their customers by mail.
Despite its competitors selling separate razors to men and women, Dollar Shave Club used gender inclusive marketing strategy and advertised a razor that can be used by men, women and nonbinary people.
Image: Dollar Shave Club
They designed a genderless product that didn’t depict any color or design association with any gender. They offered standard razors and sold only razors, not gender identity or gender expectations.
Similarly, they don’t categorize their products on the basis of gender on their website. Instead, they just offer nonbinary product options to their users.
Image: Dollar Shave Club
5. Apple
Despite some debates 1, and 2, apple has an approach towards embracing genderless marketing campaigns. Instead of targeting men or women, Apple positioned itself for creative people with the tagline “Think Different”.
The tagline was coined by Apple’s founder Steve Jobs in 1997. It depicts that the company is focused on targeting people beyond their gender identities.
Image: appleworld.today
The brand positioning of Apple has been generally gender-neutral. In 2019, Apple made it in the news by introducing gender-neutral emojis and embracing nonbinary experiences to its users.
image: Emojipedia
6. Harley Davidson
With the evolving societal and cultural patterns, companies around the world are trying to become gender inclusive. One great example is Harley Davidson which is known for selling heavy bikes to customers dominated by older white guys.
But with changing social patterns the company has changed its marketing strategy by targeting nonbinary people including women and LGBTQ+ bike riders.
Image: Harley Davidson
To capture its female customers, the company has added a whole line of products specifically designed for them. They introduced new motorcycles with adjusted sizes to address their female customers.
A thing worth mentioning here is that where other brands are blurring the lines by minimizing any distinctions Harley Davidson is doing the opposite.
They have added categories specifically mentioning female in their website. This is probably because their product was always seen as a men’s item. To expand their customer reach they included women to target them.
7. Nike
Nike a well-known athletic footwear and apparel corporation joined the race and launched its first gender-neutral collection. They advertised their products as nonbinary, comfortable with iconic looks without gender distinctions. They offer a wide range of jackets, t-shirts, trousers and hoodies.
image: Nike
Even though their website mainly classifies their products based on gender, but they offer the option of unisex while exploring their items. The attempt of the sports giant to offer genderless products is appreciated.
If you find this information valuable you can support us and buy us a coffee
Concluding remarks
Globalization and the rise in technologies are rapidly changing human behaviors. Along with this, the age of advertising is also promptly revolving. Developing gender-based marketing strategies might become offensive if not done properly.
Additionally, offering genderless products and services also requires a deep understanding of cultural context and social norms. Lacking knowledge or expertise in a specific area can backfire and destroy a company’s reputation.
What do you think about the gender-neutral strategies adopted by the above-mentioned brands?
Despite the examples mentioned above, do you know any brands that embrace nonbinary people and successfully execute gender-neutral marketing? If yes, please share them in the comments section below!