Reaching Women

Over the holidays I received a fun Christmas card from my friends Sophie and Marie in the Netherlands. It featured a smiling photo and a personal note wishing me the best of the season. Let me tell you more about these two women.

Sophie is a 32-year-old urbanite with a busy career and a ticking biological clock. She spends her free time connecting with good friends at hip restaurants and relaxing with her partner. Marie loves the good things in life. This open-minded 47-year-old enjoys traveling, shopping and unwinding with her husband and her two children, who are now in their late teens and early twenties. She works part-time and lives outside the bustling city in a comfortable, mid-sized municipality.

The catch is, Sophie and Marie are not real people. They’re fictional women who represent two key customer segments for a Dutch gaming company called Zylom (www.zylom.com).

Based in Eindhoven, the Netherlands, Zylom is a leading European developer and publisher of casual games. The company creates and publishes word and puzzle games such as Bookworm, Zuma, Aloha Solitaire and Chuzzle. Forget about battling ninjas in a dungeon or stealing fast cars – these are smart games designed primarily for women. They boost your memory, pass the time and provide a moment of relaxation after a hectic day.

Zylom created Sophie and Marie to better understand – and serve – their growing female customer base. Initial research showed that women ages 20-34 and 35-49 were their strongest targets, with more than 1 million women visiting the Zylom site each month. The company could have stopped at those basic stats, but they decided to go deep and carefully profile the women who play their games. They hired two models to represent these segments and began gathering detailed information about their lives, interests and domestic realities.

Zylom conducts girl-on-the-street research and weekly surveys that continually add more data to Sophie and Marie’s profiles. The two fictional women have now become deeply entrenched in the organization, from accounting to marketing to game development. They provide a decision-making matrix and a compass that points Zylom to its customers’ true needs and desires.

But don’t think that Sophie and Marie are cartoon characters. They’re a beloved part of the organization, appearing on cards, screensavers and life-size cutouts in the Zylom offices. It’s not uncommon to hear a staff member say during meetings, "Sophie doesn’t want that," or "Marie would love to play that game."

This company-wide commitment to serving and understanding women has clearly paid off. Zylom was recently named "best fun and games website" in the United Kingdom, Germany and the Netherlands by www.website of the year.com. In 2005 (four years after the company was launched), Zylom posted approximately $7.98 million in revenues and $750,000 in net income. And just this month, Seattle-based RealNetworks Inc. announced that it had acquired Zylom Media Group for a reported $21 million.

Perhaps RealNetworks will soon be welcoming American women like Susan and Katie to the global research family. I know I’m certainly looking forward to next year’s holiday card.

Here are some further tips and tools from Zylom’s innovative customer research program.

Zylom does more than make fun games. The company has become a center for detailed customer intelligence. It has an almost CIA-caliber file on Sophie and Marie that guides the organization with a laser-sharp focus. Zylom staff members never wonder what their gamers want – they can dig into the research and find the answers. The company started out on a simple path of learning and decided to take it all the way.

Instead of creating one-off research projects or sporadic studies, think about how you can take existing knowledge to new heights. Make it part of the organizational ethos. Zylom’s approach can be broken down into three key words: Learn. Personalize. Deepen.

Although Zylom’s executive team is primarily male, the company genuinely likes and enjoys its women customers and doesn’t see them as strange creatures from another gender. Sophie and Marie are not cute, tongue-in-cheek characters. They are important staff members who guide all company decisions. No one would dream of making fun of them or bemoaning their complicated lives. Zylom understands that Sophie and Marie are an invaluable intelligence source that helps them better serve their customers – and boost profits.

Lots of organizations claim that customers come first, but Zylom walks their talk. They literally use their customers’ preferences as a compass for the whole organization. Zylom has also nailed the concept of specificity. Instead of aiming to show diversity, zero in on your true customer base and reflect this group as accurately as possible. Diversity is critical, don’t get me wrong, but you will naturally show the real face of your customers if you learn everything you can about their lives, needs and buying behaviors. Overcome stereotypes – soccer moms, stiletto-clad corporate climbers, knitting grandmothers – to build multi-dimensional profiles. If you want to reach your women customers, serve and embrace them.

You’ve probably got a thick market research report filed away from 2002. Instead of launching a brand-new initiative, what can you do to re-invigorate and build on this existing data? What still applies? What needs new investigation? It’s equally critical to infuse your learning and customer knowledge base through the entire organization. This is not merely a marketing project. Everyone needs to know who they’re aiming to serve and satisfy.

A final note: Success is unlimited for organizations that are ready to embrace their market. Above all, you’re accountable to your customers. Learn about them, understand their lives, respect their needs and make them happy.

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Spring is coming and I’m currently doing my quarterly business assessment. Each quarter I take some time to get a bird’s eye view of my business and personal life by asking myself key questions and course correcting what’s off track. You might find this process equally helpful. Here are a few of my favorite questions to get you stared. Be sure to answer these away from work and preferably, in a wide open space that makes you feel like anything is possible.

Describe three things you are brilliant at doing in business (How can you do more of these activities?)

Name the three activities that produce the most income for your business. (These need to be a priority)

Name three activities that you dislike or represent areas of personal weakness. (Delegate or hire out)

What would make your work life more fun? (Pick something from this list and begin on Monday)

Be intentional and see what’s possible. You often have more options than you realize.

Sincerely,