What She's Not Telling You: Why Women Hide the Whole Truth and What Marketers Can Do About It

As a brand strategist myself who just wrote a book called Branding Basics for Small Business, I found this book extremely valuable and eye-opening about how to "tease out" the truth when researching women and launching products/services for them. The writers share some valuable case studies and ways to look at the information you get from studying women. I especially liked their techniques for getting around those half-truths and to the whole truth.While I know not all women are the same and some may be totally forthcoming in research groups, I think these gals have enough real-world experience to see patterns. And I loved the part where they talked about mistakes clients make during research sessions. Classic!I recommended this book to my blog community. I found it a easy and entertaining read with simple, straightforward observations. I was wishing they would add a little more "step by step" on how to go about getting the the real truth, but then, you wouldn't need to hire them - as a business owner who wrote a how-to book, I totally respect that!

Great book for market researchers, especially those trying to figure out the female market! It has detailed stories about failed attempts and gives a good idea of what marketers should do about female consumers

Pros:- I really enjoyed the writing style, and zipped through the book in about 4 hours flat- Worth five bucks on my Kindle- They opened my eyes up to the idea of better listening, and called me out on a lot of half-listening habits that I have as a marketer- Great case studies and illustrations, although some of them were already well known- Presented some great general guidelines and "half truths" that I can interpret as I need for my own purposesCons:- The authors slid in a sales pitch on at least 3 occasions in the book that I recall. VERY annoying. I get it, you're the experts on women and we should hire you to do our market research. I just would rather you not say things like "...what could we possibly have not told you? Actually, quite a bit, otherwise why would you hire us or call on us for our help" - leaving me to believe that I got tricked into buying half a book. What you should know from your own market research is that marketers hire research firms less because they don't know how to do research, and more for the fact that they want you to do their jobs for them. (Whole Truth)- I would have liked some more tactical drill-downs on how to work within the Whole Truth framework in terms of crafting messages or product development. Sometimes I still felt a little lost in the landscape..."Um, ok so I get that women are lying and are insecure about pretty much everything but what am I really supposed to do with that in terms of selling office paper?" Maybe I'm just too tactical, but at least one or two deep-dives would have helped me on some of the more abstract areas like Ego Protection.

When Jen Drexler gave me a copy of her book, I figured it would just be a nice trip down memory lane to my days working in advertising. Yes, I was one of those executives eating M&M's behind a one-way mirror.What I discovered, however, is that "What She's Not Telling You" is a great primer for anyone who, like me, writes for women. It provides valuable insights into how women think and what they really mean when they speak (or leave comments under your blog.) It's not just for marketers; it's for anyone who wants to get their message across to women, including bloggers, authors and small business owners.

For genuine and more considerate insight into what women want, read:Toward a New Psychology of Women, by Jean Baker Miller. It's a classic and still holds up.For a compelling look at why women lie, read Adrienne Rich's essay "Women and Honor: Some Notes on Lying" in her book "Arts of the Possible"

The thought-leaders at Just Ask a Woman have an ongoing mantra when it comes to how brands should be marketing to women: "Start marketing with women, and stop marketing to them." This philosophy moves companies past the Half Truths that women consumers tell and helps them identify the Whole Truths--which ultimately lead to bottom line success. "If you are trying to get her attention, her dollars, or her loyalty, you've got to avoid buying into the Half Truths that can undermine your best-laid plans. Only her Whole Truths can save you from a marketing mistake before it's millions of dollars too late," says popular M2W® and M2W®-HC(tm) speaker Mary Lou Quinlan in her latest book, What She's Not Telling You: Why Women Hide the Whole Truth and What Marketers Can Do About It.Women are not lying, they are simply not telling you the `Whole Truth.' "The Half Truth is what women are willing to admit," says Quinlan who is founder and CEO of Just Ask a Woman. "The Whole Truth is what they really believe, do, and buy." This book is full of great insight into how we can detect the hidden Half Truths and dig deeper to the Whole Truths "that drive brand leadership, relevance, and growth." It is an easy read that will make marketers re-think their focus group strategies and begin listening to female consumers in a whole new way. In addition to discovering the five key motivators that drive women's Half Truths (and how to overcome them), I really loved the case studies of Whole Truth marketers and those that never seemed to move past the Half Truths of their intended consumers (great story about Gap's Forth & Towne debacle is in the first part of the book!). As marketers and/or female consumers, we definitely see ourselves in some of these stories and additional commentary added by Just Ask a Woman co-directors, Jen Drexler and Tracy Chapman, is the perfect touch to this must-have read.