Hartford, CT – February 10, 2009— Studies show that women are responsible for 65% of all new car purchases, yet 74% feel misunderstood by automotive makers.  “Automakers make the mistake of lumping all women into one demographic and trying to market or sell to every woman with the same message,” says Jody DeVere, CEO of AskPatty.com and roundtable leader during the 5th Annual M2W®-The Marketing To Women Conference, April 29 & 30, 2009, at the Chicago Cultural Center.   “It’s all about building relationships and traditional marketing and advertising tactics come second to strategies of developing a community buzz or experience around a product or brand.” 

And women are spending more than just dollars when it comes to cars—cars are quickly becoming a place where women are spending a great deal of their time. 

“Women practically live in their cars, carrying in them many of life’s necessities,” says Kelley Styring, principal of InsightFarm, Inc. and M2W® presenter.  “What type of car women drive or how they drive it can provide companies innovation opportunities to make driving easier, better, and maybe even safer for women.”

As a consumer strategist, Styring drove more than 5,000 miles around the U.S. in 30 days, interviewing car owners and cataloguing every single item she discovered inside their vehicles. She will present her findings of “In Your Car: Road Trip Through the American Automobile” during her M2W® presentation. “The study reveals some of the unmet needs women really have and will change the way brands think about cars and what they represent in terms of business opportunity,” says Styring.

DeVere and Styring are just some of the marketing-to-women leaders who will be showing brands how to meet the needs of women consumers during the 2009 M2W® program.  Through presentations, small-group discussions, workshops and networking, M2W® gives brand leaders and marketing executives the tools and resources they need to increase their emotional, cognitive and financial share of the lucrative women’s market. 

Women@NBCU is the Exclusive Presenting Sponsor of M2W® with Associate Sponsors Ketchum, Draftfcb, Engauge, SheSpeaks, Lifetime, Paramount Market Publishing, JSH&A, General Growth Properties, Barkley, Booz & Co. and MS&L.   imc2 is the Pre Conference Workshop Sponsor and Affina and BlogHer are Hospitality Sponsors.  SNiPPiES is the Video Journalism Resource and Getty Images is the Imagery Resource.

M2W® is produced by PME® Enterprises, Hartford, CT. Please visit www.m2w.biz or call 860.724.2649 x 11 for more details or to register for M2W®.