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City of Spokane's
Neighborhood Business Centers

Contact Information:

Teri Stripes
509-625-6597 or 625-6983

Information available on this page

Marketing

Promotional Assistance

Keep your money 'home for the holidays'

Is your city ready for the 'matriarch economy'?

And great stats from Pocket Book Power by Nora Lee:

Girl's Day Out

Why should your industry market to women?

Promotional Assistance Free Publicity!

Free Publicity Opportunities. You can post your special event to the calendar at www.visitspokane.com   – simply log on and click on the calendar button – that will take you to a screen where you can click “submit an event” and once it’s run past our web editor it will be posted!  We get millions of hits a year on our site – it’s a great way to tap into visitors coming to Spokane.  And it’s free!

Offered only to the neighborhood business associations working with NBC - a useful guide for promoting your event is now available to Business Associations for only $10.00. Email Karen Marshall for more information

“A complete and updated guide to regional newspapers, TV and radio stations.” published by Steve Blewett, Director of Journalism, Eastern Washington University is available for $10.00.  This guide is available in various formats to the five Neighborhood Business Associations within the city of Spokane.  The print guide not only provides media contacts, but planning tools and tips to help your association better prepare your “marketing piece” to be the most effective for your needs.

Is your city ready for the 'matriarch economy'?

10 million firms (48% of all privately-held firms) have 50% or more women-ownership. Women are starting firms at twice the rate as men, their businesses outperform the economy in employment increases and sales growth. Women aren't just starting retail businesses, but in high tech also, as an increasing number of them are obtaining MBA, engineering and science degrees. Then, there's the growing female influence in the housing industry. Dr. Heike Mayer, a professor and researcher at Virginia Tech whose work focuses on entrepreneurs, particularly women and high tech, calls it the matriarch economy.

The question is, what can cities do to accommodate this growth sector? According to Mayer, women like places where they are accepted and embraced, in an environment that's conducive to different thinkers, to entrepreneurial thinkers - people who want to make a difference, change the world. That will in turn foster entrepreneurship and job growth. Also, women seek larger, more diverse networks than men, and Mayer says women businesses need assistance with connecting to the high-growth, often male-dominated, economic sectors in high-tech consulting, software, and biotech, with less of an interest in manufacturing (which is actually a declining industry.)

It shouldn't be much of a surprise that Portland, OR, one of the most progressive, downtown/pedestrian-oriented cities, is the No. 1 metro area in the country for the highest percentage of women-owned companies.

*Center for Women's Business Research

And great stats from Pocket Book Power by Nora Lee:

From the Back Cover

"The serpent in the Garden of Eden knew it first. Marketers caught on centuries later. Women are the ones to reach."--Bernice Kanner

Not too long ago, legendary adman David Ogilvy chided his peers for talking down to women. He berated those who ignored women or discounted them, misconstruing men's higher paychecks to mean greater spending clout. And he was right. According to the Bureau of Economic Analysis, women--who comprise just over 51 percent of the U.S. population, making them the largest consumer segment in the country--control six trillion dollars in buying power annually. Statistics show that women make 88 percent of all U.S. retail purchases. Some experts even predict that, by 2020, women will control most of the money in America.

Now, noted marketing expert Bernice Kanner takes an eye-opening look at the way female spending power has forever changed the advertising/marketing landscape. Pocketbook Power reveals how industry professionals are responding to the female-dominated marketplace, marrying compelling demographic and statistical information with tales of canny approaches to product development and positioning, and of marketing prowess.

As the roles and attitudes of women evolve, they're creating extraordinary opportunities for savvy marketers who can come up with new ways to reach them. Kanner provides a detailed road map for selling to women, highlighting a myriad of approaches and techniques organized around different market segments, from health and apparel to finance and technology. Featured here are dozens of examples of advertising campaigns that have both soared and bombed--from American Express's successful "Interesting Lives" campaign, which featured ads that "eavesdropped" on real-life situations (and clicked with women), to General Motors's Cartera commercials, which offended the very target they were trying to woo (hint: don't call a woman a "princess" and dress her in a black leather mini skirt and thigh-high boots).

Complete with expert advice on branding, subliminal advertising, and looking toward future trends, Pocketbook Power is a must-read for advertising and marketing professionals who are determined to reach the hearts, minds--and ultimately, the wallets--of today's most coveted consumer.

Why should your industry market to women?

·         Women control 88 percent of all purchases.

·         Women handle 75 percent of family finances.

·         43 percent of those with assets over $500,000 are women.

·         One out of every 11 women in America owns a business.

·         Women influence two out of every three of the 3 trillion dollars spent in the U.S. each year!

The power of the pocketbook cannot be underestimated. It not only decides what to buy, but when and where to buy it. Consequently, women are now wooed and pursued by the very marketers who once ignored them. Now, in this thought-provoking new book, noted marketing & advertising expert Bernice Kanner takes a compelling, entertaining look at how today's female dominated marketplace is shaking up the status quo on Madison Avenue. Pocketbook Power reveals how female spending power has radically transformed the face of advertising and marketing over the past several decades, combining demographic and statistical information with eye-opening "tales from the trenches." Industry sector by industry sector, Kanner describes successful approaches that have been used to reach the lucrative female buyer--as well as the tactics to avoid--making this book the comprehensive guide of choice for marketing to women.