Frito-Lay Makes an Effort to Market to Women

by erica ~ February 27, 2009

Frito-Lay has gotten deep inside women’s brains, literally. For a new campaign they are launching, Frito-Lay, which owns Lay’s, Fritos, Ruffles, Doritos, Cheetos and Tostitos; Smartfood; Flat Earth, is targeting women, who allegedly snack more than men, the New York Times reports.With the help of neuromarketers, who test the levels of consumers’ brain responses to ads, Frito-Lay was able to change the entire focus for one of their products. 

According to their intensive research, Frito-Lay has suggested that the communication center in women’s brains was more developed, which means that women could process ads with more complexity and more pieces of information compared to men. Also, women would look for characters they could empathize with.

Taking that information into consideration, Frito-Lay has changed Baked Lays package design, which is now a matte beige bag that contains pictures of the ingredients like spices and ranch dressing. They stayed away from the girly packaging so that men would feel just as comfortable buying this product if they are trying to watch their calories.

Aliza Freud, the chief executive of SheSpeaks, a women’s market-research firm, said packaging made for women made sense. “The obvious is what’s insulting to women,” she said, like a pink package or something highlighting calories. But an overall design meant to attract women, she said, was smart. “You want a package that when women are walking by it in the aisle of the supermarket, they take notice.”

Frito-Lay will be introducing television, print and online advertising in early March, and webisodes that will be available at AWomansWorld.com. This campaign will feature four cartoon women who are “fab, funny, fearlessly female,” who talk about exercising, eating and men.