(Main Mendoza. Photo by BJ Pascual for Preview Magazine November 2016. Courtesy of J. Walter Thompson)
By Rome Jorge
Women are the largest emerging market in the world. The global incomes of women will grow from $13 trillion in 2013 to $18 trillion by 2018 and that incremental $5 trillion is almost twice the growth in GDP expected from China and India combined, notes the latest findings of J. Walter Thompson’s Women’s Index, a proprietary research first commissioned in 2015 across nine markets.
Even more revealing and surprising are the latest findings of the Philippine counterpart of the study this year entitled FilipinaNext:
Fifty-four percent (54%) of Filipinas are the main breadwinner of their household and 80% of Filipinas are the main household purchaser while 73% make the majority of the financial decisions at home. 77% take pride in being a good provider.
Fifty-nine percent (59%) Filipinas are spending more than they earn and 81% Filipinas are most likely to worry about money.
Forty-seven percent (47)% of Filipinas define success as “reaching a higher level of religious and spiritual awareness,” significantly higher than the rest of the countries surveyed.
Forty-nine percent (49%) of Filipinas believe that “no sex before marriage” is an outdated idea.
Sixty-three percent (63%) of Filipinas consider sexual fulfillment as a lifelong concept. 70% of Filipinas believe that sexual fulfillment is not just for the young. 50% expect to be sexually active even when they’re older.
Ninety-four percent (94%) of Filipinas stated that being healthy is very important to them, as compared to the 77% of all women globally, while 68% of Filipinas believe that taking care of themselves or having “me” time is very important, as compared to just 54% globally.
Forty-eight (48%) of Filipinas see themselves as their worst enemy and 35% of Filipinas feel that they are held back by their insecurities.
Fifteen percent (15%) of Filipinas have left an abusive relationship because of positive female role models in media. Because of female role models, 41% have take risks in their life that they otherwise would not have taken, 40% have become more ambitious, 33% further their education.
Forty percent (40%) of Filipinas find it difficult to relate to current portrayals of Filipinas on film and television, with 76% of the opinion that there too many superficial female celebrities and role models.
Ninety-four percent (94%) of Filipinas believe it is important for women to step up as mentors younger women.
Fifty-eight percent (58%) of Filipinas would delay getting married and/or having children in order to focus on their career.
Seventy-nine percent (79%) of Filipina mothers believe that having children has made them more focused and productive.
Eighty-five percent (85%) of Filipinas say that there’s never been a better time to be a woman. Filipinas are the most optimistic about female willpower. Only 28% of Filipinas felt held back professionally because of their gender. Women in China and Thailand experience gender discrimination at work the most. Astonishingly 95% are proud to be Filipinas, and 0% of Filipinas surveyed believe they will never achieve their goals.
Ninety-six percent (96%) of Filipinas believed that femininity is not a weakness, but a strength.
Ninety-five percent (95%) of Filipinas tated that their parents made their education a priority since they were young girls and 98% believe that in today’s world, education is a necessity.
Eighty-nine percent (89%) of Filipinas say that technology and social media has given them a voice.
Takeaway
What this means for companies talking to Filipino women audiences can be distilled into several insights:
Filipinas believe that there has never been a better time to be a woman. Brands should continue to make experiences where women can celebrate their femininity and achievements.
Brands have a bigger responsibility to talk to different kinds of women with different mindsets and aspirations, instead of describing them only by their responsibilities. This includes remaining relevant to not only women with children, but also women with income, both single and married.
Filipinas see success as achieving a higher level of religious or spiritual awareness. Brands can benefit by creating experiences that help women achieve mindfulness and a holistic view of their bodies.
Filipinas believe technology empowers them and gives them a voice. Brands can partner with them through technologies and in online spaces and also empower them by representing their “offline” voice.
Filipinas believe that there’s a need for mentorship for younger women. Brands can get involved by bringing together older and younger consumer age groups to interact.
Success defined as balance
At the FilipinaNext launch held on March 8, Golda Roldan and Pam Pacete-Garcia, managing director and executive strategic planning director of J. Walter Thompson Philippines, respectively, introduced and presented salient points of the study.
Roldan declared, “We are more complex now and can no longer be defined through the lens of parental responsibility alone.”
A women’s forum was held comprised of leaders such as Issa Cabreira, senior vice president and head of consumer mobile marketing at Globe Telecom; Melissa Henson, senior vice president and chief marketing officer of Manulife Philippines; Tina Sabarre, country director, retail, Johnson and Johnson Philippines; Hidilyn Diaz, silver medalist in weightlifting who ended the 20-year Olympic medal drought; Armie Jarin-Bennett, president of CNN Philippines; Rep. Pia Cayetano of Taguig; and Trickkie Lopa of Art Fair Philippines.
The live forum also highlighted some of its own insights: “Women, especially mothers, define success as balance,” noted Cayetano, adding that men need to be part of the conversation since too many women were afraid to step on their man’s ego as they superseded them on their rise to success.
