You see the world of advertising and marketing communications lay the world at her feet. The promises they make and the stories they think she will believe. There are many – from the creams and soaps that will give her fair skin to concoctions that will make her slim and salon treatments that will make her shine. There are others too – qualifications that will empower her and services that will make her life easy.

Lankan woman today

But does anyone of them really know her? How does it go in the 21st century as far as the real Sri Lankan female consumer is concerned – are there any rules to play by? Above all, how attuned are the corporates and the brands when it comes to knowing, understanding and perceiving her in real world terms?

The Sri Lankan woman of today is smarter than previous generations. She likes to study and likes to work, even in the midst of poverty and trying circumstances. Whether in the urban cities or rural villages, Sri Lankan girl children dream of entering university and becoming doctors or engineers. If she has a say in it, she will not settle for an early marriage but prefers to wait until she has studied, worked and settled down with some money in the bank before getting married.

The Sri Lankan woman of today knows what she wants. She may be swayed by the glitz of Hollywood, Bollywood or cable TV but she knows her mind. She generally has an idea of what she wants and will not hesitate to go for it. She has clear set boundary lines and although sometimes they may blur, on the whole, she has a sound grasp of the basics.

What worked for the rest of South Asia whether in its advertising, promotions or PR, will not necessarily work for her. I have personally seen a few international cosmetic brands based in India get it all wrong when trying to address the Sri Lankan female consumers. There may be a broad area of similarity yes but the similarity ends there. When it comes to the Sri Lankan woman, it has to be a message that targets, understands and speaks to her and her alone.

Facing everyday realities

Connected by technology and empowered by its easy access and usage, women everywhere are wired than ever before and thus have a greater understanding of the world. From the burka clad Saudi women who protested about their right to drive, to Egyptian women who marched side by side with the men in Cairo, women have come of age in reasserting their rights, thanks to the power of the Internet.

The Indian women took a stand against the brutal rapes and the general mistreatment of the girl child and most of it was played out on Facebook and Twitter, empowering social media as a tool to share with the rest of the world. We can be hopeful that Sri Lankan women know their choices and their options when it comes to making use of technology to reach the world.

When it comes to marketing beauty care services, clothes and accessories, areas women like to be involved in, one wonders just how much the consumer is understood in real life terms. We all know the average Sri Lankan woman is nothing like what the movies and the TV ads portray her to be.

We have an ageing society. We have obesity on the rise. We have a greater number of darker skinned women than the light skinned. Diabetes, heart disease and high blood pressure among women are diseases on the rise. Women are marrying late and some have trouble getting pregnant. There are many things that worry and frighten them but they are brave enough to deal with those issues. These are the everyday realities we must live with and they are what must be addressed.

Knowing her right

The Sri Lankan woman of today has her own unique imprint – from managing a career to running a home whether full time or part time, managing a demanding marriage, taking care of elderly and dying parents, being a tower of strength to her friends, her relatives and her siblings – these are the roles she plays every day. And when someone somewhere with global marketing inputs and know-how, thinks this woman can be addressed with general messages, they are groping in the dark, usually.

Can the brand understand her perceptions, the realities she lives with, the issues that are important to her? Sometimes the battle to find a new housemaid is more overwhelming than wondering which brand of biscuits, oil or soap to buy. Sometimes we just go by what we have gone by for years – at other times we are delighted to discover a new shop that stocks fabulously designed clothes. Still at other times, we love to share a coffee over quiet conversation or just watch a sunset in the quietness of our own little spaces.

Sure there is tremendous potential in knowing her right – she is capable of fierce loyalty and continuous patronizing if the mix goes right. She can be a lifelong customer or never sight the brand or the service if the brand does not get it right.

So how well does any brand or company know the Sri Lankan female consumer of today? There is a whole lot to learn and a whole lot to evaluate. Of that we can all be sure.

(Nayomini Weerasooriya, a senior writer, journalist and a PR professional, can be contacted at [email protected])