Bridget Brennan is the CEO and Founder of Female Factor, a consulting firm that helps companies market to women, the author of Why She Buys: The New Strategy for Reaching the World’s Most Powerful Consumers, and a woman who loves travel and going places. Bridget shared her insights about women, travel and the places she loves with KissMyCountry recently. Enjoy!
“Travel is an important part of my continuing education. I am enriched by it and my mind is always opened in ways that I never anticipate.”
Bridget Brennan – CEO and Author
Lexy: Bridget, you’re the Founder of The Female Factor – and spend your days helping clients understand women. That’s a great job. What are the challenges, and what are the rewards?
Bridget: Most of us aren’t taught about gender differences in any significant way in school or on the job, so sometimes it can be challenging to convince people that something that seems obvious – that men and women are different — actually warrants deeper study because it can make a difference to their business. In a world where men run most companies and women buy most products, understanding gender differences is critical. At work we try to assume the position that gender differences don’t matter – and that’s in part to ensure gender equality in the workplace. But I think we’ve finally reached a point where we can say yes, we are equal and yes, we are different, and these differences can provide a competitive advantage to businesses if they know how to leverage them.
Mr. K: I found personally that ‘Why She Buys’ is a very useful book and you’ve gotten some great reviews since it came out. What gave you the idea to write it?
Bridget: I felt there was a need to help businesses understand how to look at commerce through a ‘female filter’ or a ‘female lens’. There is a gender gap in business and I wanted my book to help close it, for the benefit of both companies and the women they serve.
Women and Travel
Mr. K: I had a question about travel. KissMyCountry is about enjoying the planet and travel is a very big part of that. You found that women make 70% of the travel decisions in their lives. That’s a large percentage. Is that a surprise to the companies that you advise?
Bridget: A lot of statistics about women’s purchasing power and influence come as a surprise. While people know intuitively that women tend to be the organizers in their households, especially when it comes to anything social, to see the numbers in black and white often comes as a shock. Some of our ideas about women’s purchasing are mired in old stereotypes. No one is surprised to hear that women buy the majority of beauty products, but it’s when you get into categories like travel that people raise their eyebrows and say, “Wow I didn’t realize their impact was that large.”
Lexy: I was interested in your findings about the increase in women and travel, especially girlfriend getaways. You tell us that girlfriend getaways are on the rise. Why is it more and more popular for women to go away with their friends?
Bridget: I think there are four reasons for this. First, younger women are delaying marriage – many are going to college first, then working a few years, and then getting married. When they’re young and earning money and single, they love to go on vacation with their girlfriends because they can – and because it’s fun. In previous generations – and we’re not going back very far – women wouldn’t have traveled without their fathers or a male escort, or they would have waited to travel when they got married. Now they are free to go on their own, and they do. The second reason is that there are a lot of women who find themselves single in mid-life. The divorce rate in our country is just under 50%, and divorced women often join their girlfriends to go on trips together. In fact, you’re starting to see some women have ‘divorce celebrations’ in places like Las Vegas with their girlfriends. These events aren’t necessarily a celebration of the end of a marriage — which is of course a very sad thing — but more about women giving each other good wishes and a happy send-off as they enter a new phase of life. . The third reason is that there are many Baby Boomer women who love to travel, but their husbands may not be interested, so they will go off on cruises or other adventures with their girlfriends, usually with their husbands’ blessings. These women are typically empty nesters who want to have exciting new experiences. There are also many young-at-heart widows who go on trips with their married girlfriends. Lastly, the power of female friendships in women’s lives cannot be overstated. It’s nothing short of therapeutic for women to be around the comfort and healing laughter of their girlfriends. Women will seek out the company of their girlfriends even when they’re happily married.
Grand Teton Mountains - Public Domain Photo
Bridget: I do. My best friend Catherine lives in England and we go on a girlfriend getaway nearly every year. Because she lives in England and I live in the United States, we pick a different part of the world every year to meet up in. We’ve been to Morocco twice, hiking in the Atlas Mountains, we’ve been to the Bavarian Alps, we’ve been hiking in the English countryside. We’ve been to Glacier National Park, Yellowstone, Grand Teton National Park and Yosemite, we’ve done the Pacific Coast Highway, and Big Sur. We like to go beautiful places and hike. Hiking is so wonderful in America’s national parks. The funny thing is that the parks seem so crowded when you go in the summer, but you only have to step half a mile off the main road and the crowds immediately disappear. Our vacations are always very physical, and yet when we’re hiking we talk the whole way. The combination of physical activity and talking, makes us feel like new women by the end of our trips. A few years ago we went to Palm Springs and hiked all around the area. At night when we met people in restaurants , they laughed with surprise when we told them we were in Palm Springs to hike, because it seems that most people go there to relax around the pool all day. And there’s nothing wrong with that! But we like to get the endorphins flowing.
Lexy: Since ‘Why She Buys’ was written do you have any new insights?
Bridget: I’m doing a lot of research right now on how women and men respond to web sites differently, which is so important to understand as more and more commerce goes online. I’m finding that women often like to do the same activities online that they do offline – like window shopping, asking like-minded people their opinions, imagining themselves in clothes — though of course they want to do all these things with dramatically more convenience. Online, women are still very highly attuned to customer service – in many ways even more so, because they are relying on a smooth and secure checkout process. They want to feel that if something goes wrong there will be a “real” person there to help fix the problem.
Mr. K: You’re very well traveled, and you’ve studied women and travel through your book. What are the top three pieces of advice you would give to women travelers?
Bridget: I would say number one is to ‘do it’. I’ve found that the difference between people who travel and those who simply talk about travel is that travelers make a plan and lock it in the calendar. If you don’t do that, ou can let a whole year go by talking about doing something ‘one day’, and then nothing ever happens. So I think that the number one piece of advice I have is to buckle down and force your spouse or your pals to put a date in the calendar and then buy the tickets right away. If you don’t lock in your plans in advance, chances are they won’t happen.
The second piece of advice I have is to do your homework. A lot of people know surprisingly little about the places they visit. Before a major trip, one of the things I do is go to my public library and check out guidebooks for the country I’m visiting. I’ll cross-reference Frommer’s, Fodor’s, Lonely Planet, Rough Guide and even magazine articles to see which places and activities are mentioned most often. Public libraries have back issues of travel magazines, which are really useful. Then I’ll photocopy specific sections of interest from the guidebooks. This is a practical and fun way to conduct research, especially when a country is unfamiliar to you. The third and final tip is ‘do not overpack’. Never, ever check your luggage. Carrying on your bags gives you so much more flexibility. Stuff happens when you travel, and you have many more options if you’ve carried on. Not to mention the fact that dragging around a suitcase is a huge burden anywhere you go.
Mr. K: Knowing the dynamics between a boyfriend and girlfriend, or a husband and wife, what can you give as advice to guys?
Bridget: When my husband and I got married, we agreed that every year I would be able to take a “girlfriend trip” with my friend Catherine, and every year he would be able take a similar trip with his best friend. My advice for guys would be to try to take a trip every year – even if it’s just a weekend – with a friend or group of friends. I think it’s healthy! The trips I take with my friend are always completely different from the ones I take with my spouse or family. I find that more people talk to you when you’re two friends traveling together. When I travel with my husband, people just assume that we want to be left alone. I think people are afraid of instigating conversations with couples, because they don’t want to be viewed as intrusive or inappropriate. (Though I think most couples would appreciate people talking to them!) Being away from your significant other gives you a fresh perspective on your relationship and makes you happy and appreciative to come home.
Tomorrow, we continue our interview with Bridget Brennan as she talks about the places she loves. Join us!
KissMyCountry’s interview with Bridget Brennan about women and travel inspired me to write my own thoughts about travel for business. A Traveler by nature, I’m always challenged to get more ‘travel’ into a business trip – while taking care of business, of course. Bit by bit, I’ve developed guidelines I’m glad to share. Some are obvious, some take planning, some are left to fate. But if you push yourself a little you’ll travel more and get more out of the trips you take. Try these and you’ll see:
