The Eyelet.

OfficeMax has recently been running a fresh, bright and colorful TV campaign that is aimed directly at its female customers. With the closing tag, “Life is Beautiful. Work Can Be Too,” the campaign takes the focus of the buyer away from what they need, to what they can have for their mundane workspace. An empowering message that hits a sense in the female workforce that says, “Yes. I am entitled to a pretty cubicle!” Aren’t we all?

TURNING A NEW LEAF

The illustrative organic theme is a new look for OfficeMax, and is executed with focus and finesse. The work is beautiful, inspired and best of all, optimistic – a quality every consumer can experience. What’s most effective in this campaign is not the frills or flowers, but that it has an upbeat feel and creates an idea of real value in the average office supply.

OfficeMax isn’t the only brand getting in touch with its feminine side. Since the recession has moved to the top of everyone’s minds, companies have focused their brand strategies towards their most reliable buyers – women. Frito-Lay launched a campaign themed “Only In A Woman’s World,” and even McDonald’s is featuring their new woman-minded hot drinks in its New York Fashion Week sponsorship. The Economist writes that companies like Citibank and Phillips are raising their efforts to reach female customers, and women’s magazines are seeing a large jump in advertising sales.

“Female consumers are known to make more than 80% of discretionary purchases,” writes The Economist, but woman-minded marketing may not work for everyone. “With brands that are regarded as strongly male, gender bending, or trying to attract the opposite sex, could enhance short-term sales but cause a longer-term decline.”

Is it smart for companies to put all their advertising eggs in one (girly) basket, even if it means alienating some of their core consumer base? Or will this attempt to stay afloat by any means necessary, when others are rapidly sinking, leave them at the top when the recession ends?