Yahoo! brought together advertisers, bloggers, agencies and big brands like Sara Lee and Harpo Studios for an engaging panel discussion of its Connectonomics Women  study. Held at the beautiful Ivy Room in Chicago, the event was stimulating and chic—two qualities every woman enjoys.

Watch this video for expert marketing tips straight from the event:

And take a peek inside the event with these photos:

Yahoo!'s Mollie Spilman with Harpo Studios President Erik Logan and Editor-in-Chief of Yahoo! Shine Brandon Holley

How do you market to women? To answer the question, Yahoo! created a study and invited a panel of marketing and content experts at a live event in Chicago for a select audience of marketing executives.

Speakers at the intimate breakfast event returned to one common theme brought up in the Yahoo! Connectonomics study: despite economic and demographic differences, women’s needs online are often very similar.

“Ultimately as a marketer, you’re not just targeting a single woman,  a baby boomer in Chicago,” said Radha Subramanyam, Yahoo! VP and head of corporate and media research, who introduced the study. “Our products cut across a swath of women. Understanding the common needs of women helps us reach more.”

Brandon Holley, editor-in-chief Yahoo! Shine, the online publication for women,  moderated a panel that included Erik Logan, president of Harpo Studios; Phillippe Schaillee, CMO of Sara Lee; Kim Moldofsky, a blogger and founder of MomImpact; and Danielle Wiley, senior VP of consumer brands at Edelman Digital Chicago.

Know her “day in the life” and tailor your messages to it
Schaillee said that digital marketing becomes more powerful when you understand what a woman needs. “If you really understand what a day in your prime prospect’s life really looks like, and you understand what those connections are, digital opens up a whole new world where you can really tailor your message to her.”

Tell an authentic story
When you’re trying to reach women via multiple channels, says Harpo’s Logan, it’s important to be consistent. For example, he says, Oprah has been able to push into online, radio, and TV by remaining focused on what she—and her brand—does best. “We  are fantastic storytellers,” he says. “We hone-in someone’s authentic voice and we never deviate from it.”

The group talked about the study’s finding  that women are not necessarily receptive to marketing messages on social networking sites, where advertising can be seen as intruding on a conversation among friends. One way around that is to participate in online communities that you—and your brand—are passionate about.  “That way, when you do talk to your audience,” says Edelman’s Wiley, “it’s not coming from someone who’s interrupting a private conversation—it’s someone who’s there already.”

— Jeff Sweat, Blog Editor

If you’re marketing to women—and since they make roughly 85% of household buying decisions, you should—you need to know what women are seeking online. So we created the Women Connectonomics study, which examines how and why women are using different kinds of online sites, to help you start connecting with women online in a more meaningful way.

Yahoo! partnered with research firm AddedValue and surveyed 3,000 women across the country, conducting focus groups and one-to-one interviews. The resulting study provides a new framework for targeting women online, one centered around the needs of today’s woman. It found that:

• The most important needs for women revolve around personal growth, as well as their interdependencies on others in their social circle. 
• 44% of women say they get information about products and brands on women’s lifestyle sites.
• Women’s lifestyle sites like Shine and special interest sites fulfill the most needs for women. They also offer anonymity which can result in deep emotional connections for women.
• Women are most receptive to marketing messages on lifestyle, specialty and review sites. These channels deliver 3 times the impact on purchase decisions in comparison to the other online sites we looked at in the study.

Understanding the needs of women
Personal growth and connecting with others emerged as the top reasons women use the Web. This involves specific things like caring for oneself, self improvement and feeling enabled.

Interestingly, we found that the fundamental reasons why women communicate online and what sites they leverage are more similar than different – no matter what age group, profession, or life stage. 

Understanding where women are online
Women revealed they are using a number of online channels to connect with others. We explored the needs of women as associated with their use of the following communication channels and content sites:  Social Networking Sites, Twitter, Email (for personal use), Online Community Groups, Instant Messenger, Blogs, Review Sites, Women’s Lifestyle Sites (Yahoo! Shine, iVillage, SheKnows, etc), and Special Interest Sites (CafeMom, BabyCenter, etc).  The study found that communication channels like social networking and IM are used most often to help women to stay connected. However, the connections through these channels tend to be more casual. 

Content sites like women’s lifestyle and special interest sites fulfill the most needs for women. Surprisingly, the study found that the anonymity these channels offer can lead to deeper emotional connections for women. Women said these sites offer users access to like-minded women and solutions to problems without the risk of being judged by people they know in real life. 

Understanding where women are most receptive
So, where is a woman more receptive to ads? Not all websites are equally persuasive.  We found that women are most receptive to advertising on women’s lifestyle sites, special interest sites and review sites.  In fact, these channels deliver three times the impact on purchase decisions than the other online channels looked at in this study.

By understanding how different channels meet different needs, marketers can optimize how they target women and maximize engagement on each channel.  Simply put, marketing effectivess is a function of Needs + Channel + Receptivity.  Here’s a quick cheat sheet of the top ways advertisers can fine-tune their messages to women by channel:

For more, visit Yahoo! Advertising, or download this .pdf.

—Amy Janis, Senior Manager, B2B Market Research

Iain Tate, Global Interactive Executive Creative Director at Wieden + Kennedy, is the bright spark behind the campaign that transformed Procter & Gamble’s Old Spice from venerable shelf-filler into a buzzworthy icon.

That shouldn’t surprise anyone who heard Tait speak about advertising’s embrace of digital at the recent Yahoo! Provoke Summit.

He observed that those stuck with traditional thinking dislike the new reality in which “the best stuff wins,” but it’s now the public instead of “experts” determining what’s best. Furthermore, advertising professionals too often seek inspiration from looking at other ads. “That’s the last place you should be looking,” Tait says.

Success requires watching for what people actually do in real life with technology and with each other. And for those biding their time until things settle down? It’s never going to, Tait warns: “We just have to learn how to deal with it and thrive on it.”

One of the many informative seminars at Cannes Lions addressed the challenges and promise of social networking. Simon Mainwaring, CEO of Mainwaring Creative, summarizes the proceedings in this video shot on location. “Brands are really trying to reconcile themselves with the fact that consumers want a better world, not just better widgets,” he says, and companies ignore this factor at their peril.

Mainwaring also shares his thoughts regarding how brands are responding to the new reality of reaching consumers who are now networked and actively communicating amongst themselves. He even delves into what he means by his operating philosophy: “The evolution of revolution is contribution.”

Cannes Lions may be over, but the intrepid Yahoo! team who covered the event continues to deliver. Here they speak with Chris Moloney, senior vice president and chief marketing officer at Experian, who explains why Cannes Lions is valuable even for companies like his.

Moloney also shares his thoughts on the relationship between traditional and online advertising. He has well-defined and unexpected reasons for disagreeing with “this perception that the traditional media, the TV media, is dying–is being broken apart into many pieces.” Enjoy the video for more detail:

We’d like to share some of the spectacular upcoming events around the globe in July, and also show you how you can find more local events and communities for Search and Social near you.  We’ve included the Twitter pages for the events, so you can follow chatter from the event organizers even if you can’t go.  Hint: be sure to follow the hashtags for the events too.

Social Media Marketing Conference, San Francisco
Website: http://socialmediamarketing.co.uk/sanfrancisco/
Where: San Francisco, CA
When: July 8
Cost: $395
Twitter: #smmsf
Event Description: During this one-day event, a team of renowned marketing experts will provide guidance on how to effectively engage with customers via social media, give tips on how to maximize the impact of your campaigns and offer insights into new services to try and trends to watch out for. This is the ultimate event for anyone involved in social media or digital marketing.

Blueglass, L.A.
Website: http://www.blueglass.com/conferences/la/
Where: Marina Del Rey, CA
When: July 19-20
Cost: $525
Twitter: @blueglassinc
Event Description: BlueGlass LA is an online marketing conference featuring the top social media, search marketing & business experts in the industry today. It has been designed to give you the best in topics, trends, strategies, and networking possibilities.

Word of Mouth Super Genius!
Website: http://gaspedal.com/supergenius/nyc/
Where:  Chelsea Piers, New York, NY
When: July 20
Cost: $750
Twitter: @gaspedal

Event Description: Word of mouth how-to classes, case studies, and small group discussions with word-of-mouth authors.

2010 Fortune Brainstorm
Website: http://www.fortuneconferences.com/brainstormtech/
Where:  Aspen, CO
When: July 22-24
Cost: $3,500
Twitter: @brainstormtech
Event Description: Fortune Brainstorm: TECH is a marketplace of ideas that assembles the smartest people we know — the world’s top technology and media thinkers, operators, entrepreneurs, innovators, and influencers. These leaders inspire a conversation that informs Fortune’s editorial coverage throughout the year.

Supernova Forum 2010: Perestroika
Website: http://supernovahub.com/
Where: Philadelphia, PA
When: July 29-30
Cost: $150 – $200
Twitter: @supernovahub
Event Description: Supernova explores the transformation of computing, communications, business, and society in the Network Age. Held since 2002, Supernova events bring together several hundred leading executives, entrepreneurs, intellectuals, government officials, and business practitioners to make connections, discuss emerging trends, and discover innovative new ideas and companies.

Online Marketing Summit
Website: http://www.onlinemarketingconnect.com/events/
Where/When: Philadelphia July 8, New York July 9, Washington DC July 12, Atlanta July 14, Charlotte July 16, Dallas July 19, Austin July 21, Houston July 23
Cost: ~ $99  -$369
Twitter: @OMsummit
Event Description: Each event includes hands-on training workshops, one-on-one personalized labs with experts, thought-leadership presentations, and peer-to-peer collaboration. From the online novice to the eMarketing expert, there are sessions that will benefit all corporate, brand, and online marketers.

Find Local Events and Communities in Your Area

What would be more apropos than social networks online where you can find SEO and social networking events?  Below we’ll list several sites where you can find local events, meetups, and even people with similar interests in your area.

SEMPO
SEMPO lists 27 local committees and working groups in cities like San Francisco, New York, Chicago, Boston, and several more in the US and abroad.

Upcoming
Find events by date, location, topic, or what you’re friends are doing.  Sign in and keep track of your past, current, and future events.  You can also create, manage, and promote your own events.

Meetup
Create meetups and share with your friends and peers.  Find events by keyword, location, popular topics, fastest growing topics or largest meetup cities.

Eventbrite
Find events by location, category or date, and sort by distance, date, or best match. You can also publish events, sell tickets, and promote them in social networks.

LinkedIn Events
Search for events listed on LinkedIn by event type, keyword, time period and/or location.

Twitter Search
Use Twitter’s advanced search to see what people are saying about the industry (or anything) near you. It’s a good way to find friends with similar interests nearby.

— Laura Lippay

Visit Laura at Lip Service, and see some of her previous posts, “Examining Your Backlinks with Yahoo! Site Explorer” and “Defining Your Target Audience for SEO.”

Andrew Robertson, president and CEO of BBDO Worldwide, explains why it’s valuable for him to attend Cannes Lions every year. In addition to connecting and reconnecting with colleagues from all over the world, he appreciates the “constant surprise of where ideas come from” and that “there is a magic here that we call creativity,” but adds that scale is needed for even the best ads to have impact. (Apologies for the poor sound quality, but it does add to the beachside ambiance!)

In this video, Winston Binch, Partner at Crispin Porter + Bogusky, talks with Yahoo’s Shane Steele at the Cannes Lions International Advertising Festival about the importance of Cannes and the science behind creativity. Cannes, says Binch, is “kind of like a digital Switzerland for our industry.” Competitors, he says, “can come here and just talk about what’s going on with our business… there’s some real, honest discussion…”

Some of his biggest challenges? “People tend to avoid advertising more than ever… Our work has to be smarter, it has to be bigger than a gimmick or a joke…” Embedding technology in everything his company does, notes Binch, is key not only to things like analytics and reaching audiences at scale, but also to helping develop creative that truly engages.

View other video interviews in this series by Shane Steele from Cannes Lions:

• Nick Parish of Contagious Communications on the evolution beyond traditional advertising
• Babs Rangaiah of Unilever on science + art + scale at Cannes
• Lincoln Bjorkman of Digitas on how to do great creative that reaches a vast audience

Or visit the Yahoo! Advertising’s page on Yahoo! Video.

— The Team

Yahoo! gathers and analyzes unimaginable amounts of data every minute of every day. Advertisers count on this constant number crunching to reach their targets, but hardly any of them stop to wonder how calculations on this massive scale are even possible.

Lots of incredibly smart people spend their lives doing more than just wonder. In fact, Yahoo! gathered over 1,000 of these developers at the Hadoop Summit 2010 at its Santa Clara headquarters to share and expand their cutting-edge knowledge.

What’s all this Hadoop-la about?
Blake Irving, Yahoo! Chief Product Officer, explains, “Hadoop helps us understand the content on the Yahoo! network and turn it into insights—in turn creating real opportunities for innovation. Every click a person makes on our homepage – that’s around half a billion clicks per day— results in multiple personalized rankings being computed, each completing in less than 1/100th of a second. We also use this data to do amazing targeting to deliver more value to our display advertisers. These things require massive real-time number crunching, so we can pick the right ad to show a user in milliseconds, billions of times a day. Hadoop is the magic behind all that, and much more.”

Hadoop, which got its name from a toy elephant, is the open-source software behind all of these calculations and the more than 170 petabytes of storage Yahoo! manages. What Hadoop does is break up gigantic math problems into thousands of smaller ones that can be done quickly and with less computer power, then assembles all of these little answers in useful ways. Yahoo! couldn’t deliver Science + Art + Scale without Hadoop.

At the Hadoop Summit, Yahoo! unveiled two new Hadoop products that it donated to the non-profit Apache Software Foundation which manages Hadoop and most other open-source software projects. One is a sophisticated security management system, and the other is a workflow automation engine.

Yahoo! is the world’s leading contributor to and user of Hadoop. The Yahoo! Distribution of Hadoop with Security (beta) and Oozie,the workflow engine for Hadoop are available through the Yahoo! Developer Network.

— Chris Marlowe