Branded Male

Today’s Man in the Market

Marketers have heard that today’s evolved male is sensitive, nurturing, loving and not afraid to get in touch with his feminine side. Best of all – to marketers, that is – he cares how he looks. The so-called “new male,” dubbed the “metrosexual” by British writer Mark Simpson, is a marketer’s dream come true. Finally, here is a man who focuses on his appearance, enjoys designer clothing, works out at the gym, indulges in massages, and might even occasionally visit the tanning booth or get a manicure.

Unfortunately for marketers, however, the metrosexual doesn’t really exist in large numbers. So, is today’s male really a “retrosexual,” that is, a beer-guzzling, sports-watching, barbecue-eating insensitive dude who dresses in his old college t-shirt and washes his hair with a bar of soap? Perhaps not, although this type of man certainly exists. Today’s men are not like their fathers, just as today’s women are different from their mothers. The question is, how can marketers effectively reach men – a huge, varied, elusive demographic that typically doesn’t like to shop?

Grooming and Dressing

“Fundamentally, a man could go his entire...