Indian brands must make gender marketing more data-backed and culturally aware

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Gender marketing, at its simplest, is how brands design, position, and communicate products based on gender assumptions. For decades in India, this meant clear binaries: men in authority, women in kitchens; men as decision-makers, women as caregivers. Advertising narratives reflected the social order of their time, when economic and social roles were relatively rigid.

That approach worked when those roles were predictable. But India is no longer that economy.

Today, women account for over 40% of India’s labour force, and financial inclusion has expanded sharply over the past decade. Government data shows women hold a significant share of bank accounts under schemes like Jan Dhan, signalling rising financial agency. Access to credit, digital payments, and entrepreneurship platforms has also brought more women into formal financial systems.

Consumer behaviour reflects this shift. According to the American study, 85% of purchases are made by women, while in half the cases, they are buyers of traditionally male goods. This includes categories such as automobiles, gadgets and financial services - segments that advertising has historically framed as male-dominated.

This is where data disrupts lazy gender targeting.

If women are influencing purchases across categories, then a razor, car or gadget campaign that speaks only to men may be speaking to only half the buying reality. Likewise, if men are increasingly visible in caregiving roles, brands that continue to portray household labour as exclusively female risk appearing culturally outdated.

India’s social dynamics are evolving faster than many advertising scripts.

Consider two brand campaigns that reflect this shift:

1. Myntra’s “Fashion ki Adalat” campaign encouraged women to embrace their personal style without fear of societal judgment and celebrated self-expression while discarding conventional fashion norms. The campaign reframed fashion not as a set of gendered expectations, but as a form of agency and individuality.

2. MG Motor India’s #SochBadlo campaign, released during Women’s Day last year, showed a woman confidently changing her own flat tyre - a situation traditionally framed around male assistance. The ad subtly shifted the narrative from dependency to capability, positioning women not as passive beneficiaries of help, but as self-reliant decision-makers who understand and handle their own vehicles.

The lesson from such campaigns is simple: cultural awareness is now commercial intelligence.

What does data say?

Brands that reflect real behavioural shifts build credibility with consumers, while those that cling to outdated stereotypes risk alienating large sections of their audience.

Data strengthens this argument further. A global study by marketing data and analytics firm Kantar reveals that 75% of consumers say a brand’s diversity and inclusion reputation influences their purchase decisions. Challenging the myth of 'go woke, go broke,' the study shows that inclusive marketing is a significant opportunity to drive brand growth.

Even in e-commerce behaviour, patterns across genders show complementarity rather than division. Men often demonstrate higher ticket sizes during major sale events, while women tend to show higher purchase frequency across multiple categories. Campaigns that appeal to only one gender overlook this combined revenue dynamic.

The problem is clear: stereotype-driven gender marketing shrinks the addressable market.

Indian brands must therefore anchor gender marketing in three realities.

First, buyer data: Who actually influences the purchase, not who tradition assumes should. Brands must rely on behavioural insights rather than outdated assumptions.

Second, economic shifts: Rising female income, entrepreneurship and financial decision-making power are reshaping consumption patterns across categories.

Third, cultural nuance: India is not monolithic. Urban Tier-1 sentiment differs significantly from Tier-3 conservatism, meaning messaging must be calibrated rather than copy-pasted across markets.

What is the way forward for brands?

Brands can start by rebalancing their messaging. Since research consistently shows that women influence up to 85% of consumer purchase decisions, advertising cannot continue to visually code men as the default financial authority or final decision-maker. In categories such as automobiles, fintech, insurance, real estate, or consumer electronics - where ads often show men leading the conversation and signing the cheque - narratives should also depict women evaluating options, asking technical questions, negotiating, and making the final call. This is not a token representation; it reflects actual buying behaviour.

Second, brands must invest in hyperlocalisation and data-driven storytelling. Every city is not the same, and cultural expectations vary widely across regions. Data should inform not just targeting but also the emotional tone and narrative of campaigns.

Gender marketing in India is no longer about choosing between men or women as the audience. It is about understanding how both participate in modern consumption decisions.

Brands that recognise this shift will not only communicate more responsibly, but they will also sell more intelligently.

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