- Index hide
Globally, about 2 to 3 percent of populations identify as transgender, gender fluid, or non-binary.
“I’ve been feeling more feminine, so I’ve embraced ‘HER’ again,” Lovato told host Tamara Dhia.
pop star Demi lovato said she is using the “she” pronouns again after using “elle/him” last year.
Lovato announced the change during an interview for the weekly “Spout Podcast”.
“I’m such a fluid person when it comes to my gender, my sexuality, my music, my creativity,” she said on the podcast that began with a discussion of her sonic evolution.
“Last year, my energy was balanced into my masculine and feminine energy,” Lovato, 29, said on the podcast.
The singer and former Disney star is promoting the August 19 release of her eighth album, which she described as a return to the rock’n’roll more traditional.
But how much does non-binary gender impact your “brand” image?
Gender is a traditional and easy criteria for targeting, meaning it’s a simple parameter to set and customize. In accordance with Gaby Neighborhoods in his Ted Talk:
“Because gender is such an easy thing to find in the market, to point to and talk about, it actually distracts from things that could drive growth for brands. At the same time,[gender-based marketing]continues to create separation around genders and perpetuate stereotypes.
Barrios and his team in BCG conducted extensive research on global consumer choices. They statistically compared how different variables affect our buying decisions, and it turned out that demographics, gender, and income didn’t influence most consumer decisions as much as marketers believed they should.
Instead, the context, such as where we are, who we are with, and what we are doing, has a much greater impact on consumer decisions than gender or demographics. Perhaps, this is why many companies chose to create immersive brand experiences instead of pure segment marketing.
At the same time, gender as a concept is increasingly questioned. In Western societies, many are shifting from a bipolar understanding of male/female gender to one of a spectrum, where their gender self-identification may evolve over time.
On the other hand, globally, about 2 to 3 percent of populations in European counties identify as transgender, genderfluid, or non-binary. In the US, one in five adults knows someone who uses a gender-neutral pronoun (elle).
The shift to gender neutrality is even stronger among younger audiences, as seen with Gen Z and Millennial consumers. Among these groups, more than half believe that the gender binary is outdated. Instead, they celebrate weirdness in all of their presentations and phase out the hackneyed “labels” and “checkboxes.”
According to a McKinsey study 48 percent of Gen Z consumers and 38 percent of consumers from other generations value brands that don’t categorize products by gender.
Therefore, although the decision to Demi lovato months ago it was controversial due to the use of neutral pronouns, rather than a negative impact on its image, it had encouraging results among Gen Z and Millennial consumers.
“When I was faced with the choice of going into the bathroom, and it said women and men, I didn’t feel like there was a bathroom for me because I didn’t necessarily feel like a woman, I didn’t feel like a man,” she said. “I felt like a human being. That’s what they/them is about for me.”
“I’ve been feeling more feminine, so I’ve embraced it again,” Lovato told host Tamara Dhia.
Plus, Lovato isn’t the only singer who has recently been updating her preferred pronouns. In July, rapper Lil Uzi Vert updated his instagram pronouns to her.
The affinity for the products and the marketing gender-neutral already prevails in the segments of clothing, cosmetics, toys and mass consumer goods, among others. On social media we are now seeing brands hire more diverse models, in terms of ethnicity, gender and body types, to promote new product launches. And many consumers find this inclusion refreshing.