Jane Huxley was clearly and publicly impressed with a Frenchman last week. So impressed, in fact, was the CEO and Publisher of Fairfax Digital Metro Media, that she openly and unashamedly flirted and fluttered eyelids with a Frenchman at the launch of the Fairfax Women’s Network last week in Melbourne. Off with your shirt, Huxley suggested to the Frenchman asking a question. And didn’t the sisters in the room lap it up.
We’ll get to the Fairfax Women’s’ network initiative shortly – Huxley is on stage again today for the Sydney launch and God help any exotic sounding bloke who asks a question. But first to the naughty bits.
Huxley was hilarious last week in Melbourne but more than a touch hypocritical with her banter. Hilarious because she had a mysterious French bloke on the ropes with her provocative utterances. At the end of a lively and informative lowdown on the life stages of women, what they want and feel and how advertisers can talk to them through a bundled digital and print offer across Fairfax mastheads and websites, Huxley threw to the floor for questions.
The Frenchman lobbed a question to which Huxley began her flirtatious adventure, including a request to for the male subject to take off his shirt so the audience could hear him better.
“Can I just say that I love you,” was Huxley’s first response to Mr X, the Frenchman. “That accent. That package. I just had a little moment here. I haven’t heard a word you said. Isn’t that terrible. You must get that all the time.”
The female audience – there was a scattering of blokes - lapped up the tease. And Mr X looked flustered by all the attention. Huxley didn’t stop there, however. She asked him to stand up and then proclaimed: “I think we might be able to hear you if you take your shirt off.” The luncheon burst into gasps and squeals of delight. Huxley was being outrageously naughty, everyone knew it but no one wanted her to dismount the French horse.
The tough bit to digest here is had it been Huxley’s boss, Jack Matthews or his boss Greg Hywood, they would have been crucified. Asking a woman to publicly take off her top so all the blokes in the room could hear her speak would get damn close to anyone being sacked. But this was the sisters getting a bit back. Or the sharp and witty Huxley deliberately stirring tripe to bring attention to the women’s agenda and perhaps the Fairfax Women’s Network even. Heaven forbid. Well it worked on me anyway Ms Huxley.
It’s not a bad idea this one and it’s indicative of where Fairfax is headed with its new audience clustering blueprint. The new regime wants to get away from geography and into targeted audience segments. French kissing aside, Huxley and her team have bundled a series of titles which offers advertisers women in their 20’s through to their 50’s. Oh, and by the way, Dr Rebecca Huntley, who heads the IPSOS Mackay social report, was the keynote. She touched on cougars – those 40-something women and above who are single and looking for younger blokes. They do exist, she says, and she would be a likely candidate given the right circumstances. “If I was single, I would definitely be a cougar,” Huntley said to another round of squeals and gasps. There was a firm emphasis on “definitely”. But I digress.
Fairfax has pulled together a bunch of assets like TheVine for the young end to Essential Baby, Essential Kids, Cuisine, Stayz, RSVP, Sunday Life magazine and Life&Style to offer media buyers and advertisers an easy way to target women. Huxley says more properties in this cluster are coming and more audience clusters are coming too. She says Fairfax will “buy, build and aggregate” to deliver these new audience groups. Just don’t be surprised to see a specialist audience targeting fine French men. Huxley seems to have that one brewing.
Paul McIntyre
Editor-at-Large
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