I was lucky enough to hear Avivah Wittenberg-Cox give a terrific presentation on the rise of women as consumers in London this week.

Avivah correctly pointed out that there is huge world focus on targeting the consumer in the emerging markets – Brazil, Russia, India, China and the Far East.

But the real truth is much closer to home than that.

The real truth is that the largest emerging market in the world with the most buying power is the woman in your home or the one next door.

Future economic growth will be driven by women’s purchasing power, employment performance and the decisions they make.

In many households it is the woman who makes the major purchasing decisions, both large and small.

They may be the ones choosing the new home, the furnishings, the car and of course all the day-to-day items.

Women are not a minority.

Does your product or service appeal to women?

Are women involved in producing it?

Are women buying it?

If not, why not?

What might you need to do to fine-tune it to appeal to a much wider audience?

Apple have shown us that women love techno-gadgets.

No, they don’t have to be pink.

They just have to do exactly what the new consumer wants and needs them to do.

A whole new market is out there wanting the right products and just waiting for you to notice it is there.