Guitar Girl'd: Guitar Center Respects the Ladies
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I went to Guitar Center to buy some audio cables the other day. They were special ones with banana plug ends. I had the spec written down on a piece of paper, and I was a little nervous going into the GC audio department never having purchased this type of cable before.
Even after thirty years in the music biz sometimes GC still makes me cringe when I step through the door. Boy, was I in for a pleasant surprise. Or should I say, surprises?!
Surprise one: They actually had the audio cables I needed, which I had worried I might have to special order. Good thing because I had a gig in three days.
Surprise two: My clerk in the audio department was a woman. Yep! She was helpful, with no condescension in sight. I felt respected, and it felt good!
Surprise three: Because I was beaming and not bumming after that particular Guitar Center experience, instead of leaving right away, I took my son over to the guitar department. He tried out a beautiful robins egg blue Telecaster and played that riff from "Smoke on the Water" about 100 times. (He's a beginner. It was the only respectable riff he knew!). Now he's dreaming of an $800 guitar for Christmas.
Why am I bringing this up? Because little did I know that this was a successful realization of a program that Guitar Center has been consciously working on for quite some time. That's right, GC knows that women (and sometimes even men!) don't feel comfortable going into their stores, and they are taking steps to change that.
Laura Taylor, chief of operations at GC, is spearheading this ambitious initiative.
"Our research shows that most women that shop in our stores have a great experience -- and that's in general in MI, not just at Guitar Center. But there's an important minority of female customers who feel that they are less welcome in MI stores, you know, both GC and their competitors. And there can be a lot of prejudices and assumptions from some males that the female musicians aren't serious or skilled. We're committed to combating those misperceptions."
Those are some long-term, serious goals, and I say, GC, what took you so long!? But as you know, Guitar Center doesn't do anything in a small way, so they've not only done their homework -- they are committed to acing the test.
Taylor digs deeper:
"Really, it's not a Guitar Center problem, it's an industry problem. And we're a big part of the industry, and we believe that by really driving the initiative we can make a big difference. There's a lot of diversity out there, whether we are looking at gender or types of music or whatever. Really our goal with this initiative is just to treat everyone with the utmost respect."
And how do GC employees feel about this new master plan? Taylor beams, "We've had a lot of our employees embracing it and saying, 'Hey, this wasn't on our radar.' And as we bring awareness to this issue, we are definitely seeing an impact and getting more positive feedback from our female customers."
So what does a kinder, gentler, more feminine-focused Guitar Center experience mean? Don't worry, boys; GC is still the same gear-filled, wanna-stay-all-day hang. Yep, GC still rocks! It just does so without the former condescending air.
If you've really been paying attention, you may have noticed that in GC stores the notorious Playboy Bunny-laden Guitar World Buyers Guide now sports a stylish, but opaque polybag, obscuring the scantily clad models from the eyes of patrons.
But Buyers Guide aside, GC's makeover covers all the bases, as Taylor shares:
"We're supplying training programs for our sales force that help them adapt to the needs of the female customer. We're developing promotional programs and customer-focused contests that are designed to appeal to women. We're working with promotional partners like Girls Rock Camp and talking to industry insiders Tish Ciravolo from Daisy Rock Guitars."
Taylor continues, "We're making certain female musicians are better represented in our advertising. We're focusing on our storefronts and our marketing communications. We are using female voiceovers. And just trying to be better balanced. Look, a lot of other industries have figured this all out. Now it's our turn."
I like balance. And I also really, really like being treated like one of the guys. Or wait; maybe I like being treated like a lady. Or not. Well, I know for certain I don't want to be treated like an imbecile. So, GC, carry on! And the rest of the industry, take notes!
So, ladies (and gentlemen) -- have you gone into Guitar Center lately? Tell us if you've noticed a change!
Laura B. Whitmore is a singer/songwriter based in the San Francisco bay area. A veteran music industry marketer, she has spent over two decades doing marketing, PR and artist relations for several guitar-related brands including Marshall and VOX. Her company, Mad Sun Marketing, represents 65amps, Acoustic Bass Amps, Agile Partners, Guitar World and many more. Laura was instrumental in the launch of the Guitar World Lick of the Day app. She is the lead singer for the rock band Summer Music Project. More at mad-sun.com.
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Laura Taylor
October 19, 2011 at 8:38pm
We appreciate feedback on any level that may help us become a better employer and deliver a better experience for our customers. We have an active, ongoing outreach to female employees and the person posting describes a different reality than the one we see. The feedback we get is that we are making a real difference. Each and every allegation of discrimination and unfair treatment of employees, for gender reasons or otherwise are treated with the greatest seriousness. To ensure that our employees feel comfortable reporting issues, we offer many means of communication including an employee hotline where an employee can report an incident and remain anonymous. We hope that any and all incidents are reported so we can address them, however if issues are not reported, it is impossible to address them. One of the best indicators of employee satisfaction is employee turnover and our turnover rate for sales associates has dropped almost in half in the past four years, with each year showing a decline. I would like to offer to have dialog with anyone to discuss their experiences and they can certainly remain anonymous. I can be reached at ltaylor@guitarcenter.com.
A small point but yet an important one, is that the Daisy Rock display that is discussed in this post was designed by Tish Ciravolo, president and founder of Daisy Rock guitars. We find nothing sexist about it and really like the fact that it has encouraged more females to pick up a guitar or bass and play!
Lastly, our store employees are our life blood. Our Heroes! A large number of the people running the company come from our stores. It is a store culture here. We do everything we can to make working here the coolest, most rewarding gig possible. Happy employees and happy customers go hand in hand, you cannot have one without the other. So the very last thing we would ever do is turn a blind eye toward criticism. Instead, we seek it out, because it makes us even better.
1964gibsones330
August 31, 2011 at 2:08pm
Dear Laura,
Two questions:
1. How much is Guitar Center paying you?
2. Do you feel respected as a woman who rocks writing for a magazine/blog best known for the barely dressed women they put on their covers, centerfolds, and gear guide?
Just curious.
starryeyedkid
August 27, 2011 at 2:55pm
What a crock of shit.
Not that writer's experience- I'm sure it was fantastic. It's what they're trained to do and what the female sales associates personally want to do with female customers.
And maybe the Women in Rock council genuinely believes they're doing something helpful. I'm sure that's what they've set out to do, at least.
But it's not working in the stores, where the sales associates are.
Somebody better tell Laura Taylor that. Her initiative isn't helping anybody. In fact, it's making female employees' jobs worse. The constant harassment and jokes about equality and 'go back to the kitchen' shtick whenever 'how to work with female customers' gets brought up (um. treat them like a musician).
And Daisy Rock Guitars? One of the most sexist pieces of advertisement I'd seen in store. Tish Ciravolo didn't design it- GC did, and it helped propagate that idea that women (nay, girls) need a different, simpler, easier, sparklier guitar.Treating a customer like crap is a quickly reprimanded problem.
Treating an employee like crap is a quickly covered up problem.There are a dozen or more women in that company who have been assaulted, harassed, and mistreated by coworkers and superiors and have not reported it because nobody listens.
And even if they pretend they do, they don't do a damned thing to solve the problem.Guitar Center is focused on the customer. Great, but they still treat their employees like shit (both male and female). They have a huge turnover rate for sales associates because of this. It's a genuinely shitty place to work, and nobody's doing a damn thing to fix it, least of all for the female employees who are being touched, filmed, and threatened. They're too busy focusing on how to improve the customer's experience, not realizing that, if employees were happier, the customer's experience would increase tenfold.
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