Strategists, Academics & Brand Consultant Expert Opinions

- Leader's profile
- Mary Lou Quinlan
- 16/08/2012
- Consultant, United States
- Founder and CEO of Just Ask a Woman, a leading women's marketing company. Mary Lou has written four books; her fourth, The God Box, was released in April 2012. She has also received two awards - 'Advertising Woman of the Year' by Advertising Women of NY, and the 'Matrix Award' from New York Women in Communications.
Mary Lou Quinlan is the founder and CEO of Just Ask a Woman, the leading women’s marketing company in the U.S. Through her 30 year career, starting with her dynamic rise from director of advertising for Avon to CEO of major NY ad agency NW Ayer to entrepreneur, she’s built a national reputation as a marketing strategist, compelling speaker, successful author and TV personality thanks to her obsession with asking what women want.

Since its launch ten years ago, Just Ask a Woman has personally interviewed nearly 15,000 women to develop breakthrough strategies and innovations for 90 plus blue chip brands and companies, such as IKEA, Westin, Procter&Gamble, GlaxoSmithKline, Pepsi and Walmart.

Mary Lou is the author of Just Ask a Woman: Cracking the Code of What Women Want and How They Buy (Wiley, 2003) and Time Off for Good Behavior: How Hardworking Women Can Take a Break and Change Their Lives (Broadway Books, 2005). Her third book (written with Just Ask a Woman partners, Jen Drexler and Tracy Chapman) launched in November 2009, focused on What She’s Not Telling You: Why Women Hide the Whole Truth and What Marketers Can Do About It.

American Idol’s Simon Cowell cast Mary Lou as the only female judge in the ABC-TV reality competition, American Inventor, and she’s appeared as a women’s correspondent for The CBS EARLY Show. She’s been a columnist for US women’s magazine MORE and has written for O, the Oprah Magazine, Redbook, Good Housekeeping and Marie Claire.

Mary Lou has received the Advertising Woman of the Year award from Advertising Women of New York and the Matrix Award from New York Women in Communications. She holds an honorary doctorate in communications from her alma mater, Saint Joseph’s University of Philadelphia and is a member of the board of the Partnership for a Drug-Free America. She lives in New York City with her husband, Joe Quinlan.

You can find Mary Lou online here
You can find Mary Lou on Twitter here

If you would like to find out more about Mary Lou's availability for bespoke research, consultancy or public speaking opportunities then please contact us for further information.

Leader Mary Lou Quinlan

Occupation Consultant

Location United States

Industry Behaviour

Keywords Women Strategy Insight Just Ask a Woman Innovation
- Published on Canvas8
- Other articles
  - - Will social media hijack women’s trust in word of mouth?
    - 09/02/2011
    - Mary Lou Quinlan assesses the deteriorating value of online word of mouth among women - and issues some valuable advice to social media brands.
  - - Are you organized to succeed (or fail) with women?
    - 01/09/2010
    - Do you know how to start up a program that will win women for your brand?
  - - Marketing with women to reshape your brand
    - 10/02/2010
    - What if, throughout 2010, you behaved as though all your customers were women? Mary Lou Quinlan expounds the business benefits of a female perspective.
  - - Half truths or whole truths: what’s your brand buying from women?
    - 03/11/2009
    - With women buying or influencing 85% of what is sold, it’s fair to say that keeping their attention is more critical than ever.