What does it mean to be understood?  And why is it so important to women and so missing in the marketplace today?  Two fully loaded questions without easy answers--and two of the main reasons we set out to create Jane Nation almost a year ago.

The literal meaning of being understood is to "stand under or give support."  I can't think of two better descriptions of what we hope to accomplish through Jane Nation. 

We created this community to provide women of all ages and life stages a platform to share their opinions, ideas, experiences, frustrations and solutions with each other and the brands who truly want to understand them.  We were inspired by a 12 city 7-week Listening Tour where women in their 20s - 80s told us their stories, their rants and their raves when it comes to products and services that make their lives better or worse.  Many had never been asked for their opinion before.  It was like opening a flood gate.  And the best part was not only were they willing to dish on what bugs them, but they were brimming with ideas on how to make it better. 

So why isn't there greater understanding of women among brands?  After all, we've been talking about the need to market to women since Tom Peters identified the trend in the late 90s and Marti Barletta wrote the first significant book on the topic in 2003, Marketing to Women.  Truth is, I don't know. 

I do know that is core to being a woman to seek relationship with others.  We want to connect.  To give and receive.  To talk and to listen. To vent and then vet better ideas.  For some reason, however, brands haven't caught hold of this unique dynamic.   

To be fair, achieving relationship with women or men is a challenge for brands to achieve even with the explosion of the Internet and all the tools to help us access it and each other anytime and anywhere.  Because it isn't just tools and techniques that build relationship.  It is desire and commitment. 

And that's the second reason Jane Nation was born.  We want to make a difference.  We want to facilitate conversation, communication and most of all connection among women who share our passion for change and improvement in the marketplace.

We hope you'll join us in our quest to reduce that startling statistic that 91% of women feel misunderstood by brands.  It all starts with you sharing your feedback and opinions on what is going on in your life and the brands you turn to for good or bad.  We'll take it from there and make sure brands hear what you have to say.  Together, we can make our voices count for change.