Shopping Diversity: GNC, the Vitamin and Supplement Retailer Men Favor, Seeks to Fuel Growth by Also Reaching out to Women

Not only does GNC see growth opportunities in an untapped and growing market as the numbers of girls and women involved in sports continues it’s decade-long increase, but it also recognizes that to do so effectively it needs to constructively call out differences between men and women. “The goal is to create a brand that looks like it was designed for women by women,” Beth Kaplan, chief merchandising and marketing officer at GNC told the New York Times (”A Brand Favored by Muscle Men Wants to Appeal to More Women.”  Among the differences, smaller and colored pills that are more pleasant to swallow for women as well as redesigning some of their stores.

But in thinking differently about what women want and prefer, GNC recognizes they need to be careful to creatively manage the inherent tension of doing things differently for women without alienating their traditional male customer base. With their stores they seek designs that encourage the browsing women prefer while not undoing the impact of their traditional layouts which have been geared toward males’ goal orientation – they want to come in, get what they came to get, and get out. GNC is seeking to manage the inclusion paradox profitably.

Managing the inclusion paradox, as many organizations like GNC are discovering, is both about reaching out in an appealing way to those outside its traditional target audience while avoiding backlash from core constituents either because they feel threatened or neglected. Or both.

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