Skip to Content, Navigation, or Footer.
Support independent student journalism. Support independent student journalism. Support independent student journalism.
The Dartmouth
July 5, 2025 | Latest Issue
The Dartmouth

WomanWise founder advocates female-centered marketing

Dori Molitor, CEO and co-founder of the consulting firm WomanWise, argued that consumer marketing needs to be re-evaluated to consider the emotions of women, in a presentation at a Women in Business meeting in the Collis Center, Monday evening.

WomanWise is a hybrid consultancy-agency that specializes in marketing brands to women, according to Molitor. In the United States, 82 percent of consumer purchases are made by women, she said.

"Women buy everything," Molitor said. "They're spending their paychecks and their husband's paychecks."

But most marketing today does not appeal to women on an emotional level, Molitor said.

"We can't expect women to articulate what they want because most of it is in their subconscious," she said. "If women and a brand had an emotional connection, then both consumer and brand would win because of the competitive advantage."

The process by which WomanWise advises a company begins with what Molitor calls a "Deep Dig."

"We try to determine why a specific product is so important to a woman," she said. "But we go beyond what she is just saying and try to read into her emotions."

WomanWise uses psychologists to understand the subconscious of women, according to Molitor. After the "Deep Dig" process, the agency looks for a single subconscious emotional connection between the consumer and brand.

"Woman are looking for higher expectations," she said. "They are demanding for a company to be socially responsible and stand for something."

After establishing a consumer-brand connection, WomanWise advises the company on how to best adjust their business strategy, Molitor said.

Molitor and her husband founded WatersMolitor, of which WomanWise is a subset, in 1988 with a vision to create brand enthusiasm and drive purchases. Ten years ago, however, Molitor realized that her passion and strengths had broken new ground in what became her agency's specialization -- WomanWise, according to Molitor. WomanWise has since grown into an internationally recognized company that works to fundamentally change the way women feel about brand names, Molitor said.

WomanWise's clients include Dunkin' Donuts, Hasbro, Pillsbury and UnitedHealthcare, among many others, she said.

WomanWise has received numerous accolades, according to Molitor, including eight Globes Awards from the Marketing Agencies Association Worldwide.

Molitor spent the majority of her presentation describing her personal background. Growing up in small rural community in central Minnesota in a family of 12 children, Molitor said she learned lessons of gender equality.

"If there was work to be done in and around the house, it didn't matter if you were a boy or girl," Molitor said. "There was just an exchange that it has to get done and you move on."

Upon graduating from high school, Molitor said she did not consider going to college because none of her older siblings or cousins had.

"I had big dream, though," she said. "That dream was to be a secretary for someone important."

Molitor attended a vocational school for secretarial training and was hired as a campaign assistant in 1976. She said she was then promoted to legislative assistant on women's issues to Rep. Richard Nolan, D-Minn.

After realizing the necessity of a college education, Molitor quit her job in Washington in order to pursue a marketing degree at the University of Minnesota's Carlson School of Management, she said. To pay for her tuition, Molitor sold artwork to businesses in the area.

"I learned the value of self-reliance," she said. "I had to finance my own way through college, but the whole entrepreneurial thing was really exciting."

After graduating, she took a job at General Mills, where she worked for the Big G and Betty Crocker brand portfolios, where she was promoted often, she said.

"People were saying there was a glass ceiling, and a woman could only go so high at General Mills, but I never found that ceiling," Molitor said. "In life, don't create hurdles because perceptions become reality."

Molitor quit her job at General Mills to found WatersMolitor in 1988. She currently lives on Lake Minnetonka, Minn., with her husband Todd and their two children.