Extroverted Eve: WHO IS SHE? Is outgoing, competitive, and likes complete freedom. Hates the "suffering woman" stereotype. Has a post-graduate degree, is below 30 years, married or unmarried. Makes more than Rs 10,000 a month. WHERE IS SHE FOUND?* Mumbai 30% Kolkata 25% Kochi 22% MARKETER APPEAL: Big spender and has the highest disposable income among all women.

* Figures are proportion of respondents from cities mentioned who belong to this category

In the marketer's worldview, there are only two kinds of women: the traditional and the modern. One is the value-seeking, starched cotton-sari-wearing Lalitaji and the other is the pants-and-high-heels executive who comes back home after a hard day's work to be pleasantly surprised by her husband (he fixed the dinner) or her child (who's won a prize at school or is simply angel-faced). If there's a third variety, it's inevitably as a "delicious poise between tradition and modernity", says Prasoon Joshi, National Creative Director of McCann Erickson. Guess what? Women, especially the working kind, don't come in black or white. Instead, they come in a mind-boggling array of grey. The BT-ACNielsen ORG-MARG Survey of Working Women, in fact, points to five distinct types that marketers must get to know if they are to sell to them with any success. These are: The Extroverted Eve, the Extravagant Aspirer, the Egalitarian Enabler, the Traditional Individualist, and the Orthodox Austere.

The five types can be plotted along three sets of conflicting characteristics: Between liberal and conservative, economy and extravagance, and autonomy and constraint. For example, while the Extroverted Eve is high on open-mindedness and freedom, she's more economy-minded than the Egalitarian Enabler or the Extravagant Aspirer (see The Personality Plotter). The marketers can better understand the working women when put in relation to each other. So, let's get to know each of the five types.

Extravagant Aspirer: WHO IS SHE? Likes to stretch her means a bit in pursuit of living it up. Believes it's no joy being a simple housewife. Is a graduate, about 30 years old, and junior or middle-level executive. Makes about Rs 10,000 a month. WHERE IS SHE FOUND? Indore 36% Delhi 32% Kanpur 28% MARKETER APPEAL: Self-indulgent, has a high propensity to spend.

Extroverted Eves: Unisex Targeting

Completely autonomous in her decisions and liberal in her outlook to everything in life, she is a big-city creature found in Mumbai (almost 30 per cent of the working women here), Kolkata (25 per cent) and-surprise, surprise-Kochi (22 per cent). A product of her upbringing, she is a young (majority below 30 years), post-graduate executive in love with her work, and with a personal income of Rs 10,000-plus per month. "This is the segment that is no longer bothered with equality of the sexes," says Partha Sinha, Executive VP (Strategic Planning), Ambience Publicis. "She needs to be accepted for who she is." And she thinks of her achievements as an individual, not as a woman. She believes that children respect working mothers more, that only nuclear families make sense, and gets irritated by the stereotype of the suffering woman.

A risk-taker (almost 11 per cent invest in shares or mutual funds), she loves all good things in life: going to movies, shopping at malls, beauty parlours, cellphones, cars and almost celebrates self-gratification, which is also a primary motivator. This segment (almost 19 per cent of Indian working women) is targeted more as women demographics and not with feminine values. She is as real as they get. Although she has the highest purchasing power of the five, she is low on extravagance. She also saves the most (almost 38 per cent of her income). Most financial products aimed at women are targeted at her, with an almost masculine, rational sort of communication. She's perfectly comfortable alone, either sipping coffee at a Barista or watching a movie at a multiplex.

Extravagant Aspirers: Dream Catcher

Although she appears to be a clone of the Extroverted Eve, there is a world of difference between the two. It is only in her high propensity to self-indulge that she mirrors, and often beats, Extroverted Eves. She spends almost 69 per cent of her income, highest among all working women, and typically lives north of the Vindhyas: Delhi (32 per cent of working women here are Extravagant Aspirers), Kanpur (28 per cent) and Indore (36 per cent). At work, she is the junior-to-middle level executive, around 30 years old, with an income of about Rs 10,000 per month. Almost 18 per cent of working women have this profile.

What gives her away as a wannabe Extroverted Eve is when she says there is no joy in being a simple housewife, while feeling no guilt in leaving home to pursue her dreams. And yet, she is caught in the delicate act of balancing home and office, and seeks brands as a measure of her achievements. "The new Titan ad shows the working woman's duality, as an alter ego, very nicely," says McCann's Joshi. About 12 per cent of them own cars and 40 per cent, mobile phones. Another 31 per cent of them want to buy a mobile phone in the next six months.

Egalitarian Enabler: WHO IS SHE? Is broad-minded, doesn't like compromising on quality, will discuss sex with close friends, but is disturbed by vulgarity on TV. Is a graduate and typically, married. Makes about Rs 9,000 a month. WHERE IS SHE FOUND? Delhi 54% Bangalore 46% Mumbai 33% MARKETER APPEAL: A value-seeker, good target for household products.

Egalitarian Enablers: The Staple Consumer

Almost a third (33 per cent) of all Indian working women are Egalitarian Enablers. They live in metros such as Mumbai (33 per cent of all working women), Delhi (a high 54 per cent) and Bangalore (46 per cent). Just about a fourth are post-graduates, with the bulk being general non-professional graduates, over 30 years, most married with personal income of around Rs 9,000 per month.

Fairly liberal in her attitude towards marriage, parenting, sex and dressing, she is constrained in her freedom in just about everything, from spending to taking decisions. She puts the family before herself, believes in a consensual approach, and is extremely value-driven in her purchase. Her guilt of working and thus ignoring the family is largely cultural. In that sense, brands that understand her dichotomy, and help her manage it, come on tops. And virtually tonnes of household brands cue into this insight to get close to her. "The Whirlpool working woman straddles work and home, and is appreciated," notes Sinha of Publicis.

Traditional Individualist: WHO IS SHE? Believes in joint families, following customs, and saving for a rainy day. But is driven to personal excellence. Is the oldest among all the segments (average age: 37), and a cautious spender. WHERE IS SHE FOUND? Kolkata 47% Indore 38% MARKETER APPEAL: Among all segments, spends lowest on branded groceries.

Traditional Individualists: Mother India

For around 17 per cent of working women who can be branded as Traditional Individualists, working is not so much an expression of liberty or emancipation as a plain and simple financial necessity. These women typically hail from Kolkata (47 per cent of working women here) and Indore (38 per cent). Most of them are married, around 37 years old, and have put in more than 15 years at work. They are very conservative and cautious spenders. Branded commodities such as atta and rice are a strict no for her, and she shops at her nearby kirana store and local bazaar. Get this: nearly 60 per cent of them have never visited a mall.

The woman in this segment sees herself as the keeper of old traditions. In that sense patriarchal society celebrates, reveres and in the process, reinforces the woman's role as the provider of the family. Little wonder that Traditional Individualists harp on being the best in whatever they do. And brands, mostly consumer expendables such as detergents and milk-additives, play on her need to better family lifestyle, even while keeping the budget in check.

Orthodox Austere: WHO IS SHE? Believes women shouldn't drink, divorce, or wear western clothes. Would rather not have sanitary napkins and condoms advertised. Being more family-centric, is usually a part-time worker. WHERE IS SHE FOUND? Bangalore 32% Kochi 27% Kanpur 20% MARKETER APPEAL: Very little. Set in her ways, not open to change.

Orthodox Austere: Touch Me Not

She is your great-grandmother reborn as the working woman in the twentieth century. She virtually abhors good things in life, spends like a hermit, preaches quaint, often orthodox notions such as no western clothes for women, and no sanitary napkin advertising on television. She typically stays in South India, Bangalore (32 per cent of working women), Kochi (27 per cent) and in time-stuck north Indian cities such as Kanpur (20 per cent).

A high proportion of this segment is a part-time worker, getting into the work-stream only when the family needs her to. Frugality is part of her cultural code, and she sees herself as an enforcer of it in the family. She still invests in gold, oblivious of the yellow metal's declining investment value. Not involved with any major purchase decision, such as for durables, she avoids credit and credit cards like a plague. Her favourite activity is visiting a place of worship. If you are a marketer, you'd be better off trying to get a pig to fly than getting the Orthodox Austere to buy anything novel.