t�s official: housewives are out, cabbies and hairdressers are in. And that�s in the all-important world of advertising focus groups, where women at home with children have long been defined as the third sex because of their control of a household�s budget.

DDB London has decided housewives do not reveal their shopping habits honestly, preferring instead to tell researchers that they buy products that make them look like the perfect parent. Cabbies, hairdressers, pub landlords and beauticians are now being recruited as part of a strategy to promote brands using chitchat and small talk. The agency calls them its "grapevine panel" who they believe will reveal the real issues on people�s minds.... more