The Crave
Weekly tips and stories that will help you do your job and make you smile (or groan).
By Sim Samra March 10, 2022
Thinking beyond International Women's Day
Let's take 1 day to celebrate and the remaining 364 to ensure our marketing teams and campaigns are as diverse as our customers. Every March, brands flood their social feeds with some of the wittiest, inspiring social advertising campaigns that celebrate all types of women and their achievements for International Women's Day (IWD). Remember Nike's 'Dream Crazier' ad narrated by Serena Williams and featured footage of female athletes, including Caster Semenya and Kathrine Switzer, who have achieved success despite facing criticism and adversity? We know that the Marketing world is ablaze with brilliant advertising campaigns for this one day. But the reality is that women are still underrepresented in many industries for the rest of the year. This is especially true of women in tech. Over 20% say that the industry isn't where they could thrive. That number drops further to 8% for women of color. And there are far fewer leadership roles too. Only 1 in 4 startups has a female founder, and a mere 15% are CEOs. Should I go on? Having women in leadership roles, who can positively influence industries, and adequately represent the consumers we serve feels like a no-brainer. Yet it's still an ongoing problem. While it's great to see brands highlight the importance of gender equality for a day, the real question is, how can we make it a priority all year round?
Having women in leadership roles, who can positively influence industries, and adequately represent the consumers we serve feels like a no-brainer. Yet it's still an ongoing problem.
First and foremost, choose to be an advocate
If you're a leader, you can start by leaning in and advocating for gender equality. If you're not doing it already, push for office policies that support women (such as maternity and paternity leave, flex schedules, and work from home days), promote women in leadership positions, or pay women fairly in efforts to close the wage gap. For those who aren't in a position of authority, you can still be an advocate and/or ally. Ask women colleagues for help on significant projects, allow them to show off their talents and gain exposure, and praise them for their excellent work. I can’t have been the only woman who has experienced being talked over or had my ideas ignored. However, some of my biggest champions have been my peers who find tactful ways to repeat those ideas to the room (and give me credit). Be like them.
Be honest and critical about your Marketing campaigns
When it comes to your Marketing campaigns, ask yourself what you're doing to ensure your ads are representative and have a good balance of people of different genders, races and ethnicities, sexual orientations, and socio-economic statuses. Be critical. Does your brand authentically reflect your consumer base? Diversity means little without inclusion too. Many brands still fall short here. Once your campaigns start reflecting the communities you serve, you need to ensure you're portraying people in the right way. While you may feel the urge to show women as superhero-like figures for IWD, do they actually want that? Ask them. They may prefer being presented as ‘equals’ instead. Fair enough, right?
Get everyone on the gender spectrum involved in conversations
Despite it being called International Women's Day, that doesn't mean that everyone else on the gender spectrum should be left out of the conversation. Transgender, genderqueer, non-binary people, and men are just as crucial in the journey to breaking down stereotypes, discrimination, and bias as women. (In fact, some of the biggest supporters in my career have been men). With that in mind, open up conversations with your Marketing team and encourage everyone to think critically about how they can support and champion the women and people who identify beyond the gender binary at work. It's easy to shine a light on women one day out of the year, just as easy as it is to assume that gender equality is only a woman's issue — but that couldn't be further from the truth. It's everyone's issue. And if we prioritize it every day of the year, it's everyone's gain.
Let’s talk about it together!
Share your thoughts on LinkedIn using #thecravediscussion This week’s topic: What action will you take to be an advocate for gender equality?
Currently craving
- Reading: In Caroline Criado Perez, Invisible Women, she provides numerous examples of biases against women, including the 2013 homage to tennis player Andy Murray as the first Briton to win Wimbledon, when in fact Virginia Wade had won in the tournament more than three decades earlier in 1977.
- Listening: Who says female comedians can't be funny? Katherine Ryan spends a lot of time investigating the reasons for the humor gap in her hilarious podcast Telling Everybody Everything.
- Writing: Check out the stories of these four exceptionally talented women at Foleon who are leading the pack in their competitive and typically male-led fields of Sales, Engineering, Design, and Finance.
Sim Samra
Content Marketer
About the author
I am a Content Marketer and one of the Foleon blog’s main curators. Born and bred in London. Honorary Amsterdammer. Liverpool FC supporter. Lover of carbs and puns. Horror movie fanatic.
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