Adland's gender parity — a reality check PLUS Net results: when media and creative align
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#OpEd: Adland's gender parity — a reality check
Some progress doesn't mean adland will achieve gender parity soon. Elisma Uys-Hanekom finds out why, and what to do to speed up the process.
By Elisma Uys-Hanekom . Is gender parity in South Africa’s advertising industry a myth in need of busting? After personally interviewing a large variety of women creatives, each at a different point in their respective career journeys, I’ve realised it’s not as simple as a “yes” or?“no.”
At a glance, it seems obvious that senior leadership in local adland is still largely dominated by men, especially in the creative department. I can count the number of women executive creative directors and chief creative officers whom I know about on one, maybe two, hands. The same is true when it comes to production: trying to find women directors, photographers, 1st ADs, DOPs and gaffers is always a?challenge.
However, there’s certainly been a significant improvement, compared to 20 and even 10 years ago. There are also numerous new initiatives and policies in place to promote gender diversity in our industry, such as the recently launched Open Chair initiative created by many of the women interviewed?below.
But what do the stats?say?
Rate of change
According to the 2023 Global Gender Gap Index, gender parity has recovered to pre-covid-19 levels but the pace of change has slowed to such an extent that the expected year of parity is 2154. Can we just stop and read that again? In the year 2154, 130 years from now, when our great-great-great grandchildren are adults, we’ll finally be?equal.
Local statistics at least give us some hope. In the above-mentioned World Economic Forum report, South Africa ranks 20th on the equality index, with the UK 15th and the US?43rd.
Where local adland is concerned, statistics are a bit harder to come by. The most recent survey was conducted in 2020 by SheSays Cape Town in partnership with Kantar. It shows a strong female representation within the advertising and creative industry as a whole, with 61% of roles fulfilled by women. However, it revealed clusters of male-dominated fields, predominantly at the director and C-suite levels, with only 39% of senior creative roles (CCO/ECD/creative director) held by?women.
Perception vs reality: busting the equality?myth
According to Jo Wallace, Jellyfish global ECD and Good Girls Eat Dinner founder, writing in a recent opinion piece for Creative Brief, false narratives such as “women are being promoted more than men” are feeding a huge backlash against gender equality?globally.
“The thing about humans, and how we’ve been trained by societal norms, is that our perceptions are warped. Research shows that if women take up 30% of a space, they’re believed to be dominating. Just 15% of women in a space ‘feels’ equal. In short, men assume women are dominating the conversation when we speak just 30% of the time,” she?writes.
Although Wallace’s piece mostly pertains to stats and perceptions in the UK’s marketing world, I can’t help but wonder: Is gender parity in SA’s advertising industry also a myth in need of busting? After interviewing a large variety of South African women, each at a different point in their respective career journeys in adland, I’ve realised that the answer to this question is not as cut and dried as a simple “yes” or?“no.”
Why do women leave the?industry?
I was intrigued to learn why well-known creative leader Suhana Gordhan left agency life in 2023 to become an independent?creative.
When she began her career in the early 2000s, she says, it was a very different industry, describing the prevalent leadership style back then as cruel and sexist. After a damaging start, she left advertising for a few years to pursue her dance?career.
“Some of us grew up in the advertising school of hard knocks, and we succeeded despite what we endured,” Gordhan told me. “For me, the choice to succeed felt like the only path. I saw that I was one of very few women of colour, and maybe some part of me knew that my very existence in the industry, my efforts to rise through a prejudicial system, was a quiet defiance of its own.” It’s refreshing, she adds, that the world has moved on and, with it, leadership mentality has shifted to be more gentle and?kind.
But even at the top, she discovered, discrimination in how men and women are treated still persists. “Most of us just want to focus on the work and building our creative people but, when you’re also fighting disrespect and layered biases, it’s exhausting,” she says. Like UK ad veteran Cindy Gallop, Gordhan adopted the personal philosophy, “…never waste your time banging your head against closed doors,” and so decided to pursue creative excellence on her own?terms.
Gordhan’s advice to other women isn’t to other women — it’s to the rest of the?industry:
“Check your biases; have open and human conversations; interrogate harmful behaviour; know that being a leader is about responsibility and not absolute power. Know that you have the capacity to grow people and to inspire, instead of giving them reason to leave. Mostly — just be better. This industry is made up of incredibly intelligent, talented and beautiful humans. We need this side of us to be the one that young women?experience.”
Black women & the challenges they face
Khethiwe Makhubo , VML SA creative group head, finds that one of the main challenges in our notoriously competitive creative industry, is the myth of meritocracy. Gaining access to opportunities when you don’t have the ‘right’ social capital is already difficult. “Now let’s throw race and gender into the mix, and your access, as a black woman, becomes even more limited,” she?says.
Another big challenge she constantly has to navigate is to advocate for herself without being perceived as aggressive, complaining or?begging.
Makhubo’s advice is to find the right people and support: “I have had to become a bit of a creative migrant, jumping between agencies until I found my tribe, people who truly value me and who can advocate on my behalf,” she?says.
Tokenism & impostor syndrome
For Zodwa Gunuza , The Hardy Boys - A VML Company CD, her main challenge has been dealing with tokenism and impostor syndrome. Starting out as a designer, she was the only black woman in a creative department for eight years, and often had to deal with the self-doubting effects of imposter syndrome during her career?journey.
Similarly to Makhubo, she eventually found a great mentor, Camilla Clerke , who made all the difference. Clerke played a significant part in mentoring and shaping Gunuza into a CD at HelloFCB+ (now FCB?Africa).
Other key challenges for Gunuza have included access to education and resources. To study at Cape Peninsula University of Technology (CPUT), she had to apply for a loan for her first year and, luckily, received a bursary from her second year onwards, enabling her to finish her?studies.
Gunuza’s advice for young women is: “Keep at it and speak up for?yourself!”
Types of leadership
Jacquie Mullany FCB Africa ECD, started out as a designer, left the industry after four years to become a florist, and returned as a copywriter after obtaining a copywriting qualification. She ended up working in digital, which was largely dominated by men at the time. She was mentored by men with strong personalities, and always felt that women had to “strap on their balls for work, and cry when they got?home”.
As she grew in her career, she became tired of trying to mimic the strong voices of the men she learnt from. “Being all rah-rah all the time was exhausting,” she tells me. “I was not a powerhouse like my male counterparts. I was told that I do not have a ‘presence’ and that it was a?weakness.”
She realised she had to find her own voice. She started hiring mostly women and created a “female tribe” who turned out to be the best in the?industry.
Her advice to young creatives is to build a network of women and to be there for one another. She further recommends: “Know that you can be soft and emotive if you want to. You do not have to lead like a?man.”
Finding your voice
When I chatted to Ana Rocha , VML Cape Town ECD, she noted that men always talk about money unashamedly when she interviews them for a position, while women hardly ever mention salary in their first interview. Men also negotiate much harder for more money and perks, in her experience. One of the reasons for this, in her opinion, is the way we were brought up. “Women were not raised to take up space in the same way that men were,” she says. Freelancing for a few years, however, helped her to recognise her?value.
Rocha’s advice to women is to “profile” themselves better. “Take ownership, grow your personal brand, and remember that your portfolio is your currency,” she?says.
Similarly to Rocha, Fran Luckin , recently appointed VML South Africa CCO, also mentioned that men are perceived to manifest more confidence and to take up more space than women?do.
Whether the above are all learnt behaviours we need to unlearn, or fallout from patriarchal practices that still unconsciously persist to undermine women of authority, I believe it’s paramount that we place extra emphasis on creating awareness, acceptance and respect of the different ways in which women lead. The main challenge we face as women leaders is having to navigate and take up that ‘space’ in a way that does not merely mimic men but celebrates our unique voices, presence, importance and invaluable contribution to this?industry.
The gender pay gap: fact or?fallacy?
Because salary has never truly been a transparent topic in our society and work culture, and discussing salary with your colleagues is legally prohibited by most employment contracts, it’s difficult to know for sure what the extent of the gender pay gap is in our industry. However, taking clues from various women’s personal experiences, as well as my own, I suspect we’d be shocked if we had access to the actual?figures.
Mullany’s experience was — for me personally — one of the biggest eye-openers. When she was a CD, she was called in by her MD (also a woman), and made aware that she was earning a fraction of what her male counterparts were being paid. Her MD helped her to motivate for a significant increase but, even afterwards, she was still earning far less and had to fight, slowly but surely, to get the further increases she knew she deserved. When she became ECD at a different agency, she realised that some of the men CDs working under her were earning more than she did as their?senior.
Perhaps a big part of the problem is, as Rocha mentioned, that we as women don’t value ourselves as we should, and aren’t taught to unashamedly negotiate for what we deserve — or perhaps we’re still fighting the aforementioned systemic patriarchy, where men are believed to be the main breadwinners and subsequently ‘deserve’ to earn?more.
Whatever the reason, I think it’s fair to speculate that the most overt evidence of gender inequality in our industry would be the gender pay gap, if only we had access to those figures. I also believe that the unfair (in my opinion) practice, where HR departments and hiring agencies insist that people share their previous salary slips, as well as the unwillingness of many companies to share accurate salary brackets when advertising a position, contribute to the persistence of this?gap.
Recognising LGBTQIA+ in the diversity?mix
It’s about more than just?pronouns.
For Danni P. , Accenture Song SA ECD, being a transgender woman in the advertising industry has been a mostly positive experience. “Two weeks before the pandemic hit, I came out as trans, which was incredibly wild,” she?says. “I went from everyone seeing me as just another white dude in advertising, to ‘What the hell?’ in the middle of a global?pandemic!”
Being British-born, Pinch studied theatre in London and was, in her own words, “that classic artsy kid”. Around 2015, the narrative around trans changed and became more positive but, by the time Pinch came out, there was a massive media backlash and severe transphobia in the UK. “I found South Africa, in fact, to be a really good place to come out in. Access to healthcare here is so much easier than in the UK, and we have a very progressive constitution,” she?says.
Before transitioning, she was never really part of the boys’ club but she still acknowledges that she had a certain amount of privilege, having already established her career as an ECD before coming out. She recognises that it would probably be a lot harder for a young trans person to get their foot in the door and grow their?career.
Adland more accommodating
We’re also lucky in that our industry is much more accommodating when it comes to accepting LGBTQIA+ identities. “Being trans in the advertising industry is a lot easier than coming out in a law firm, for instance, where the binary dress code is much more rigid. Before I came out, I rocked up in Converse [sneakers] and a t-shirt, and I still rock up in Converse and a t-shirt,” says?Pinch.
However, there are still many challenges, even in an accepting environment, that cisgender people aren’t aware of. “For instance, the energy burn and added stress of reminding people about pronouns, modifying your voice in a noisy environment or using the bathroom when there are only binary bathrooms can be a traumatic experience,” she?mentions.
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Pinch’s advice to young LGBTQIA+ creatives in the industry who want to grow their career is: “Send me your CV!” She also shared betrue2me.org, a local trans support group that she’s found useful, with great resources for trans and non-binary?people.
Pregnancy & motherhood
Can you have a career and a family? In my own experience, as a mother of a three-year old and a recent agency-expat-turned-entrepreneur, I can attest to the challenges of being both a (good) mom and having a successful career while avoiding complete?burnout.
Even before I became a mom, I faced discrimination when asked during numerous job interviews whether I planned on having a family soon. Work pressure and career ambition played a big role in my delaying starting a family, and I eventually had to walk a painful path to parenthood, experiencing various complications and much heartache, and subsequently only becoming a mom at the age of?39
Mullany also mentioned during her interview that she felt as if she’d to work twice as hard when she became a mom to ensure that Having A Baby wouldn’t be seen as a disadvantage to her?career.
The main concern, for me, is summed up in the following question: Why do so many women have to choose between having a career and having a family, while men almost never have to make this?choice?
While I do understand that a career break of 3–4 months, coupled with pregnancy brain and morning sickness, aren’t desirable qualities in prospective employees, I strongly believe that we need to revisit current models and policies to be more accommodative and supportive of parenthood, especially motherhood. Let’s foster an organisational culture that includes positive practices and support systems in lieu of unrealistic work ethics that contribute to the degradation of mental wellbeing and healthy work-life?balance.
Importance of mentorship & women supporting?women
As you can see, most of the women I’ve interviewed have attributed a large part of their success to having access to strong mentors and receiving guidance and help from other women along their journey. The same is true for?Luckin.
“I am very grateful and fortunate to have had great mentors and opportunities from early on in my career,” she says. When she started out as an apprentice copywriter at The Jupiter Drawing Room, it was a small agency which enabled her to have direct access to and receive personal attention and tutelage from the three distinguished CDs. She was also fortunate to work under various women leaders at Jupiter and TBWA\ Hunt Lascaris who provided her with a vision of what was?possible.
However, she worries that accessibility to quality mentorship is threatened by recent operational challenges such as margins and time constraints that many businesses have to face these days. “One of the dangers, as advertising gets put under more and more pressure, is that our group heads, CDs and ECDs have less time to sit and review and mentor and coach their teams,” she?warns.
Luckin’s advice to young women is to “[b]elieve that you have something to offer and don’t let imposter syndrome make you doubt your talent. Choose mentors [whom] you admire, and actively reach out to?them.”
The way forward: main challenges & possible?solutions
I believe that we’ve come a long way from the Mighty Men Boys’ Club days. Yet the fact that so many women still need to fight for their voices to be heard, to get chosen for the best briefs and promotions, to win awards and to receive equal pay, means we still have work to do. Too often recently I’ve read articles that accuse our industry of “curating rooms” and “committing tokenism” through “quota casting” and “equity hires.” There’s also been much controversy and debate around the myth of meritocracy and whether we, as an industry, are using it as justification to circumvent our responsibility towards?diversity.
While some of these accusations might ring true, the challenges we’re facing aren’t to be underestimated. Providing equal access to opportunities and education in a third-world country is no small task. Challenging systemic and unconscious bias in a society that only recently (30 years ago) recognised true freedom and equality is an even bigger giant. And let’s not forget the 2000 years of global patriarchy we only started challenging (somewhat effectively) in the 1950s and?’60s.
There are many individuals and agencies spearheading diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) and gender parity in our industry, and I’d like to take this opportunity to commend those initiatives and?people.
At the same time, I hope this piece will inspire renewed and sustained commitment to this cause. Let’s not become complacent in our perceptions and efforts. Let’s keep on identifying new challenges and innovating relevant solutions. Let’s bust the myths that need busting, and reassess whether we’re truly challenging the status quo that we claim to be challenging. Let’s remain active catalysts of the positive growth and transformation we proclaim as an?industry.
See also
A special thank you to all the women mentioned above who were so graciously willing to dedicate time in their busy schedules to chat to me about their?experiences. Keep an eye out for the second article in this three-part #OpEd series, where I’ll be discussing racial diversity in adland with various industry leaders and?stakeholders.
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Net results: when media and creative align
By Carey Finn . Should media and creative work together more closely? How does their separation into different agency environments affect the efficiency of campaigns? Industry leaders weigh in.?
Research shows over half of global marketers want integration, with media and creative at the same table. “The two working closely together enables a more focused campaign which can be optimised, for both above the line and digital,” says Johanna McDowell , founder and CEO at Independent Agency Selection (IAS) , and managing partner at Scopen Africa—the group behind the Agency Scope study. Bridging the media-creative gap makes sense for strategy and streamlining, McDowell notes. “The data that media agencies have about consumers and their media habits has a direct bearing on media strategy and resultant creative content,” she explains. “Managing agencies is time consuming. If that can be done with one agency team fully integrated, it’s much more efficient, particularly when marketing teams are shrinking.”
Wayne Wilson ?? , COO (media and tech) at RAPT Creative Agency , shares these sentiments. “When media and creative operate from within a single agency, playing for the same team, the integration is seamless,” he says. “The alternative can be challenging, as the direction, values and culture of the separate businesses—even when these are within the same group—inevitably result in misalignment.”?
The biggest inefficiency that comes from separation, according to Wilson, is that creative is conceptualised without considering where—and how—the consumer is going to be reached. “This disconnect translates to creative that is made-to-fit, instead of being designed to feel native to the environment,” he says. “Also, perhaps more importantly, it is designed without consideration for the available creative options and desired user behaviour. Knowing who your audience is, and how you can engage with them, leads to delivering truly impactful campaigns that are woven into your media mix.”
Symbiotic relationships
“It’s not an either media or creative situation,” says Brian Muguto , MD of PHD South Africa in Johannesburg. “There’s more emphasis from clients on realising the benefits of symbiotic relationships between their various agency partners. You’ll notice a trend among the larger agencies or agency networks, who are responding to client needs with networked solutions, consolidating duplicated and complimentary agencies, and housing multi-disciplinary agencies in single campuses, to foster collaboration and fuel innovation at scale.”
“Referencing my client experience, I’ve seen firsthand how much more powerfully an idea lands when the practicality of media has been considered,” adds Tumi Rabanye , MD - strategy at Leagas Delaney. “Being back on the agency side, I believe some of our best work has been delivered when we’ve demonstrated consideration of all the permutations of a campaign.”
Rabanye believes true integration means all disciplines, including media, at the table from day one. “If anything, I have found the media strategist along with my ECD to be my best collaborators from the get-go,” she says. “Though work is ultimately sequential, the cohesion and alignment from the outset, as well as input from different perspectives, goes a long way.”
Siloed regret
“The irony is that the process of pulling media out of creative agencies was to grow efficiencies in media,” says Tanya Schreuder , CEO at Juno Media, the media division of Joe Public . “The focus was on building media capabilities, better media thinking, and procured efficiencies in how media agencies buy—[leading to] better discounts and monetary value for clients. However, this thinking did not take into account how consumers and the media landscape would evolve.”
Schreuder believes that eyes were easier to catch when the advertising environment was simpler. “Media that is planned in isolation of creative cannot give creative the best place to shine, or ensure that creative is crafted for different environments,” she says. “This siloed approach will always fall short of truly maximising consumers’ attention.”
Dr Pepe Marais , group chief creative officer at Joe Public, agrees. “If creative effectivity is the ultimate goal of an advertising campaign, then media strategy in close collaboration with creative ideation is as critical to a successful outcome as brand strategy is,” he says. “Unfortunately, the idea to dislodge the media thinking from the agency was one orchestrated to grow profitability for advertising group owners, rather than to serve the growth of their clients. Since then, this siloed approach has harmed the overall effectivity of communications campaigns, as it is only possible to integrate holistically if everyone has the same objective. For example, the media agency may often strive for reach, while the creative agency strives for impact. And if you are not part of one environment, committed to one vision, this is very difficult to reconcile.”
Finding ways to reconnect
How then to bridge the divide? Wilson suggests education and integration. “The people working in [media and creative] are not as far removed as some may think,” he says. “Both are logical thinkers and creative problem solvers; what separates them is the lack of understanding of the other’s discipline. Solving this along with bringing the teams closer together, preferably under one roof, is the key to making that collaboration work.”
For Rabanye, it’s about appreciating a shared interest in the success of campaigns. “More often than not, media sits with data points that can enhance creativity,” she says. “I think the trick is to extract insights that really bring ideas to life. A big idea is largely media agnostic, but nothing beats a client’s eyes lighting up when creative and media demonstrate how the magic all comes together.”
The onus is on media agencies to find ways to work more closely with creative teams, proactively, says Schreuder. “The creative agencies won’t always drive this process,” she says. “It is a media agency’s responsibility to get involved and not only create, but build these relationships.”
To Marais, the solution is simple: merge the two again. “That is the way it used to be,” he says. “And that is the best way to serve the brands of our clients. Networks that own media agencies and advertising agencies could strategically reintegrate these agencies into one. The economies of scale will be substantial, and the ways of working, seamless. Independent agencies are already on this journey. Clients could also play their part to demand this reintegration, as it ultimately will be the way in which we serve the growth of brands best.”
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