Marketing to Women in the #MeToo Era

You know, it takes courage to book a speaker who brings forward a provocative message, and one that has the possibility of offending half your audience.

Likewise, it takes chutzpah to stand in front of a room of executives and challenge them.

But some messages are simply too important.

This week, I had the opportunity to speak at the ChiefMarketer event in NYC "Marketing to Women in the #MeToo Era." It brought together a powerful room full of of agency professionals working on behalf of global brands, representing millions of dollars in advertising spend.

I was so grateful for this opportunity to share my POV with the very professionals whose decisions can directly impact whether or not brands continue to exploit the women's movement.

Watch my talk:

--- Below is an excerpt from my related byline in Chief Marketer Magazine ---

The international movement against sexual harassment and assault, #MeToo, has increased visibility for the challenges women face around the world. It’s also raised the stakes for brands who want to engage female consumers.

In the past two decades, the use of “femvertising”—marketing to women with themes of feminism—has risen sharply as the modern-day women’s rights movement gains huge popularity. Watershed moments like the Women’s March have left brands eager to capitalize on the supercharged consumer sentiment surrounding this topic.

However, feminism (the belief that women should be treated equally to men) isn’t a tagline. It’s a mindset that has sustained an ongoing and very real battle for women’s equality since the first-wave feminists of the 19th and early 20th century.

Profiting from these ideals while embodying the opposite is not clever, it’s exploitation.

The onslaught of femvertising has created a sense of disillusionment among consumers who are rightfully holding brands up to the standards of the feminism movement they claim to be part of.

If we can’t hold our organizations up to the scrutiny of true equality, we should never cheapen the movement by exploiting the narrative. It’s too reckless and there are real consequences. Our society, and our consumers, deserve more.

We can and must do better. Marketing is a powerful force: one with the potential to change ideas and create positive action. Use that power thoughtfully.

Read more in my full byline.

More resources:

For more, please visit the new resource center for my POV on femvertising here at my website.

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