Are we still talking about gender stereotypes?
"Feminism blah blah equality blah blah." In a male-dominated world, it will never get old to discuss gender equality and women's empowerment. We just need to address the subject from different perspectives- I'm not here from a feminist evangelism position. As a marketing professional, I'm highly interested in analyzing how advertising is challenging gender stereotypes.
"Green 88! Green 88! Set! Hut!"
Of course, I'm going to start with a traditional male-centric event: The Super Bowl. Not to add fuel to the fire, but the Saints would have done a much better job- I'm just a little bias. Husband is from New Orleans. Who Dat!. Nonetheless, congrats New England! I brought football here because recently I came across an article from AdAge: SUPER BOWL LIII COMMERCIALS: THE YEAR OF THE WOMAN. The statistics were pretty impressive. In 2017, 'women accounted for 47% of the 103.4 million viewers' of the big game. With such a significant number, it makes sense for brands to incorporate new creatives appealing to a female audience. In this version of the game, we saw Toyota, Bumble, among other brands, featuring women in powerful roles. Brands want to inspire women; they want to promote conversations around diversity and inclusion. Clap! Clap!
Are we heading in the right direction?
In spite of all the reasonable efforts, it is interesting to notice there is still a big disconnect in how marketers think they are portraying women in ads, and how consumers perceive advertising is out of touch with gender inclusion. Kantar compiled a report on the subject: Getting Gender Right. Among all the useful insights, the report emphasizes the following:
"Marketers need to acknowledge that while society has evolved, the industry lags in its responsiveness. The status quo is not optimal, and many brands are not meeting consumers' gender needs as well as they could be. What's more, gender-skewed brands are losing revenue to more gender-balanced brands."
According to the same report, about 65% of women claim to skip online video ads whenever they can (vs. 58% of men). When brands realize that inaccurate targeting is hurting their profits, they might decide to focus on better gender balance content. It is about going beyond stereotypes. I'm almost 30th years old, I do enjoy cooking, but my passions go beyond having dinner ready for my husband or keeping our house clean.
The truth is, gender is a delicate topic and culture is slow to change, but society has progressed, and the gender equality movement is happening now. Disrupting the lazy stereotyping is not impossible. Campaign Live compiled some examples of how brands have pushed for better representation of women in campaigns: Six stereotype smashers of women in advertising. The article might serve as inspiration for creative departments and advertising directors. We don't need to wait to International Women's Day to see these type of campaigns.
Lastly, there are other ways to tackle harmful stereotypes and gender issues: hiring practices, corporate culture, and more. Thank you Pixar, I loved Purl. In some way, we all have been that ball of yarn. We should celebrate brands that are getting inclusion right!